Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes (Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

I bought Martha Stewart's new Cupcakes book on "opening" weekend. However, I have yet to make anything in it!

I had good reason to try the Zucchini-Spice cupcakes first. See below.

When this ends up on your porch, you instantly think...Zucchini Bread.
(The cupcake liner is shown for scale)

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book suggests a cream cheese frosting (which would be lovely). But I was out of cream cheese...so I made a quick glaze of powdered sugar, vanilla extract and water. I think I probably saved about 100 calories each too!

I got these cool cupcake liners at, well, where else? Surfas in Culver City, California. They are basically squares of parchment folded into pretty little things.

Note to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet: When you and the family come out to Disneyland, I'll go with you to both Disneyland AND Surfas! :)

The cupcake is very moist and easy to make. It is dairy-free, and I used olive oil instead of canola oil.

I poured a wee bit too much in each cup and ended up with 20 cupcakes instead of 24. I also ended up baking them for about 35 minutes instead of 20 minutes. Because these liners are really tall, I had the pans on the top and bottom racks. If I use these liners again, I'll try baking them separately and in the middle. So watch the time and size of your cupcakes!

When you are gifted with some zucchini, make sure to make this tasty treat!

Recipe:
Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, page 44-45.
Also found on Erin's Food Files blog. She made the cream cheese frosting - yum!

Ramen California Restaurant (Torrance, California)

I keep reading about Ramen California.
Oishii Eats.
Go Ramen.
Rameniac.
Exile Kiss.
Los Angeles Times Food Section.

Finally, it was time to experience this new place for myself! I met Jun, Yvonne, and Courtney tonight at Ramen California in Torrance, California (Southern California's "cool ocean breeze" South Bay community).

Please, please put aside any ideas you have about Ramen. Especially the 10 cent stuff you had in college. And even set aside the pork ramen in your local Japanese ramen restaurant. When I heard about fresh veggies in ramen, I was a bit skeptical. I'm used to a piece of fatty pork in a rich broth, but after eating here, I'm so converted!

Ramen California is light, filled with fresh farmer's market vegetables and is, simply put, delicious.

Californian Ramen
Check out all those fresh veggies! The broth is light and as you eat it, it gets colored by the red beets.

If you want to read about the background of the chef, his philosophy, and the farmer's market ingredients he purchases...please read the above reviews. Because this is our conversation (verbatim):

Yvonne: Oooh. This is so good.
Jun: This is soooo good.
Courtney: That's my favorite.
Mary: Oh, smell this!
Yvonne: Yummmmm.
Courtney: Delicious!
Jun: Mmmmmmm.
All: [Hands clapping]: Yeah! More bread! Food of the Gods!
Jun: You done with that? Can I have the rest?
Yvonne: When are we coming back?

The noodles are organic and have a lovely texture. I slurped them up!

Bread. Bread. Bread. Rosemary Kasha Bread. It's basically a bao with rosemary and lovely sea salt. And it is my new best friend.

Reggiano Cheese Tofu ramen with seasonal vegetables. The ramen comes in three sizes and we all got the small size ramen.

California Vegetable Mix (Onyasai) with Crispy Anchovy Powder
Oh my goodness. This was my favorite. It was delicious!!!

Masala ramen made with curry. Smelled and tasted great!

Alpine Sausage with Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce
This was good, but it was our least favorite item.

Oysters. Yum.

The peeled, fresh tomatoes were delicious!!!

For drinks, Courtney and Jun ordered the small "taster" wine...and they got a big glass! Our final bill was very reasonable...4 people: $52

If you are boiling in the valley or IE, take a trip to the South Bay and enjoy the cool ocean breezes as well as some delicious ramen and small plates.

Ramen California
24231 Crenshaw Blvd. Unit C
It's in the Torrance Crossroads Plaza (with an In N Out, Home Depot and Vons. Ramen California is located next to Office Depot on the side closest to Lomita Blvd.)
Torrance, CA 90505
tel: (310) 530-2749
fax: (310) 530-4318
Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays
Lunch: 11:30am to 2:30pm
Dinner: 5:30pm to 10:00pm

May 2010 Note: I had to close comments on this post because Every Single Day I was getting SPAM comments coming from Japan (strange, huh?) After rejecting what seems like hundreds of comments, I realized I can close comments on a single post. - mary the food librarian

Raspberry Blanc-Manger (Tuesdays with Dorie)

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy selected Raspberry Blanc-Manger on pages 398 and 399 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

The Blanc-Manger. I thought it was a cousin of the Mont Blanc fountain pen.

Turns out it's a cousin of the panna cotta with some almond meal, whipped cream, milk, raspberries and gelatin. It is pronounced: "blah-mahn-jhay"

Beyond simple to make, it's like eating sweet air.

