Royal/T Cafe, Culver City

Royal/T is a cafe, shop and gallery in Culver City, CA.

I had the day off today and spent some time in Culver City. First, lunch at Royal/T Cafe and then a trip to Surfas Restaurant Supply (please, as if I could go to Culver City without stopping at Surfas...I now have enough paper products to make over 1,000 cupcakes)

Above, Royal/T Milk Tea - black tea with a peachy flavor, brewed with soy milk. I got it iced but it is also available hot. The Matcha Tea - very, very matcha...a little too strong for me.

It is inspired by the Maid Cafes of Tokyo's Akihabara district. All the waitress are dressed as French maids.

Ponzu Salmon rice bowl with seared edamame

The lunch rice set ($14) includes one salad, sandwich or rice bowl; one side order and one tea, coffee or beverage.

Baked Egg with fresh shiitake mushrooms and bacon

My friend got this as part of the breakfast set ($10) along with a chocolate crossiant.

Japanese potato salad

This was my favorite part of the meal; Japanese potato salad is total comfort food! It uses Japanese mayo and includes carrots and cucumbers. Yummy!

From the gallery

They have a large space (10,000 square feet) that includes the gallery space, store, cafe, VIP room. It is a very nice space with open ceilings.

Royal/T Cafe
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
T 310 559 6300

Cherry Mochi Cakes - Cute and Gluten-free

fresh california cherry mochi mini-cupcakes

Remember the Blueberry Mochi Cake I made recently? It has been well received by my co-workers, friends and family...and it is such a thrill when I get comments from people who made it for their family (and they liked it!)

Now that it is Summer Fruit time (whoo hoo!), my thoughts are all about the cherry. Two years ago, my friend Charlotte forwarded me the Martha Stewart Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea Cakes recipe. It is just so pretty!

But I tend to shy away from nut recipes (because a co-worker can't have nuts or seeds), so I thought...what if I make it with mochi cake!? The result, if I do say so myself, is YUM!

Cherry Pitting with a chopstick! I tried my best to keep the stem attached.

Since I wasn’t sure how this would all work out (read: it could be another baking disaster of mine), I didn’t want to risk wasting my very first batch of beautiful California sweet cherries! So, I made 16 mini cupcakes with fresh cherries, and poured the rest of the batter into a 9 x 13 pan and added frozen Trader Joe’s Sweet Cherries (about ¾ of the bag)

Make this easy-to-make, gluten-free recipe! Since it is made with mochiko flour (sweet rice flour), the texture is slightly chewy!

Cherry or Blueberry Mochi Cake
Adapted from JustJenn who adapted it from Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee

Mix together: 2 sticks melted butter and 2 cups sugar. Mix in 1 can evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk).

Whisk in 4 eggs. Add 1 box of Mochiko (Sweet rice flour. You can get Koda Farms Mochiko at an Asian grocery store, Surfas in Los Angeles, or health food stores because it is gluten-free. I buy it at Japanese grocery stores for $1.28 - $1.50 a box). Add 2 tsp. baking powder and 2 tsp. vanilla and mix until smooth. Done! How easy is that?!?

You can add frozen blueberries to the mix or layer them into the batter. Or, as I did for this one, add fresh and/or frozen cherries. I covered some and just popped the cherry in other...both ended up the same; I would do the easy method!

I made 16 mini cupcakes and baked them for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees…until they were a bit golden on top. The remaining batter went into a 9 x 13 pyrex glass pan for 60 minutes (check at 50 minutes).

For the mini cupcakes, I sprayed the tray with Baker’s Joy. However, if you were going for totally gluten-free, please just brush with melted butter.

Cherry Mochi Cake - Give it a try!

Fresh Mango Bread - Tuesdays with Dorie

Fresh Mango Bread. Deliciousness in a carb.

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Kelly of Baking with the Boys selected Fresh Mango Bread on page 45 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I love mangos! Plain mangos. Mangos with chili pepper. Mango lassi. Oh yes, I heart mango!

I cut the bread into little pieces to make it easier for my co-workers to grab a bite. The pottery is my platter from Gary Holt Pottery in Berkeley, California (see this for more info).

This recipe took 2 1/2 small mangos to get the right amount of diced mango. The bread was very very easy to mix and put together. I skipped the raisins and went all mango, all the time.

While baking, I thought the bread would overflow out of the pan! It really doomed up...but then fell while cooling. That happens a lot with my breads...they are such a tease in the oven.

The bread had a nice blend of spices, and the fresh mango was delicious. Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers! You can find the recipe on Kelly's website Baking with the Boys or buy Dorie's great book!

