Glaze or Frosting?

One of the toughest choices a home baker has to make is how to finish a cake, cupcake or cookie/ Do you go with the satiny, glossy glaze or the fluffy, buttery frosting? Therein lies the question. what works?.

I tackled this question last month, going into a great deal about the different types of icing out there. Now I will be making spice cake cupcakes from a Duncan Hines mix. Originally, I wanted to top them off with a frosting. Since the cake has more or less the same spices as carrot cake a cream cheese frosting would make sense. It has a tang to it that would work well with the cinnamon, allspice, coriander, ginger, and nutmeg. I even planned to use my new cake decorating set from Wilton, dreams of curlicues and roses dancing in my baker's head, Unfortunately, the frosting may be a bit overpowering in taste, the spices and the blend of cream cheese , butter  and vanilla competing with each other. Should I go with a plain buttercream?  Not enough oomph, and too dull. What about another spice cake topper - maple buttercream which sounds too super sweet. It is  -  paired with confectioners and in some recipes  - brown sugar. The taste alone would drown out the cake - not something I want in a frosting.

Inspiration came in the form of my favorite bakery. The B&W Bakery of Hackensack, New Jersey  has recipes from the original German owners. Even though the current owners are now Korean, they kept many of the original ones for cakes and icings. One is a spice cupcake with a chocolate icing glaze. Bingo!!! That 's what I want. The dark, earthy cocoa  notes will work well with the spices, highlighting them,, instead of smothering their different and unique flavors.It also won't' be that sweet either  since a few glaze recipes are only comprised of chocolate and whole cream. The question is what would be the best glaze? There are several recipes I found on the web. There is the one mentioned above that requires only scalding the cream and adding semi-sweet chocolate chips. I am leaning towards that one. Another calls for granulated sugar and cocoa powder. These are sifted together  and then warm water and butter are added to give it that liquidy glossiness. What is good about using a glaze is that it's easy to use on any baked good.  Just dip the cupcake tops into it, then twist them to get rid of the excess . That's it. No fancy squiggles or buds. It's easy and the cupcakes will look elegant as oppsed to just cute. I may add a candy heart on each cupcake, but that will be enough .

A  chocolate glaze is going to be perfect for my spice cupcakes. It'll not only highlight the cakes' flavor but also give them a lovely, classy look. Perfect to look at and perfect to eat.

Deep Nutrition A New Spin On Healthy Eating

Can food determine if we'll have perfect children? Is vegetable oil the cause of autism? These are some interesting questions posed and answered in a new  riveting book on dieting. It not only gives us advice and recipes but food for thought.

Deep Nutrition:Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food (Flatiron Books Publishing 2017) is a provocative book written by Dr. Catherine Shanahan M.D. that explores foods' impact on not just our bodies but our lives as well. Some chapters may be read with a raised eyebrow and a head scratch. According to Dr. Shanahan , even reproduction and producing the perfect baby is all down to what we eat. She recommends that there be at least three years age difference between children so all kids in a family get the benefits of the nutrients in their mother's body. It's that kind of philosophy that is eye opening.There are also chapters that deal with autism and the reason for it - which is vegetable oil. As we all know it is bad for us, and she goes into great detail as to why and what we can sub in its place.  A good chunk of the book is also focused on sugars and why they're bad along with their effect on the body and mind. She also goes after starches too and explains in great detail why they're bad. Dr. Shanahan is pro-carb along with giving advice on good and bad fats.