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
Find it on Susan's pretty blog or on this NPR piece, "It's never too hot in the Kitchen for Dessert" (June 22, 2007)

Homemade Rice-a-Roni (Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli from Everyday Food)

Oh, the box. The box rocks.

Sometimes, it comes to my door with a big Amazon label and I do a little happy dance of retail therapy happiness.

And I can't name one person who doesn't love a big pink box from the bakery.

Anyway, I often have a few boxes in the kitchen...a San Francisco treat!

I do enjoy the Rice-A-Roni (chicken flavor is my favorite). However, the crazy high sodium content and long list of "ingredients" with many syllables makes me long for a different recipe. I found this recipe for Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli on the Everyday Food website.

1/2 onion, finely chopped, 1 ounce of angel hair pasta, and 2/3 c long grain white rice are the main ingredients. I tried to health it up a notch and used whole wheat angel hair pasta. Next time, I want to replace some of the white rice with long grain brown rice (might need to cook it a bit longer).

Saute in a pan, just like the box and add low-sodium chicken broth. You can go vegan and make it with veggie broth or powder. I threw in a bunch of finely chopped Italian parsley at the end. Or you can use dried parsley and other dried herbs (like the box stuff).

I still love you box. But this is a nice homemade version of Rice-a-Roni...with a lot less salt and ingredients you can pronounce!

Recipe:
Everyday Food Rice Pilaf with Vermicelli

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

I wish I was there when the first person took a few peanuts of out their shell and smashed them up. I would have screamed, "Awesome!"

Peanut butter is just so comforting. I love it.

And what's as great as peanut butter? The Coffee Cake (or coffeecake - space or no space? I've see it both ways all the time)

Grammar aside, I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Coffee Cake on the Suite101.com website.

I got this cute Hello Kitty figurine from one of those vending machines that 7 year olds love. $1 in quarters gets you one of 6 different figurines - "collect them all" the machine screams. I'm sure this guitar playin' Hello Kitty likes peanut butter too.

The batter has flour, brown sugar, and peanut butter...and the topping is flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, chocolate chips and butter. Double peanut butter!

I thought the cake is a little salty...it has both peanut butter and a bit of salt. I think I would drop the additional salt in the batter. Note: I don't use much salt in my diet so I'm more sensitive to the flavor, so this might not be true for you. Also, I used Skippy creamy peanut butter and this jar might have more salt than yours.

Overall, excellent reviews at the library. Everyone loves peanut butter and coffee cake...and you probably have all the ingredients in the house. Make it soon!

Recipe:
Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

Brioche Plum, Nectarine, Peach, and Apricot Tart (Tuesdays with Dorie)

Happy Bastille Day! I went to the Los Angeles Bastille Day festivities in Elysian Park on Sunday, and today Tuesdays with Dorie celebrates with brioche!

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Denise of Chez Us picked Brioche Plum Tart on pages 54 and 55of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

The tart is a brioche dough topped with fruit. Yes, a combination of buttery, rich bread and summer fruit. We were destined for success!

I missed the Farmer's Market this week (again!!) and picked up some nectarines, peaches, red plums and black velvet apricots at my local store. I've never had the black velvet apricot (pictured above)...but its skin is sorta velvety! The inside is like an apricot.

I made the dough last night and got up at 3:20 am to make this tart! If I fall asleep while answering reference questions later today, just feed me a piece of this and I'm sure I'll perk right up.

A layer of peach jam was spread on the brioche dough. Then my various stone fruits were placed on top.

And what happens when you make something before dawn? You "misread" the directions. I thought I was supposed to mix the fruit and sugar together (like a pie) and let things macerate for 30 minutes during the 1st rise in the pan cycle. However, when I reread the directions after the tart was in the oven (yes, this IS the best time to reread the directions!), it turned out the sugar was supposed to go on top of the fruit. Thus, I got no caramelization. Oh well, it's still yummy!

The Brioche Fruit Tart.
It's worth getting up early.

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers! I can't wait to see everyone's take on this - I'm sure there will be a whole farmer's market of fruit and jam!

Recipe:
Find the recipe on Denise's blog Chez Us or buy Dorie's great book, Baking: From My Home to Yours!

Cantaloupe and Cucumber Sorbet

Esi of Dishing up Delights has a great blog. Really. Everything she cooks or bakes is so scrumptious. Most days I just want to put a fork into the screen. Seriously, if scratch-and-sniff stickers have been popular since the 80's, why can't we someone create a way to eat what we see on the Interwebnets?

Well, until that much needed invention comes along, I just have to make some of Esi's delicious treats. Recently, she made Cantaloupe Sorbet...and I just had to make it, with a little cucumber twist.

I think cantaloupe and cucumber have refreshing flavors so I combined the two in a sorbet.

I meant to add some vodka to keep the sorbet from getting rock hard, but didn't have any. I'll just have to eat it all really fast.

