A Tale Of Three Bakeries

Ever since discovering the Miette website a few years ago, my dream was to take some baking lessons with the bakery one day. When their book came out last year, I hunted for friends who were coming back from the US to bring me a copy. Of course now I am waiting for the revised edition because the first edition has many mistakes, something to do with the conversion in weight.

I never thought that I'd be seeing Miette cakes in person. I know, I sound like a star-struck kid but I really identify with the way the cakes are decorated. I love simplicity in cakes and Miette's Tomboys especially are  to me the epitome of a simple classy cake. Watch this video of how the Miette Tomboys are frosted.

Fishermen's Wharf (Pier 39) in San Francisco was fun the first and second times I visited (the second time was with Hub, Yi and Ming, 15 years ago) but the third time, this time, I found it really touristy and even cheesy. The only things I like are the sea lions. They seem to have not moved in 15 years. They still make "ounkounk" sounds like sea dogs.

1 Ferry Building a few blocks down from Pier 39 is a restored ferry terminal (there are dozens of ferry terminals along the Embarcadero waterfront) that houses upscale gourmet markets and restaurants. The most famous restaurant in the building is The Slanted Door, a modern (westernized)Vietnamese restaurant. Yi had the privilege of dining there one night but she was not impressed although her companions, all non-Asians, were, so she didn't want to seem uppity when they raved about the food. Over and over, I've found that the really fancy Chinese/Asian restaurants are more on presentation and fame rather than taste and the patrons are usually corporate high spenders. The best food I've had actually are those in less fancy restaurants, frequented by 'locals'.

Miette (meaning small and sweet) is pronounced "mee-at", the cashier told me when I gushed about how happy I was to be finally there. Started by Meg Ray, the bakery now has four locations. I went to the Ferry Building location but found out later that the Jack London Sq location was near to where I was staying.




Finally, I saw the Tomboys in person! I could hardly control my excitement. Unfortunately, we were going to be out the whole day so bringing a whole cake along with us would not be wise. It turned out true because we ended the night on a wild tram ride on the hilly streets of San Francisco.





I shielded these cupcakes, hanging to the pole on the tram and they didn't end up too badly squashed. I love the one on the left the most. The icing was really good, soft, pillowy and slightly sticky. All the cupcakes were delicious and my impression was that they tasted like they were made with the best ingredients any home baker would use. 


Walking home alone one night on 8th Avenue, NYC, I saw a this bakery, Empire Cake.




I bought 3 cupcakes (dulce de leche, raspberry and red velvet) and they were all SO good. Two of them had filling inside and I decided that that's how I like my cupcakes from now on.


On our final day in NYC, I made sure we had breakfast at Empire Cake. Turned out all they had was cakes so yes, it was cupcakes for breakfast.








Peanut frosting and raspberry filling--omg, so goood!


A coconut bomb.


One day, we were on Fifth Avenue and came upon this bakery. *gasp* Magnolia Bakery! I've seen their books, made their cupcakes.

The bakery was so full of people, we couldn't even squeeze into it. We left and went back again on another day and it was still packed. I couldn't take photos without sticking my head in between people.






Magnolia Bakery's new cupcakes for the new Ghost show that just opened on Broadway the day we arrived in NYC.


Every bakery we went, red velvet cupcakes were the hit items.


This was not just the reddest red velvet cake I've ever eaten, it was also one of the worst. Utterly disappoiinting, since it was Magnolia's and the store was swamped with tourists. Which explains it. I am more and more skeptical of highly rated restaurants and eateries, especially those rated by Tripadvisors and so on. This was dry and awful, the frosting tasted of commercial frosting my daughter said. I agree and we threw the rest of the cake away.


The devil's food cake was even more disappointing. Overly sweet, dry and lacking any chocolate flavor. We took a bite each and threw this away as well. I think Magnolia Bakery is over-rated and quality has been compromised by its success. 