The book does have some recipes, namely salad dressing and sauerkraut. The doctor is big on fermented foods because probiotics are vital to gut health. There is also one for bone beef broth , or basically Paleo bone broth It is a tasty one because she adds mirepoix , the holy trinity of French cooking along with her version of a bouquet garni. What is surprising is that she does greenlight cold cuts with their nitrates and fats.She also OKs sausages and ham - again most dieticians and nutritionist would warn against this.Most will enjoy her meal charts that offer only three to five hundred calories and a number of different choices. The book provides a list of her favorite raw foods which readers will like too. There are such tasty choices as prosciutto, real milk and cream along with ice cream. Some may even like her list of organ meats such as chicken and duck liver pate along with blood sausage and lamb's kidneys fried in butter Yes, Dr. Shanahan recommends even hamburgers but they must be eaten in the original Hamburg style , without the bun and with  mushrooms in a demi-glace sauce.Also allowed are chicken with dumplings and turkey with gravy.It's not a bad diet if you can just give up any store  bought baked goods.fermented foods also are recommended  and she is big on them,suggesting kimchi and pickles.

Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Ford posing interesting ideas about the effects of food on every part of the human body.

is a truly riveting book.It's not your average diet and recipe book. It's much deeper,

Any Sharp Knife Sharpener A Sharp gadget

Knives are an integral part of any kitchen, whether home or restaurant. They always need to be sharp in order to slice  and dice, chop and mince. All this work makes them dull . Luckily there is a gadget out there that can restore sharpness/

Any Sharp Knife Sharpener is a neat, compact little gadget that's so small that it fits in the palm of your hand.mIt comes in the variety of colors and has a suction bottom that lets it attach to any surface. That means that home chefs can use two hands when honing their knives. There's also a long lasting polymer guiding top that won;t harm any blade. and is soft.There's also less chance of any accident happening too, with the Any Sharp honing to a perfect angle.Even those who have never sharpened a knife before will have great success with it, The directions are easy to follow , providing the knives are sharpened east to west or right to left.

Does it work? Look at the picture below. I used the family paring and slicing knife which hasn't been sharpened in a while . Look

I also used it on my Farberware knife.Unfortunately, I can't set the video just right but you can see how  it work

Knives are a vital part of any kitchen. They need to be precise and sharpened after many uses. Get the AnySharp knife sharpener  to hone your parers and carvers. 

Tout Les Eclairs

One of the most delicious pastries to enjoy is the French eclair. A true Gallic one, filled with delicate cream inside an airy puff of a choux shell is hard to find, non? Not anymore. There a fantastic new cookbook that has every kind of eclair from traditional to the innovative.

Award-winning pastry chef, Christophe Adam has written a very easy to follow book Eclairs,Easy Elegant and Modern Recipes (Robert Rose Press ) all about his signature dish, The classic French pastryParis features everything from popcorn stuffing to sexy eclairs. that feature not the traditional dark chocolate icing ,but a sexy sugar screened picture of a voluptuous Madame Noel or Mrs. Santa.It's no surprise that his good friend is Dominic Ansel, the creator of the famed and wanted cronut. Chef Adam, shares the same high-spirited sense of inventiveness and fun.The cookbook reflects his innovative style with such interesting and nontraditional ingredients as hazelnuts and passionfruits. Unlike some loftier pastry chefs, Chef Adam explains how to make the eclairs in simple language any home chef can understand along with providing detailed pictures of how-tos.What I like about it is the book is that he as a detailed and illustrated list of tools needed as well as his encouragement to go off script and come up with your own original fillings and toppings
, named after lightning,  has been elevated to gourmet status thanks to a sprucing up. Hist patisserie L'eclair de Genie, in the Marais section of

The eclairs themselves are in a rainbow of colors. The choux dough can even be dyed itself to create bright pink shells.perfect for strawberry or raspberry filled eclairs. There is a lemon filled one that has a gaily decorated shell complete with streusel balls and Swiss meringue dots. Apricot eclairs would be a nice treat for any Spring party. The filling is a mix of apricot puree with soft dried apricots and whole cream.Black currents are usually reserved for tarts but Chef Adam makes them an integral part of the eclair filling. The same goes for figs.passionfruit and raspberries. Of course there is the traditional chocolate ones made luxurious with the addition of whole cream and butter. It's decorated with small  squares of gold sugar dusted chocolate. For total fun, whip up the ever fun crunchy chocolate eclairs filled with ganache but topped with silver sugar coated chocolate pop rocks. Caramel , the flavor of the moment is also a filling.with a layer of caramel fondant on top. .There is even a sweet Valentines 'Day themed one where there are heart halves gracing the icing. Keep in mind that all the eclair recipes require gelatin sheets or powder.They can be found at some grocery stores , including Wal-Mart. They are used for thickening the cream so they 're a more solid,,  instead of being gooey and runny.

