Recently in Notes from the Bakery Category

Oh, you know me! Always posing for pictures and stuff. This time it's for LA Weekly's annual People Issue. I was especially excited about this one because I live for LA Weekly's weekend guides when I'm in town. Check it out here!!!

I know, I know. Some of you have probably seen this already but you have to admit it's so touching! I lazed-out on posting it a few days ago, but I figure there's some of you out there that maybe haven't seen it yet? It's worth another play regardless...

On the heels of turning in my second cookbook to my editor yesterday (BabyCakes Covers the Classics! You didn't know??) I just realized that not only is today Cinco de Mayo, but it's also the birthday of the BabyCakes Cookbook!!

I want to let you all know how lucky and proud I feel to have you guys as customers and now BabyCakes Cookbook bakers. It's so inspiring to see all of you blogging about your successes and helping each other out with tips and advise based on your experience. I mean, what other cookbook gets that much support? I know some people have had a hard time getting the hang of it here and there and have given up but all of you who haven't thrown in the towel are a testament that a never-quit attitude pays off. I am grateful beyond comprehension. Now I'm getting all emotional and teary. Thank God you can't see my mascara running...not cute.

On that note, I want you all to know that I am starting a BabyCakes Cookbook Hall of Fame on my website to honor all your beautiful baking achievements you've had with the BabyCakes book. If you want to be included just email: cookbook@babycakesnyc.com! Gracias!

We are thrilled to have our Cookie Sandwiches showcased as a part of the New York Daily News' Mother's Day Gift Guide for 2010. If you'd like to place a Mother's Day order with us, please give either bakery a call at your earliest convenience. Our last shipment before Mother's Day will go out on Thursday, May 6th. We look forward to hearing from you!

I've opened up the blog to address concerns and questions about the BabyCakes Cookbook (What do you mean you don't have it!!! Get it here!)before and I thought it was a great success! Over the past year, we've tallied up the most frequently asked questions and that list plus helpful answers now lives on our website under the tab "Cookbook". If your question isn't answered there, you can twitter us your questions Monday-Friday from 10am-5pm EST, OR! email the bakery at cookbook@babycakesnyc.com. EZ!!! And for the sake of getting a speedy response to you and maintaining order, don't leave a question in the comment section below, k? No questions in the comment section? Thank youuuuuu!!

Just real quick: Kesté the beloved (albeit new) pizzeria in the West Village is now offering gluten-free, vegan pizza! Kesté usually has hour long waits even on the snowiest nights so I'm hoping it's going to be as good as the rest of the pies they serve up. I'm going to check it out after work tonight and report back!

Hey! I just want to let you all know that I've made these things called The Workout Cookie. Warning: this is not for the Ding-Dong, or Twinkie crowd. I created it to fill the low-fat high-fiber mega, mega, mega-healthy breakfast void some customers were feeling. It's the kind of thing you grab to eat on the subway on your way to work, or to munch after a bike ride. It's high-fiber, sweet and crunchy like a muffin but without all the extra fat and stuff. Now, if you know me at all you probably think I've lost my mind because I've made something low-fat. But wait. Let me explain.

Since the dawn of BabyCakes NYC, I have stood firm in my clogs against baking lowfat food. Most lowfat products are terrible, and frankly nowhere near healthy. And lowfat sounded so 80's Jane Fonda Workout style. I've always preached that fat is good for you, especially the kind I bake with and that your body needs it to be able digest fat,. I know it sounds backward but it's true. I've softened in my years, I suppose, and recently became open to the challenge to make something lowfat for those who cringe at the sight of oil. So here we are.

Now, about the cookie, right? It's made with coconut sugar (low glycemic!) gluten-free oat flour and oats, flax meal, fresh banana, and blueberries, pureed pear, and very minimal oil (they're about 3g of fat).The girls at the bakery really like them, and they are all pizza and french fry types so I think it's a good sign!

We're twittering when we have them so if you're in the neighborhood and curious, stop by!

Bye!

I always feel bad when celiacs come into the bakery, spot the Skinny Bun (it's like a Cinnabon), then get all deflated when they see that it's not gluten-free. It breaks me heart, man! Those things are so good!