Since we didn't have access to the Internet, I didn't find out until I was about to leave NYC that Magnolia Bakery is not even rated in many cupcakes polls. That doesn't matter because tourists can't get enough of the cupcakes although I wonder how many of them would go back for seconds. I baked Magnolia's vanilla cupcakes before and they were very good so my guess is that they are compromising on quality because of the overwhelming demand. Here's a video of their recipe and how to get that Magnolia frosting swirl if you are still keen. Based on this, this and this, the top consistently highly rated cupcakes in NYC are from Two Little Hens, ChikaLicious, Baked, Sugar Sweet Sunshine. Anybody has any comments on NY cupcakes?

Chelsea Market

Spend a couple of hours in Chelsea Market, one of the best places to visit in NYC, if you are a foodie. I know it is touristy but still, there's lots to see and eat. There are artisan breads, cakes, a large seafood market where you can eat the seafood that you've bought, cafes and restaurants (click here for the list). The market isn't the traditional open air market but is really in the ground and 1st floor of an old building situated at 15th Street and 9th Avenue. If I had to choose between Eataly or Chelsea Market, I'd chose Chelsea Market. Apparently this is the same building where Oreo cookies were first produced, and many media and broadcasting offices including smaller offices of Google are also in the building.


The first place to capture your eye, heart and stomach would be Eleni's. We spent 1/2 hour there checking out the cupcakes and cookies, especially the cookies. Unfortunately we had just eaten some cakes on the way there and weren't tempted to stuff our faces even though the cookies looked absolutely crazily beautiful.














We walked out of Eleni's and found that their neighbor, and the next neighbor, were all cake and bread shops.






Chelsea Market is similar to the Ferry Terminal in San Francisco, only there's more to see in Chelsea Market.


The supermarket was stocked to the ceiling and we picked up some mozzarella, white asparagus and nuts thinking we could picnic somewhere.


In San Francisco, I died with envy when I went into Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table and here in Chelsea Market, Bowery Kitchen Supply had everything. I'd be happy just to spend an afternoon in this store.


Then we went to The Lobster Place, a huge seafood supermarket and 'restaurant'. You pick the seafood you want and they cook (boil, mainly) them for you. There's also a large sushi section. Amazing place.










Lobster at USD14.50 per lb is pricier than other places (Chinatown is cheapest. You can get 2 medium-sized lobsters for USD20 or one for USD12, cooked) and I picked a monster that was about 3 lbs but my daughter protested and we had to settle for a smaller one, about USD31 which means it was a little more than 2 lbs. Which was good, because the two of us couldn't finish it.


I prefer the clams to the oysters. The oysters were small and not plump but the clams were crunchy and very sweet.




The lobster was served with melted butter. Truly one of the world's best meat to eat, the claws tasted of big crabs and the body like big prawns.

Even the 'mustard' was yummy--creamy and flavorful.


Washed down with root beer, this was one of my favorite meals.


Since our apartment was nearby, we dropped all our shopping including groceries and went out again to paint New York. One night we found the mozz and prosciutto in the fridge and made a tasty midnight snack of them, together with leftover Korean kalbi steak from a restaurant.

Anthropologie

One night, when walking home, we passed by this beautiful building. It was the NY Public Library, the place I sought refuge on my first trip to NYC.

The first time I went to NYC, I was 19 and didn't have money to go home during the summer break  in Canada where I was studying. I went to Knoxville Tennessee with CY, my room mate, got caught working at the U Of Tennessee cafeteria (serving on the hot line, enchiladas was the item of the day. Will always remember that.) and had to run before I got reported.  I took a Greyhound bus to NYC, a city I'd always wanted to visit. Story short, I woke up to find my wallet gone, handbag which I used as a pillow still under my head. The Port Authority Bus Terminal then was awful, filled with bag people dragging their smelly bags around asking for money. I got a map, ended up at 42nd St which was then a very eye-opening street with  strange-looking gadgets. A black guy followed me and blasted music at my ears and then ran off. I was so terrified, I spent the rest of the day at the NY Public Library, sleeping. Just before nightfall, I walked back to the bus terminal and either got a ticket or already had a ticket to Montreal, Canada which was my planned next destination. All I ate that day  was a piece of cake, with money I begged for. Kidding. I found a enough small change in my hangbag for a piece of cake. Never got the I (heart) NY shirt that I'd always wanted.