Eclairs are the new star of the pastry chef. Chef Adam has turned them into flights of delicious fantasy with his innovative recipes and ingredients. Now everyone can experience them in his new  easy to follow cookbook.

The Hottest Cooking Trend The Instant Pot

There is a new star in the kitchen these days and it's the Instant Pot. This multipurpose cooker has been winning hearts and taste buds and its' fan club is growing bigger by the day.Is it that special?Is it a home chef's must have? Possibly.

Melissa Clark wrote about this phenomenon in today's New York Times Food section. Home chefs have written glowing reviews on it on Amazon..It is probably used more than the stove and microwave these days.There is a reason for this. The Instant Pot is not just a pressure cooker.It's also a rice cooker, yogurt maker and slow cooker., which makes it that much more desirable, especially to home chefs with small kitchens.There is also the growing trend too, in its' favor. Electric pressure cookers are one of the fastest growing  kitchen appliances with sales doubling and tripling over the last four years.Over three million units have been sold in 2015.It's been on Amazon's top ten best seller list for 2016.Why is it so popular. There are a number of reasons.It's designed with many self- regulating safety features such as sensors to monitor the unit's temperature and amount of pressure.it's also easy to use - just tap a button and that;'s it.it's also cooks faster than the regular slow cooker. Instead of a whole day, the dish is ready is in half an hour.

How does it cook? Ms Clark tried a variety of different meats. and veggies.Pork shoulder turned out heavenly. Lamb shanks took only forty minutes to cook and the result was a silky soft texture.It only took spare ribs twenty minutes to cook and they were done to perfection. It cut the time to cook down a collagen-rich beef bone broth into one afternoon instead of two days. Unfortunately chicken didn't fare so well. The skin was rubbery and soggy while the meat turned out to be stringy and dry with undercooked dark meat. Her steamed chicken breasts with ginger turned out much better. Veggies also came out blah, Ms.. Clark experimented with a variety of different ones and the only exceptions that came out just right were beets and artichokes. Don't think about putting broccoli, kale zucchini, fennel or mushrooms.in it. They'll just turn limp, soggy and unappealing. Desserts can be cooked in it and Ms. Clark gives a chocolate pudding recipe that can be made in less than half an hour. The Instant Pot also whips up a good batch of yogurt too  however it's so so for rice. One of the best functions is that it perfectly hard boils eggs creating ones with easily peel off shells.

The Instant Pot is the newest star of the kitchen. It has a growing fan base  of home chefs who love it  for a variety of different tasty and delicious dishes. It's time to abandon the stove for this miracle multi-talented pressure cooker..

The Oven It's Not Just For Cakes And Cookies

Most home chefs just use the oven for making sweet treats such as chocolate chip cookies or red velvet cake.. Yet the oven can produce  such savory masterpieces as crown roasts  and baked sandwiches. Using this way is a nice departure from stove top cooking.