So I finally decided to make a change and began messing around with a gluten-free version of the Skinny Bun for the upcoming cookbook and after about 10 billion tries I finally got down a scrumptious cinnamon bun that is now known as the Wonder Bun. They are just as mouth friendly as the Skinny Bun and all of our Skinny Bun regulars like the Wonder Bun even better which is a major relief.

So get down here and munch, and wonder, and smile. Hooray!

So, I just got back from a brief trip to Italy last night (I know, chiiiiic!) and I'm a little discombobulated and loopy but I wanted to say hi and let everybody know that I still love them and I'm sorry for being gone and inducing nail-biting, hallway pacing, and obsessive refresh button pressing on the BabyCakes blog to see if I would show up. I know it was hard but you can all relax because I'm back and running around the bakery and fussing around like freak that I am again. Yay for all of us! Did I mention I'm sort of jet-laggy crazy right now?

Anyhow.

I won't bore you with descriptions of how good the food was but I will tell you that spending a dairy-less, wheat-less vacation in Italy was so effortless and DELICIOUS. There was even a place in Florence that offered a gluten-free menu (you can punch me in the face because I didn't take down the name but I'm sure it's google-able!) and this restaurant called Gigli in Lucca that had spelt pasta if you are not celiac or allergic to gluten. Even if you randomly walk into a restaurant it's easy to find something completely mind blowing that is vegan and gluten-free as-is and it will probably be the best thing you ever put in your mouth. I feel pretty embarrassed for not pulling together a food guide for any of you traveling to Italy but the idea is to stumble around and happen upon that perfect trattoria down a hidden side-street and eat your face off, right? So my point is (if I can figure out what my point is) is that you won't have trouble keeping on your gluten-free, vegan game while you travel in Italy. Oh! Also. Most good non-touristy places don't throw bread crumbs in stuff like many Americans do so that frees you up quite a bit! Oh, but be sure to double check with the kitchen to make sure, of course.

I embarrassingly have no pictures of beautiful rustic alleys with laundry draping out of shuttered windows or snaps of the Duomo to leave you with, but I'm sure you've all got plenty of postcards with that sort of deal hanging up somewhere or nestled in some book already, right? What I do have, are a collection of cool ice cream and pizza place signs I took along the way, so I've posted my favorite up there on the left. I mean, it's a ghost holding a pizza in one hand and a piece of pie in the other? Does it get any better than that? We are all clearly in need of a lesson in logo-making from these people.

I would say "talk to you soon!" in Italian to close this post here but that would be pretty annoying, right?

Bye for now!

It looks like Life & Style Weekly let Madonna's dessert secret out of the bag. Check out the favorite; gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, vegan, agave-sweetened vanilla cupcakes with lemon frosting!

I'm trying to find a way to act awesome and as if it's NO BIG DEAL, but that would be totally wrong of me. Actually, I'M TOTALLY LOSING IT because BabyCakes NYC just scored the coveted Best of New York award from New York Magazine for our doughnuts!!!  

Ok, for those of you who don't live in NY or don't read New York Magazine, or live in Kankakee, Illinois and therefore do not know about this list; let me explain. Every year the persnickety food editors compile a list of the best of everything to eat in NY. We made the list a few months after opening BabyCakes NYC, for Best Cupcakes in NY (thanks!) and now we've been crowned Best Vegan Treat in NY for our doughnuts. Is this life of mine really real??? What's next?!?! Thank you, New York Magazine. I will continue to refresh my Grubstreet button every 15 minutes for up-to-the-minute news in the food world. Love!!!

This new cookbook I'm working on is now making me candy crazy. Don't get it twisted: I still have the fever for the donuts. But! I'm branching out to candy now too. These lil guys are just like Mounds and available in-store on special days (follow us on twitter to find out when) or you can special order them!

Also on my to-do list is peppermint patties, caramel chews, and rocky road! What's on your wish list? Hit me while I'm in the inspiration tunnel. I'm serious guys. I have the attention span of a gold fish these days!