The end of SFAD! Summer Fruits are here!

I know, I know.
I live in Los Angeles.
I have absolutely no right to complain about anything weather or season related.

However, I also don't know when seasons happen. I just got back from DC and everything was green and flowers were blooming after a season of "brown, brown, brown" (says my ex-pat Los Angeles friend). We don't get huge notices like that here.

My sign of summer? One word. STONE FRUIT! (okay, two words).

My heart skipped a beat when I went to the Farmer's Market and found apricots, white peaches, cherries and even more perfect California strawberries! Whoo hoo!

If I lived anyplace else, I know that I would suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Here in Southern Cal, I do get something similar: Summer Fruit Affective Disorder or SFAD :) I live for my stone fruit season!!

California strawberries, apricots, white peaches, cherries! And some baby bok choy and Chinese broccoli in the back! Serious yum!

I don't know what I'm going to bake with these...they might just get washed and eaten! But I wanted to share the end of my SFAD! And I hope these fruits come to your area or backyard soon! :)

National Chocolate Chip Day - May 15!

Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!

I usually only hear about food related days after the fact...but today, I saw that it was National Chocolate Chip day and hit it!

These are Dorie Greenspan's Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
(found on page 73 of Dorie's fantastic book, Baking: From My Home to Yours)

They are truly one of my favorite cookies ever! And they are one of Lee's favorites so I made them as a parting baked good to Racheal and Lee (with two bags of frozen cookies are now in the freezer).

I'm running out the door to head to Dulles! See you back home in Los Angeles soon!

Proceed with Caution has the recipe posted here when it was her choice for Tuesdays with Dorie.

Mini-Yogurt Cake with Strawberries

Mini-Yogurt Cakes with Strawberries and Yoplait Vanilla Yogurt

Today's my last day visiting my friends Racheal and Lee in the DC area. Yesterday, I made a light dessert with some ingredients we had on hand.

And yes, those are glass coasters! :)

Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Yogurt Cake
This is 1/4 of Ina's recipe, and it made 5 regular size cupcakes.

sift together (dry):
1/4 c + 2 T flour, 1/2 t baking powder, dash of salt

whisk together (wet):
1/4 c yogurt (I used French vanilla Yoplait yogurt), 1/4 c sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 t zest (I used orange because that is what we had on hand), 1/8 t vanilla

oil: 2 T oil (I used vegetable oil, but have also used olive oil)

1. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until smooth.
2. Fold in oil until combined.
3. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
4. This only makes 5 cupcakes...if you want the full recipe for a loaf or cake pan, click here.

Ina's recipe has a lovely lemon syrup, but I didn't have any lemons. I split the cupcake and spread some strawberry jam in the center with diced strawberries. I filled and topped one of them with the remaining Yoplait vanilla yogurt.

The lemon sauce would have been great on this, but luckily the fresh California strawberries were nice and tasty.

Since Racheal's big blowout California baby shower was postponed because she is now on modified bed rest for early contractions, I made a small breakfast shower to present her with gifts from friend and former neighbor, Diane and me. Yes, that's the Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt cake I love so much! :)

And if you think Racheal and I just sat around vegging out and eating for a week, you are wrong. We had a book discussion group too! Well, sorta. We watched both BBC's "Colin Firth in his glory" Pride and Prejudice as well as Bridget Jones's Diary. Then we had a lively discussion comparing the two movies that are based on Jane Austen's classic. Deep, in-depth discussions of Mr. Darcy's gaze at Elizabeth while she played the pianoforte, and when Mark Darcy looks at Bridget during her blue soup dinner! And, we discussed the latest issue of People...since we both read it cover-to-cover. Such an academic vacation, no?

If the mom is this cute in these hooded towels, the baby boy is going to be adorable. Before the trip, I took my mom with me to Babies R Us and she was amazed there was a whole wall dedicated to pacifiers...times have changed from cloth diapers!

Thanks Racheal and Lee for letting me stay at your new house! I enjoyed hanging out with you and your three other sons, cats Jake, Elwood and Samson! Can't wait to see you when you visit Los Angeles with your newest Baby Boy in October! Love, Auntie Mary

Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp with Cherries (Barefoot Contessa)

Barefoot Contessa's Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp with fresh cherries (and Jake, the cat)

I'm in DC visiting my friends Racheal and Lee who used to live in Los Angeles. She is on modified bed rest for her first pregnancy, her husband is on a business trip, and we are hanging out having a slumber party with pizza deliveries, take-out, naps, and lots of cable TV and movies (you know, all for the welfare of the baby...)