Of course one of the best savory oven meals is the pizza. It's a nice departure from the pizzeria and frozen kinds. Some purists get a pizza stone, a round disc made out of soapstone or marble. These help to create a crispier crust, however, a round baking sheet or even an oblong one . The crust won't be as crispy as one baked on a stone but it will still be delicious. A homemade pie can be customized to fit everyone's needs, wit extra sauce or more cheese. Then there's the toppings which can feature the traditional pepperoni and olives or the unusual like buffalo chicken and pineapple chunks. Another Southern  Italian treat that's oven baked is the calzone. It's a pizza turned inside out. Calzone translates into big sock and it is just that. It's filled with everything from ricotta and mozzarella to spinach, ham and, chopped pork sausage. Baking time is a quick fifteen to seventeen minutes. Sandwiches such as grilled cheese actually taste better oven baked than they do fried, They're also a very quick bake too. It's only five minutes in a 450 degree F. oven.. Another plus is that you can make six to eight sandwiches at a time. This is great if you have a hungry crowd to feed and there's no time to wait.

Baked sandwiches are wonderful lunches or Sunday suppers. Grilled cheese in the oven has so many variations. Try sharp Vermont cheddar on white bread. Jazz it up with some bacon slices and sliced tomatoes for a diner special  The Happy Waitress. One of my favorites is a Piedmontese dish from my Nonna's side. Leeks on toast is a tasty and filling combo of cooked leeks on buttered toast. More butter is added on top of the leeks along with a heavy sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, The average sandwich can also be baked. Think baked club sandwiches for a hot Saturday lunch or a baked ham and cheese for a Sunday supper. One of the biggest oven trends right now is sheet  pan meals This is an easy way to cook the main dish and sides all together. There are so many variations from vegan to hearty meat lovers, Many home chefs combine chicken with different vegetables.Small red potatoes are the veggie of choice along with broccoli and peppers to create a tasty and filling meals.Cut sausage makes a wonderful main ingredient in a sheet pan meal, Try it with peppers and potatoes cut into cubes..Pork chops are also wonderful in a sheet pan dinner. Pair with string beans and sweet potatoes for a real rib sticking meal.

Ovens are not just for baking sweet treats such as cakes and cookies You can create delicious, savory meals that are baked to perfection. Try them and get hooked on this ingenious way of cooking lunches and dinners.

The Future Of Our Imports

What will the  new administration be like for food importers and overseas growers? It's going to be a tough time however long it lasts. What should we do? That's a good question and there's not a solid answer.

This blog has stayed away from all things political - that's not my direction with it. I write about trends and recipes, nutrition and new products However with the new American administration, Americans are going to be hurt by certain bans, Our fruits and vegetables that come in from Mexico will now be higher in price thanks to our president wanting to build a wall on our border  with the Mexicans paying for it. How does that affect us?  Mexican farmers will charge more for the vegetables they grow. That means tomatoes and avocados will cost more and to many families that means going without. Some fruits such as strawberries will also be in the crossfires along with bananas and raspberries. The Chihuahua region gives the US most of it' pecans, contrary to the popular belief that they come from Georgia. Pecans are usually used in pies around the holidays so many  home chefs and bakers won't be that affected by them. Restaurants, however, do use them, namely in salads and some chicken dishes. This will increase in pricing. with the larger chains and smaller, privately owned ones.

Beer drinkers will also be affected. Corona and Dos Equis both come from there as does tequila. These along with drinks made with them, across the US will also go up in price thanks to the building of this "wall". Agave syrup, now popular with hipsters and health, will also be affected. Organic agave is expensive enough with prices ranging from eleven  dollars to fifteen may go up  in pricing starting at sixteen at the cheapest and twenty at the most expensive. If all this occurs what can we do? Luckily the US has some great summer harvests with fruits and vegetables coming in from all areas of the US. The winter will be a little more trickier. We'll have to rely on Hawaii, California, and Florida for produce. Americans will probably be returning to  using Georgia raised pecans. Since New Mexico and Arizona have the same kind of desert conditions as most of Mexico, they can be the producers of both agave syrup and even tequila.  We can also protest the wall and stop all this nonsense too.

Hopefully, this new president  will renege on his pledge to "build that wall". It will not only create animosity with the Mexicans but also hurt our trade and eating habits. He should come to his senses and realize a wall is not the answer.