(No, we didn't make these cupcakes but they were lovely!)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
One Word Wednesday...Tiers
(No, we didn't make these cupcakes but they were lovely!)
Labels:
baking,
One Word Wednesday
Monday, September 28, 2009
Foodspiration Retrospective: Lauren's Baking Favorites!
In celebration of one year of Foodspiration, we're revisiting our favorite posts from the past.
Okay, I was supposed to pick one post that represents my favorites from Foodspiration (and That Would Be Lovely- which was a separate baking blog before we combined the two). And I just couldn't pick one. So I'm breaking the rules and picking TWO! They are all about baking because I just love it!
My top two:
1. The most beautiful cupcakes I ever made: The Hello Cupcake cookbook inspired me with new ways to decorate cupcakes. I actually bought the book for this recipe alone! These cupcakes introduced me to the decorative world of candy melts. Click on the link to see the step by step and be inspired by the possibilities!
2. A must for crust: three ways to beautify your pie: Pie season is here and this was a fun post to explore ways to make your crust look spectacular! From egg washes to easy cutouts to serious Martha Stewart crust construction, there's something for everyone in this post. You should definitely take a peek for a few easy ways to impress the family over the holidays.
So, these are our favorites. Were there others that you remember and really liked?
Okay, I was supposed to pick one post that represents my favorites from Foodspiration (and That Would Be Lovely- which was a separate baking blog before we combined the two). And I just couldn't pick one. So I'm breaking the rules and picking TWO! They are all about baking because I just love it!
My top two:
So, these are our favorites. Were there others that you remember and really liked?
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Foodspiration Retrospective: Full Belly of Eggs
In celebration of one year of Foodspiration, we're revisiting our favorite posts from the past.
When I look back over the last year, I realize that my very first post Full Belly of Eggs is emblematic of what Foodspiration is to me . . . taking ideas about our food system (traditional, local, technical, cultural, culinary, etc), and mixing them all up in a point of view the peeks into the future, but also gives full recognition to how we got here. Foodspiration is about exploration, about taste, about sharing, about learning, and about eating. Foodspiration is about creating alternatives only made possible through engagement and dialogue.
What does a Fully Belly of Eggs actually look like? . . . this photo didn't make the original cut, but thought I would share it now. Click here to see the originals.
When I look back over the last year, I realize that my very first post Full Belly of Eggs is emblematic of what Foodspiration is to me . . . taking ideas about our food system (traditional, local, technical, cultural, culinary, etc), and mixing them all up in a point of view the peeks into the future, but also gives full recognition to how we got here. Foodspiration is about exploration, about taste, about sharing, about learning, and about eating. Foodspiration is about creating alternatives only made possible through engagement and dialogue.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Happy First Birthday, Foodspiration! … and It’s Food Science Friday!

We are celebrating our first year of Foodspiration! (This was Justin's 2008 birthday cake, right about the time we started Foodspiration and my former baking blog--click here for the past post.) We are so excited to celebrate this past year of sharing our passion for food and our desire to inspire everyone to engage with cooking and eating in small daily ways.
We also wanted to say thank you for reading and commenting and trying our suggestions and ideas for yourself. Nothing makes us happier than to get an email or a comment that you tried a recipe or went to a foodie spot that we recommended. It’s all about the little things!
So in honor of our year of Foodspiration, we are each going to reminisce and link to our favorite posts for the next few days. You may have noticed that we’ve upped our posting frequency and added One Word Wednesdays and Food Science Fridays. We hope you like them!

