Kitchen Runway

2Sep/102

Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes & Cake

Our dear friends, Mike and Christa, asked if I would make a "smash" cake and cupcakes for their daughter's 1st birthday party. I was happy to bake for their little girl's birthday party, but I've never made an official birthday cake or worked with fondant before. Uh oh. Thank goodness fondant is not that difficult to work with otherwise I would be pretty embarrassed to bring a sad looking cake to the party. If you know how to play with play doh then you can work with fondant. I stuck with simple decorations since I really have no idea how to do much else with fondant besides cut shapes. Christa's favorite childhood cake flavor was Vanilla Funfetti Cake. So that's the flavor that we decided to go with for both the cake and cupcakes. The colors for the party was pink and yellow so I used pink sprinkles in the cake for the "funfetti" and topped the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and fondant hearts and flowers.

I adapted the recipe from the Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes. The cake is very buttery...almost like a pound cake. It is so good fresh from the oven without frosting. Make sure you do not over beat the batter or the cake will be very tough and dense.

1st birthday cake

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30Aug/109

OC Foodie Fest

Last Saturday was the first ever OC Foodie Fest. It was a gathering of 50 gourmet food trucks at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA benefiting Pretend City Children's Museum, Child Share and Cart for a Cause. It was a sold out event with 8,500 people attending. I am so fascinated by the gourmet food truck movement. I find it very interesting how people and businesses adapt to the changing economy (can you tell I majored in Economics?). It is a difficult time to open a restaurant with the high over head cost during this financial climate. No wonder restaurant entrepreneurs are taking their food and putting it on wheels! It definitely is a smart move and a concept that many people nationwide are embracing.

I was excited to volunteer at the OC Foodie Fest and got to attend as "Media" to help document the event through pictures. It was my first time interviewing and taking pictures for an event. It was so much fun talking to the owners, hearing their personal stories, and seeing the passion and love for their food and work come through. Owning and operating a food truck is no joke. The restaurant business is a tough and competitive business - with or without wheels!

Our first stop was the famous Nom Nom Truck. When we popped by they were still prepping. Wish I had asked to try a banh mi because when the event started the Nom Nom truck was by far the most popular truck there! The line for this truck was intense as people lined up to try the banh mi that has been dominating the Food Network Great Food Truck Race. These girls attended UCLA Anderson School of Business and it shows. If you have been watching the Food Network Great Food Truck Race then you already know that it takes much more than great food to succeed. You must depend on your business savvy to keep your food truck in the spot light, draw a crowd and keep a following. To my fellow Bruins - you girls ROCK!!

Our second stop: Crepes Bonaparte. Crepes Bonaparte is based in Orange County and is also participating in the Food Network Great Food Truck Race. Don't let their friendly smiles and professional outfits fool you - these professional crepe makers are fierce competition on the show. Christian and Danielle gracious took a picture with my sister and me. Same issue as before - I was there an hour and half before the event and the trucks were conserving their propane so hot food was not ready to try. Once event opened their line was packed. My little sister really wanted to try a crepe. Good thing they are local because we are going to track down their truck the next time they are in the area.

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19Aug/104

Braised Tofu

Braised tofu is one of my favorite go to dishes when I'm in a hurry. Tofu is a great source of protein and excellent at absorbing flavor. My friend Alissa first introduced me to braising tofu and I've been hooked ever since. Braising is a cooking method where you first cook your main ingredient on a high heat then finish cooking it in a liquid. When you use this technique with tofu it makes it crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The soy sauce, garlic and honey mixture soaks in to the tofu during the cooking process giving the tofu a rich savory flavor. This satifying vegetarian dish can be served as a side or an entree. You can also easily add ground turkey or beef to the dish if you like. Just brown the meat first, set aside, brown tofu and then add meat and sauce.

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Tagged as: Asian, soy sauce, tofu, vegetarian Continue reading

17Aug/105

LA Bakery Crawl

A couple of months ago some Southern California food bloggers exchanged a few tweets on Twitter about pub crawls. These tweets then evolved to the notion of a bakery crawl! So that's how this genius idea was born....all with a few simple tweets! But with all great ideas someone needs to put it in motion. Sara of Our Private Kitchen was our person. This is the 2nd LA Bakery Crawl that she's organized and she is becoming quite the pro at it! Chrystal of Duo Dishes, Julia of Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body, and I met Sara and her husband in LA for a day filled with fresh baked goods and luscious truffles.

The itinerary:

1) 9am meet at Huckleberry in Santa Monica

2) Susie Cakes in Brentwood

3) Compartes Chocolatier in Brentwood

4) Jin Patisserie in Venice

Huckleberry was our first stop and it was busy on at 9:00am on Saturday. There were no empty tables inside and there was a constant line at the counter. Signs of a successful eatery and it was definitely a great choice to start off the day! They had a vast selection of fresh baked goods and breakfast dishes. Chrystal and I shared a Raspberry Butter Cake that was rich and buttery. The crust was buttery and crunchy and the cake was moist. There was corn meal mixed into the batter which gave the cake a nice texture and crumble. The raspberries were slightly tart and gave the cake a fresh pop. It was the perfect way to start the morning. There were so many tempting baked goods to choose from that it was hard to pick just one, especially since there were three more places on the list. Reluctantly, we paced ourselves. Good thing there were 5 of us so we got to try a little bit of every one's selection!

Don't think that we let that last piece go to waste....I ate it! =)

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6Aug/1011

Taylor’s 3rd Birthday Party

I didn't grow up with dogs and at first I was very hesistant about bringing a dog into our home. I was concerned about the shedding, potty training, the chewing, the drool, the time, the vet bills and the list went on and on. My husband on the other hand grew up with dogs and was anxious to add one to our family. After much discussion that went no where, he ended up just purchasing Taylor, a ¾ golden retriever and ¼ cocker spaniel mix, (without getting my final okay) and then showed me her puppy pictures afterwards.

This little face - sealed the deal...

Eight weeks later I was in love with the idea of getting a puppy. The weekly puppy pictures made me more excited to finally meet our new dog. Shortly after bringing Taylor home, I quickly learned that a great bond and love instantly develops between you and your dog and they are an incredible addition to the family and home. Their capacity to love unconditionally is amazing and that is more than enough reason celebrate their birthday. I know throwing a party for your dog may sound strange to some, but I think it's a great reason to get together and enjoy a beautiful day outside...and the pups deserve to be celebrated. This isn't a typical recipe post, but I wanted to share how I decorated the cupcakes for this dog party and an easy favor bag idea that can easily be used for other parties.