Yocake - Rockville, MD

Happy Memorial Day Weekend guys! Soooo I'm supposed to be getting "bikini ready", however there's a Yocake a few minutes away from me that's open until 10pm on Fri-Sat...oh my waistline. Their original location in Montgomery Mall opened in 2009, and congrats to them for expanding to a freestanding store in Rockville and soon in Dupont Circle. 

The Rockville store has limited parking in front, but I've never had a problem finding a parking space. Plus, people have been making their own spaces by parking wherever they want.

The exterior looks completely different compared to the interior. Dark bricks covering the whole building bring an old, closed-off feeling, but the bright, white and modern decor is refreshing and gender neutral. Some cupcake places can be a bit girlie, but the bf doesn't feel out of place there!

Yocake combines two of the biggest food fads ever - frozen yogurt and cupcakes. Such a simple yet brilliant concept. My cousin ordered their signature YoCake, which is (as the name suggests) a cupcake with frozen yogurt on top ($3.95). You can add toppings for an additional cost. If you just want frozen yogurt, they have up to 9 non-fat and low-fat flavors.

They bake their cupcakes on site daily and there's always 12-16 different flavors to choose from. I've been a couple of times, and have tried the typical flavors like vanilla, chocolate, red velvet and honestly compared to other cupcakeries in the area, those flavors don't stand out. However, their fruity flavors are where it's at. Individual cupcakes are $2.75 each. We got the Buy 5, Get 1 Free for $13.75.   

We originally came in because I wanted ONE cupcake as an after dinner dessert. Welp, I got 1/2 dozen. My favorite is the Lemon Burst (lemon cake with lemon cream cheese as the filling and frosting) because their amazing frosting is also injected into the cupcake making it extra moist. The bf's fav is the Neapolitan (vanilla cake with chocolate filling and strawberry frosting). Aside from digging the combo of flavors, the frosting is great. 

An assortment of French Macarons ($1.30 each) are also offered. I tried their Pistachio flavor, which was very sweet. They are smaller than I'm typically used to, making them kind of pricey.

Overall, I love the hours because I'm always craving sweets, so when we're bored late at night, the bf and I can stop in for a treat. The staff is always very helpful and friendly. They have a good variety of options. Their cupcakes are a great price, however I like getting my frozen yogurt at places that charge by the ounce.

838-C Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 309-0863
http://www.yocake.com

Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies

Is it unfair that when I want to bake I turn to the amazing Smitten Kitchen? Perhaps I should give other bloggers a chance...eh, maybe later.
The bf loves these brownies and so do I. They may look fancy, but whip up in no time. FYI: These taste the best cold! No one likes hot cheesecake (eww) so same principle applies here.

Cheesecake-Marbled Brownies (adapted recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

Brownie batter
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter
8 ounces cream cheese, well softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (use whatever kind you want)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Heat butter and chocolate in a double-boiler  (Heat an inch of water in a small pot, place a heat resistant bowl on top and let the steam melt the ingredients. No need to boil or let the bowl touch the water)

3.  Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

4. Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.

5. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula. Smitten suggests folding the brownie batter over the cheesecake batter too. Works great!

6. Sprinkle white chocolate chips over the batter.

7. Bake for about 35 minutes. Chill the brownies in the refrigerator and ENJOY!

16 Handles - Gaithersburg, MD

It's the season for... frozen yogurt! If you guys have been following me on Twitter, you know that last summer I would eat a 1lb of froyo for lunch once a week at Caliyogurt. I was an addiction. Recently the bf and I went to Rio to try 16 Handles because the 16 self-serving flavors reminded me of Yogurtland during our SoCal trip. There is a garage and parking lots around the town center, but not directly next to the place. The closest metro stop is Shady Grove on the red line.

It's so pretty and bright on the inside! As you can see above, there isn't much seating.

They charge $.49 an ounce of yogurt/toppings, $.60 of just toppings and $1 for a waffle bowl. Not all of the flavors are non-fat as some are simply low-fat.
The 16 flavors change depending upon availability, but when we went some of the flavors were:
Angel Food Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Peanut Butter
Cookies and Cream
Birthday Cake
Vanilla
Euro Tart
Green Tea
Strawberry
Original
Blackberry
Mango

The mini screens shows the flavor and the nutritional value! The most high tech frozen yogurt dispenser I've seen yet.

They offer around 40 toppings too including cheesecake and brownie bites.

The bf and I had opposite types of froyo. I had all fruity flavors with mochi and fruit toppings...

he tried all of the cake flavors topped with candy and cheesecake bites.

This place is almost, if not as good as my favorite place (Caliyogurt) because the flavors are intense. The consistency isn't runny and is creamier rather than icy. The only minor issue is the lack of "Asian" flavors. I like my taro and lychee. Same thing with the toppings, there weren't lychee or longan fruits. I plan on going back often when the weather gets hotter!

215 Boardwalk Place
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(240) 386-8692

Nuoc Mam Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is a twist on the classic Chocolate Chip cookie. The salt has been replaced with...Fish Sauce! Nuoc Mam means fish sauce in Vietnamese, and I found this recipe one year off Anh Oi (an awesome 'apparel line designed in the spirit of Vietnam' located in the DC area, woo hoo!)