And for today’s Food Science Friday . . . a fun fact about cake mix!
Do know what one of the most common reasons behind a failed cake from a cake mix is? Old-age! That’s right, even cake mixes have an expiration date. The leavening system (i.e. baking powder) which produces gas bubbles that create the rise and fluffy structure in cakes, can slowly react over time. Cake mixes that are past the expiration dates are likely to have problems rising due to reacted leavening.
Next Friday we’ll talk about the difference between baking soda and baking powder, why they can’t be substituted, and why you should pay attention to the expiration date.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
We're Giving More Foodspiration...
Have you noticed? In the spirit of being food-spired in the small moments, we are going to have more short posts during the week. So, look for experience and recipe posts on Mondays, followed by One-Word Wednesdays, a bit of Food Science Trivia on Fridays and another experience and recipe post on Saturdays!
And feel free to send us suggestions for topics! We love to hear from you!
And feel free to send us suggestions for topics! We love to hear from you!
Lauren and Justin
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Banana Split Nostalgia
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Last Taste of Summer and A Hint of Fall: Peach Brown Sugar Ice Cream
Don't be fooled, the short paragraph of instructions for this recipe from Epicurious actually entailed quite a few steps. So don't commit unless you're ready.
So I remade the custard. And just heated it until it coated the back of a spoon which was more like 160F instead of 175F in the recipe.
Step five: put it through the sieve, and let it cool.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Food Science Friday: Ice Cream

(Ugandan Vanilla and Ohio Heirloom Pumpkin & Mascarpone
Ice Cream from our visit to Jeni's)
Today's topic is ice cream! Here are three fun food science facts about ice cream:
1. Did you know that ice cream is actually a foam? That's right, a frozen foam of air dispersed in the frozen ice cream matrix. Air is whipped into the ice cream, which gives it a unique texture! Overrun is a technical term and calculation that describes the volume of air whipped into the ice cream.
2. The tasty bits of things that you find in ice cream like nuts, cookie pieces, chunks of fruit etc are called inclusions. So if you want to show off your ice cream knowledge, next time you eat cookie dough ice cream, feel free to comment on the delicious inclusions!
3. There is a federal standard that requires ice cream to contain a minimum of 10% milk fat. Premium ice creams often contain even more!
Hooray for ice cream!
Labels:
Food Science Friday
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
One Word Wednesday...Oops!
Oops!
This was supposed to be a custard ice cream preparation to go into an ice cream machine and to quote my mom who was looking over my shoulder, "that doesn't look right." She was absolutely correct.
Labels:
One Word Wednesday
Monday, September 14, 2009
Vintage Cake Lessons Learned: Lady Baltimore Cake
My great-aunt E passed away this summer at the age of 97. We were very close and I was so pleased to receive her cut-glass cake plate. This was an occasion to remake this cake to see if my improved baking skills and proper ingredients would make this cake blossom.
And not to spoil the ending but...the cake was still pretty terrible. I would never recommend this for a first time baker because it uses a million bowls (ok, three), it has a beaten egg white step (which I messed up and had to redo), and it just didn't taste great. Can a recipe go out of style? I think this one just did!
2) I creamed the sugar and shortening, that's right, shortening. Hey, it's a vintage recipe and so I followed it.
As for the frosting, this took 4 more egg whites that were beaten to peaks.
So, here's what I learned from this vintage cake recipe:
1) Tastes have changed. I don't see this cake making any books' top ten list in this day and age. I really liked the frosting but the nuts and dried fruits just didn't add the right kind of flavor.
2) Women used to jump through a lot of hoops to make cakes like this. I can see why the cake mix was a huge hit after making this cake! What a commitment!
3) It sure looked beautiful.
It also reminded me that not everyone likes the same thing and that some recipes just aren't great. I thought it was my lack of baking skills when I was 13 that made this cake not so tasty. Turns out, I just didn't like it. However, I am looking forward to making many many more cakes to grace this elegant plate.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Why You Should Make This No-Knead Bread Recipe!
And that being said, I AM A CONVERT. This no knead recipe is pretty fantastic. Here's the link to a video of making it and here's the link to the recipe. It's so easy, I'm going to show you how we did it and how you need to forget what you know about bread.
**This recipe has a 12-18 hour rise time so I recommend starting it on a Friday night so you can bake it Saturday morning and you need a cast iron pot and lid or dutch oven to bake it in. If you don't have one, check out this link for alternatives.**
So, please...bake this bread!!! You won't be disappointed!
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