Recently in Notes from the Bakery Category

New York Magazine asked what novelty ice cream I missed most from youth and I quickly replied the ChocoTaco of course! Check out some other NY pastry chef's frozen favorites here. What about you? PS: how young do I look in that photo? Jeez, that's depressing...

Oh and Madeline the singer is my niece! She's all famous now but she never forgot where she got her lucky break: WORKING AT BABYCAKES. Check her and her man Brian touring their favorite spots for Spin Magazine...

If you live in New York and still aren't convinced that the rickety ride on the A train to Far Rockaway is worth it, read this love letter to the new seaside darling getaway from the New York Times.

Comment your answers...

I don't know what part of the country you are reading this from, but here in NY it was 98 degrees yesterday and pretty much more of the same today. I'm not one to complain about the heat but it does tinker with the appetite quite a bit, right? In the summer at the bakery we sell less of the cake-y stuff and pretty much anything frozen. I included a frozen cookie sandwich (an It's It mind you) in the cookbook for this very reason.

Gluten Free Girl did quite a round up recently of some products she recommends and included an adaptation of my It's It and I'm proud to say it was her daughter's first ice cream sandwich ever! Click here to check out the recipe (and some other goods she loves). Oh and by the way, if you don't already read her blog daily like I do it's time to change that.

One of the reasons I love my job so much is that my employees make me laugh very hard, almost every day. When the lovely counter crew decided to prop two mason jars up to pose a daily question, a debate, in which people could tip their answers I thought it was clever and the customers enjoyed weighing in on the discussion with their hard earned dollars. Now it has become a thing. Every morning before opening the gates as we rush to dunk donuts, frost cakes and plate hot cookies we have our own debate about what the question of the day should be.

"G train on a Sunday night vs. the F train on a Monday morning?" Nah.
"Summer Hangover Vs. Summer Allergies?" Hmm, maybe?
"Drowning to death or burning to death?!" Rachel! NO. Bad.

We tend to settle on something that won't gross nor offend anyone because we are a happy place after all. Now on to the good stuff. I never thought that our first feature in the Wall Street Journal would have nothing to do with our product but here we are. It's a really great article and spikes a debate in itself. Read it here.

Now, what do you think?

Not sure what else to say. Read our feature in the New York Times Dining In piece here. Gorgeous!

Awwwwwwwwwwww!!! Here's a look at our BabyCakes new Rockaway Beach concession isn't it excellent? Lizz Hickey (with the ginger hair in the photo) made the super cool sign which is so cool. We had so much fun selling donuts on the boardwalk all weekend--you have to come check it out! We're just at the boardwalk between 96-98th. Hope to see you there real soon.

Uh...I think this is probably my new favorite show. I can't take it! Watch when it gets to the tofu part, you're going to die.

I made a quick one-day trip to San Francisco yesterday (did you know I used to live there for 8 years from when I was 18?) and as I de-boarded I rubberknecked my way through Terminal 2. Napa Farms Market? Equator Coffee? Plant Cafe Organic? My heart raced. Should I stay for lunch? I couldn't help but beam and think to myself: These are my people! I felt completely embraced by each food concept.

Now I know it's just airport food but for a lady like me it's more than that. It's a glittering example of what is possible in the world of high volume food concession. I made a note to get to the airport early the next day to check out the food and determine whether this was yet another airport gimmick that offers restaurants and vendors with movie-set charm but terrible, terrible food or a symbol of hope.

I didn't make it to the airport early enough (lazy) but I did get to duck into Napa Farms to swipe some snacks for the long flight home. With the focus of a surgeon and only 5 minutes to shop, I scoured every morsel they had to offer. Without boring you or making you hungry I'll just say I was dazzled by the quality and execution of the salads, sandwiches and other meals and even my self proclaimed "not organic or natural" sister Bridget was put off or alienated by it. I did have a moment though. It was when I landed at the snack thing that is usually loaded with preservative packed packaged chips and stuff I stopped short. Shocked. They had my favorite Lydia's Organic Raw Crackers, gluten-free granola by some other brand I forgot to look at and this crazy popcorn that I could eat. And yerba mate! Unsweetened at that! My head was spinning and I knew if I didn't get to the register I would miss my flight. When I plunked down over $30 on impulse buys I happily swiped my card in total support of this movement.

Now, here I sit in my squished airplane seat about to tuck into a beautiful lunch and then snacks every hour on the hour. Thank you San Francisco. You are my kind of town. Let the affair begin...

Hey everyone! I'll be on San Diego Living (channel 6) tomorrow the 4th if May somewhere between 9-10am if you want to watch me demo the Snickerdoodle recipe from the book. Then, I'll finish the day with a Q and A session at Warwicks in gorgeous La Jolla at 7:30pm. Please stop by, you know I love to TALK. See you soon...

Now that BabyCakes Covers the Classics has been out for about 2 weeks, the reviews are starting to circulate. I am so excited, happy, relieved, and proud to see everyone putting the book to good use already and a few of you fabulous freaks have already baked your way through the book (that's MY kind of baker)!

I love/hate to pop my collar so I've restrained myself from sharing all the gorgeous reviews but this one I'm a bit proud of and want to share. Although Hannah Sullivan from Bon Appetit didn't loooove the German Chocolate Cake (It's ok! I can take it!) her review of the donuts and icing were worth sharing. Click here to check it out!

By the way, we're still accepting photos of your cookbook successes at cookbook@babycakesnyc.com to feature in our Cookbook Hall of Fame on the website. And! Did you know you can also email all cookbook questions there too? It's true. Ok, more from me soon...