This is a very simple recipe using many common baking ingredients you'd probably already have in your house, except for the fish sauce.

Fish sauce is liquid derived from fermented fish. Appetizing, huh? I know it sounds gross if you've never had it before but it's a staple ingredient in many Asian foods, so you get used to it after a while. It has a very pungent smell and salty taste.

You can use any kind of fish sauce you like. I bought Squid brand because that was the brand always in my house while growing up.

Nuoc Mam Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Anh Oi)

Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 to 3 teaspoon nuoc mam (depends on your taste, I used 2)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used some PB chips too)
1 cup chopped nuts(optional, which I omitted)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Stir together flour and baking soda.

3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy.

4. Add eggs and nuoc mam; beat well. This part gets stinky... you're gonna be like "why did I just add fish sauce to my cookies?!" but I promise it won't smell during or after baking.

5. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. I baked different batches for different times, and found the cookies with a shorter baking time were still soft the next day.

They taste really good! Honestly, they don't taste any different from regular chocolate chip cookies. The BEST part of this is watching your friends and family's reaction when you tell them what they're eating. It's PRICELESS. I do plan on making these again with a higher amount of nuoc mam in it, just to test the flavor.
Try it out and enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

After being with the bf for 6 years, we've had so different many occasions to exchange gifts that after a while they become more practical. This time he got me an ice cream maker! Woo hoo! I got him a video game, so now we're both happy.

For my first flavor I chose vanilla because I didn't want to make anything fancy in case I didn't know what I was doing. I chose David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream recipe because this was the perfect opportunity to try one of his recipes.

Vanilla Ice Cream
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

This was my first time using a vanilla bean, and they're a lot longer than I thought. Being the second most expensive spice because of the extensive labor used to grow them, they are kinda pricey but well worth it. I went to a local spice store and got 3 for around $7. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out.

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Add the vanilla bean seeds and pod to the milk. Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks.

3. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

4. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl. Our ice maker is broken, so I just used a  bag of frozen fruit to chill the water.

5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

6. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. I'm using a Cuisinart ICE-21.

It took about 20 minutes, and I put it into a container so it could harden more in the freezer. I've heard a few hours but it took like 6 hours for me.

Serve and enjoy! You can also keep the used vanilla beans by drying them and flavoring sugar or coffee.

Next flavors on my list are pumpkin and pistachio!

Outrageous Brownies

I have a friend who lovesss brownies and buys them at every chance he gets. It was his birthday, so I knew he would be the perfect candidate for testing Brown Eyed Baker's recipe. They were very easy to make, and are more of a fudge-like brownie rather than cake-like.

Outrageous Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 pound (1 1/3 cups) plus 6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1.5 cups diced walnut pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 baking pan. (325 degrees if using a dark non-stick pan)

Melt together the butter, chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler (I did this step in a glass dish in the microwave at 30 second intervals). Cool slightly.

Stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Toss the walnuts and chocolate chips with flour to coat. (If you're not adding walnuts, use 1 tablespoon of flour to toss the chocolate chips.)

Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Then add to the chocolate batter.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, tap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over bake!

Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Free Cupcakes July 21st - Occasionally Cake (Alexandria, VA)

OCCASIONALLY CAKE CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY WITH FREE CUPCAKES FOR ALL

Portion of Proceeds to benefit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

On Wednesday, July 21st, Occasionally Cake will commemorate its first anniversary with a day of free cupcakes!  After opening its doors last summer, the popular Alexandria cake shop has had a successful first year thanks to the hard work of owners Sabrina Campbell and Marcia Crandall. The bakery will serve up six of the over 100 flavors on Wednesday 10AM - 7PM including: Red Velvet, Pink Champagne, Yin & Yang, Grasshopper, Lemon Drop and Chocolate Razzleberry.

 (Photo: Squirrels-n-Sweets)  

Sabrina and Marcia will use their first anniversary as a chance to give back to the community and thank their loyal patrons for a great year.  Not only will each visitor enjoy a free cupcake, but they will also have the chance to donate to the National Centerfor Missing & Exploited Children.  The non-profit organization works to prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation; help find missing children; and assist victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them.  Additionally, the cake shop will donate a portion of cupcakes sales from the day to the Center.

Check out my friend Sqrl's awesome interview with owner Sabrina Campbell! 

Momofuku's Crack Pie

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day! I made Momofuku's Crack Pie after stumbling upon it Momofuku for 2 and Almost Bourdain.This is a very sweet, chewy, delicious pie that I think looks more like a tart. Beware, it pulled out one of my fillings today!! (Argh) Really good, has a butterscotch flavor but feels similar to caramel. It's addictive!

Momofuku Milk Bar's Crack Pie
Servings: Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)
Note: This pie calls for 2 (10-inch) pie tins.

Ingredients (Cookie for Crust):

2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.  

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes (Pay attention, or the edges can burn like mine did). Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Ingredients (Crust)

Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients (Filling):
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon milk powder
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. Serve cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Slice and enjoy!