The second time I went to NY, it was on my belated honeymoon. Our daughter was 2 and we left her with my MIL and took a 2 months (yes, 2 months) holiday that took us from California to Vancouver, Canada to Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and then Boston, DC and New York. We did all the touristy stuff such as the United Nations, Twin Towers, Trump Towers and so on. I remember feeling very poor and that NYC is only fun if you are rich. Back then, 24 years ago, there were projects (low cost housing) where blacks hung out and you wouldn't want to walk there at night. We drove from Canada into New York, and I was the navigator. There are many points you can enter the city through, and I thought Queens sounded classy so we entered through Queens. It was like a war zone. Phones ripped off the walls, graffiti everywhere, big black guys walked with their chests puffed and arms marching, and they thumped their fists on our car at the lights even though we had stopped (Hubs said it was our Canadian car plate). We were absolutely terrified.

I was kind of hesistant about going to NYC this time. I didn't even buy the air ticket until 6 days before I flew from San Francisco. Hub, who had gone back home, tried to talk me out of going there. But you know what? We are so brain-washed by the local media about drive-by shootings, gangs, racial fights. NYC now is so different, so safe, that I'd walk there at night anytime than KL or even KK.

Anyway, Anthropologie. I didn't like the clothes in their San Francisco store on Market St. Too Bohemian for me. But one day, someone told us about Chelsea Market and it was right behind our street! When we got there, we couldn't believe how we had gone 5 days in NYC and not know of such a place just 10 minutes walk from our apartment!




















I bought a couple of boxes and love them because of the style, color and the fact that they are sharper than any steak knives I have.


Oh gosh, I just saw the ceramic egg tray in the photo! When I took this photo, I didn't notice the egg tray...and now I wish I bought one, for putting chilled eggs out to come to room temperature. Aiya.

All the photos taken in Anthropologie, Chelsea Market. No one stopped me. In fact, every place I went and took photos, nobody stopped me. In a fine foods supermarket one day, I tried to sneakily take photos of the beautiful cakes and sandwiches. The chef saw me and waved at me to take photos. That's another awesome thing about the US. In China, a shop assistant ran out to tell me off when I took a photo of their window display from the street. From the street! In Singapore, Hub was told off loudly when he took photos of a bread shop in a mall, from the public area. Generally, Asian stores are nervous about people copying their ideas probably because they copied other people's ideas in the first place.

We spent 1 1/2 hours in Anthropologie In Chelsea Market. It's a lifestyle store and between trying clothes, you can pick up plates, cookbooks, door knobs and many pretty knick knacks. The clothes were beautiful, more expensive than say, Ann Taylor, but cheap by Asian standards for imported clothes.

And then we went into the market. That'll be the story for the next post. Anthropologie is available online, btw.

Ultra Lemon Cake

Ultra-Lemon Cake, recipe available in Baking By Flavor by Lisa Yockelson. The cake's soft and fine, with a delightful and refreshing lemony tang. I've made adjustments such as reducing the sugar and the amount of topping and I think the only improvement needed is more lemon rind. This is an awesome cake for tea.

Ultra Lemon Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t salt (I omitted this)
1/2 double action baking powder (my addition)
1 3/4 sticks (200g) unsalted butter, softened
2 T shortening (I used Crisco)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar* (reduced from 2 cups)
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk (I used regular fresh milk + a squeeze of lemon)
1/8 t cream of tartar
3 T granulated sugar*

* the recipe calls for lemon-scented granulated sugar but I didn't bother with that

Lemon Rind Soak
1 1/2 T  (increased from 1 1/3 T) freshly grated lemon rind
1 1/2 t pure lemon extract (I sub with fresh lemon juice)
1 T freshly squeezed & drained lemon juice
--combine and set aside for 15 minutes.