Esi adapted a recipe from Chaos In the Kitchen who adapted it from David Lebovitz. All roads for any frozen dessert come via Mr. Lebovitz! :)

Here is what I did:
Cantaloupe and Cucumber Sorbet
1/2 cantaloupe, or 2 cups seeded and chopped cantaloupe, or 15 ounces of chopped cantaloupe
1/2 cup seeded and chopped cucumber
1/2 c sugar
2 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice

Blitz the cantaloupe and cucumber in a food processor until smooth. In a bowl, combine the puree, sugar and lemon juice. Freeze in an ice cream maker.

Happy Summer! This sorbet is really refreshing. I had some for breakfast this morning (hey, it has fruit and veggies!)

Beach City Baked Donuts (Redondo Beach, CA)

There's a new donut place in town. I love the donut, and I was especially intrigued by these because they are BAKED and not fried.

I visited Beach Cities Baked Donut in Redondo Beach. The store, owned by Koji Shimooka and Gina Samejima, cooks the donuts in waffle press-like machines. According to an article in the Daily Breeze, Koji saw these donuts in his native Japan and brought back the idea.

The donut's texture is spongy and cakey...nothing close to the airy, super sweet texture of Krispy Kreme donuts. It tastes like many Japanese cakes - so I loved them. However, they are definitely are not the prettiest donuts!

The plain donut is $1.25 and the rest are $1.50 each. The mixed dozen is $15.00. Yes, way more than Krispy Kreme, but I think of these more of a Starbucks muffin or loaf type of treat. Because they don't have a glaze (or the deep fry grease), they are drier and less sweet than your usual donut. I suggest having a nice cup of tea, coffee or milk with these donuts. The donut shop has a coffee bar as well as chilled bottled drinks.

I bought:
Honey Drip
Golden Soy (Kinako)
Coco
Cinnamon Sugar
Chocolate Chocolate Chip

Unfortunately, the Green Tea donuts weren't ready when I stopped by. Each donut is individually wrapped. I've found many Japanese and Asian pastries are packaged this way...yes, probably a violation of the Kyoto Protocol, but helpful if you want to save your treat for later.

The store has three of these machines in the front of the store so you can watch the donuts being made.

I recently bought a new mini-donut maker from King Arthur (I'm working on a post about these)...and I wonder if I can recreate some of the flavors at home.

My favorite was the Golden Soy donut. It is covered in Kinako (soybean flour) and sugar. I am definitely heading back to try the green tea as I love green tea or matcha flavored anything! I also want to try their specialty donuts such as Earl Grey, Apricot and Japanese Sweet Potato.

My co-workers liked the Golden Soy and Honey Drip donuts. Least favorite were the chocolate chocolate chip and coco donuts.

Honey Drip (plain) and the Coco baked donut

Bottom Line: I don't think Homer Simpson would approve of these baked donuts because they don't have enough fat and sugar, but I think Lisa Simpson would like them! :)

Location:
Beach City Baked Donuts
Where: 501 N. Pacific Coast Highway @ Beryl, Redondo Beach
Hours: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Phone: 310-303-3159

Articles/Photos:
Daily Breeze newspaper article: Baking, yes baking, a healthier doughnut, by Melissa Heckscher, Wednesday, July 8, 2009.

Here are some nice photos from the Daily Breeze.

Donut Peach Galette for You Want Pies with That?

For this month's You Want Pies with That? challenge, Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake and Mary of Alpineberry came up with this month's theme: Taste of Summer Pie!

Summer to me is all about stone fruit. I love stone fruit. I grew up eating peaches from my parent's backyard. The house always had apricots, plums and nectarines from the store. I remember when I discovered the goodness that is the white peach and nectarine. And I jump for joy when I first see the mango-flavored nectarine at the Farmer's Market at the beginning of summer. And don't get me started about my special relationship with the pluot...

Have you tried the Donut or Saturn peach? It's a sweet, squat white peach that, well, looks like a donut or the rings of Saturn. (Yes, I bet that one was hard to figure out! :)

By the way, I've used this green platter in a few posts. It is a piece of Mary Law Pottery. She has a great studio in Berkeley, CA. I bought it when I got my bread platter by Gary Holt (see this post), and I forgot to showcase this one! Check out Mary Law's website...and visit her studio if you ever visit Northern California.

For this one, I wanted to keep the donut shape so I just rinsed it off and plopped the lovely fruit (with pit) on my completely misshapen pie crust. I had some frozen ginger spice cookies I made last week so I crumbed some of them underneath. And I dropped some butter and sugar on top. Bake and eat. Yum.

Be sure to check out the other You Want Pies with That? pies and delights!

Recipe:
Pie Crust: 1 1/4 c flour, dash of salt, 1 stick butter, 2 1/2 T ice water (a variation of Martha Stewart's Pie Crust)
Saturn or Donut Peach
Ginger Spice Cookie crumbs