For dinner, I made a roast chicken with potatoes and carrots. Seriously, there is nothing better than potatoes roasted in chicken drippings. Yummmmmmy! However, the only problem was that I put the 4 pound chicken on the roasting pan upside down. When I tried to be cool and carve said chicken on Racheal's yet-to-be-used-but-received-three-years-ago-at-their-wedding meat cutting board (with "meat juice" border), my knife just keeps hitting bones. I mumble to myself, "This chicken is like me. No breasts." Luckily, I finally turned it over and found the hooters.

I used granny smith, braeburn, and gala apples in this crisp. I pitted and halved a few fresh cherries. This photo was taken before I realized I forgot the cinnamon and nutmeg! Next, I mixed in the missing spices. The topping is a mixture of butter, oatmeal, butter, flour, other stuff, and butter. Get the recipe on the Food Network website.

Apple & Cherry Crisp with baby boy a la mode

Racheal says, "I'm pregnant. I'm hungry. This is my share!"

Recipe: Adapted from Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp by the Barefoot Contessa. I added fresh pitted, halved cherries.

Georgetown Cupcake on M Street

Georgetown Cupcake

During my stay in the DC area, I went to Georgetown Cupcake on M Street. My preggers friend Racheal and her husband Lee both work at Georgetown. Before Lee left on his business trip, I went to M Street in Georgetown.

Racheal loves Georgetown Cupcake, and unlike Los Angeles where there is a cupcake shop on every corner, I believe this is the only cupcake place in DC.

The line was out the door (they often sell out) but it goes quickly because you can only fit 4 people in the store at one time! I met the nicest woman from Hawai'i in front of me who is taking her daughter on a college tour...this summer, they are going to visit UCLA and I hope it'll be her choice! :)

Georgetown Cupcake
their motto: pure bliss baked daily

From the top, clockwise:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl
Red Velvet
Carrot Cake
Chocolate Mint
Key Lime
Center: Chocolate^3

Our favorites...Chocolate Mint and Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl

They offered free gift wrapping for Mother's Day!

Georgetown Cupcake
1209 Potomac St NW (Corner of M Street)
Washington, DC (Historic Georgetown) 20007
$2.75 each, $15 half dozen, $29 dozen

Everyday Food Coconut Shrimp Soup (with added curry)

Coconut (and Curry) Shrimp Soup

Hi everyone,
I'm in the DC area this week helping my preggers friend Racheal who is on bed rest. We just finished watching 6 hours of Colin Firth in Pride & Prejudice - I can't believe my English major friend never saw it! Glad we can mark that movie off her list of the best RoCo movies of all time!

Anyway, I figure my friend can't eat dessert all day so I brought the book Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, and let Racheal bookmark some pages. First up, Coconut Shrimp Soup!

This was very simple to put together...once I figured out which way to cut the carrots! :)

Garlic and ginger are cooked, then the carrots, coconut milk, water, and cornstarch are added. You'll need to serve this immediately because the cornstarch and pasta soak up all the liquid if you let it sit...believe me on that!

I made the recipe exactly and when I tasted it, it had way too much coconut flavor. Way. too. much.

I added lots of curry powder and more red pepper flakes. And, we added in our left over Thai yellow curry from the previous day's take out! In addition, I squeezed a bunch of lime juice on top. I served it with Sriracha sauce (a staple in any house!) I probably won't make this recipe again, but at least I didn't let my friend starve! :)

Recipe: Coconut Shrimp Soup (I added lots of curry powder)

Later, I made a roast chicken, and apple & cherry crisp...coming up soon!

Tartest Lemon Tart - Tuesdays with Dorie

Tartest Lemon Tart...with something missing!

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Babette of Babette Feasts picked Tartest Lemon Tart on page 336 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I was really looking forward to this one! I love lemon. I love tarts. I love Dorie....And I'm a dork.

I forgot the heavy cream in the filling!

I took it out of the refrig but somehow it missed making it into the food processor. Um, perhaps I should mention it was 4:15 in the morning when I was bakin'.

Anyway, it was okay, but I'm sure the missing 1/2 cup of heavy cream would have given it a smooth, silky finish. I'll will definitely try this one again! (I have a bunch of Meyer lemons that need to get back in the tart again!)

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers! And buy Dorie Greenspan's book. It rocks.

(I'm in the Washington DC area now helping a pregnant friend on bed rest. I may or may not have internet access...so I apologize in advanced if I can't visit other TWD blogs! I've scheduled this post to be published on Tuesday morning...oh, technology is too cool. Take care and see you next week with Mango Bread! Yes!)