Lemon Soaking Glaze
1/2 cup freshly squeezed & strained lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar (reduced from 1/3 cup + 2 t)
1/4 t pure lemon extract (I sub with fresh lemon juice)
--combine everything in a non-reactive (enamel or glass) pot and set over moderate heat to dissolve sugar completely, about 5 minutes. Use warm or hot over warm or cool cake, never cool glaze over cool cake.

Lemon Pouring Topping (this is half the recipe amount; double it as desired)
1 cup icing sugar
2 1/2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 T unsalted butter, melted & cooled
--Mix everything in a bowl with a hand whisk (recipe says an electric one but I didn't and it was fine) and whisk until well-combined and smooth without any lumps of icing sugar. The topping should be thick but pourable. Adjust the consistency by adding more icing sugar or lemon juice.

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 10 inch/23 cm Bundt pan.
2. Sift flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Cream butter and shortening using an electric mixer at medium speed, 3 minutes. Beat in the 1 1/2 cups sugar, adding in 3 additions. Beat in the egg yolks and then the lemon rind soak.
4. On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. The batter will be thick.
5. Beat the egg whites, add the cream of tartar, then the 3 T sugar, and beat until stiff peaks stage.
6. Lighten the butter mixture by mixing 1/4 of the beaten egg whites, then fold in all the remaining egg white, making sure the egg white is incorporated well.
7. Spoon the batter into the Bundt pan, shake to level it and place into the preheated oven. Bake 50 to 55 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
8. Let cake stand 10 to 15 min, then invert onto a cooling rack. Place a piece of greaseproof paper to catch any drips when glazing, or just move semi-cooled cake to a serving plate.
9. When cake is still warm, you can spoon the soaking glaze over it. After at least 15 minutes (so that the glaze has permeated the cake), pour the topping over the cake. Cool cake completely before serving. No need to chill. Serve with some seasonal fruits, such as berries.

Top Of The Rock

We Went to MoMA one day and bought the USD38 combo ticket for the museum (including the newer MoMA PS1) and Top Of The Rock. Top Of The Rock is the observation deck on the top floors of Rockefeller Center. RC was built in 9 years, from 1930 to 1939 by J. D. Rockefeller, the president of the US from the 30s to the mid 40s. You may have seen a famous photo of the workers taking a break, perched on a steel beam that stuck out hundreds of feet above ground.


Not a Photoshopped picture; no Photoshop in 1932.

I chose Top Of The Rock instead of the more famous and taller (observation deck at 86th floor) Empire State Building (there are other combo tickets, such as Top Of The Rock and City Tour, and if you buy online, there's more savings) because I had no desire to line up for hours at the landmark Empire State Building. I'm glad I observed NYC from Top Of The Rock because it is the perfect place to see the Empire State Building! Also, the building is designed so that you get 360 degree view of the city. If I go to NYC city again, I'm going to do Top Of The Rock at night because New York City at night is the most beautiful of all cities I think. I had a glimpse of the NYC skyline when coming back from the Woodbury Outlet one night and the night skyline was even more beautiful than HK's. We were at The Rock on a cold and windy day (50 F) because we didn't have Internet access to weather report. It was terribly cold so we didn't spend much time at the 70th floor. Actually a lot of time is spent waiting to go up the building because of the procedures (15 minute intervals for each batch going up, long queues, security checks, elevator wait) so you need a morning or afternoon or night.


While lining up at the security check point, I saw a queue on the street below. NYC has so many events  going on anytime of the year. Radio City Music Hall was giving away free tickets to a show; am not sure which performer was on. The Tribeca Film Festival was also on then.


Majestic Empire State Building. Brooklyn Bridge in the distance on the left.


Statue of Liberty is closed for repair/renovation. You can see it on the island on the right.


Central Park in the middle of the concrete jungle.