It wasn’t always so. Almond butter used to annoy me. It was the annoying self-important hippy neighbor. It was the nut butter of last resort. I didn’t become a true fan – an out and out almond butter cheerleader – until I happened upon a jar of silky smooth salty almond butter joy at a farmer’s market upstate. The butter retained some texture, but it was spreadable and didn’t require a daily regiment (i.e. annoyance) of stirring a messy oil back into a cement-like substance. (By the by, I am generally okay with a little oil separation, but most of the jarred almond butters I experienced were lakes of oil floating on top of an impenetrable paste that would rarely come back to some spreadable state). Slowly, a habit took hold: morning coffee, almond buttered toast, side of greek yogurt (or chocolate chip muffin or cake…or um…ice cream). When I used up the last dollop of farmer’s market almond butter, I went in search of other brands and started making my own.

If you want to buy a great almond butter, I recommend Big Spoon Roasters Peanut Almond. It’s the perfect hybrid of my two favorite nuts, and it tastes like sunshine and picnics. The smaller jars are perfect for air travel.

If you are up for making your own – if you have that DIY bug – you should do it today. It is easy. And, of course, delicious. It requires almost no effort (except cleaning the food processor bowl) and you can alter the salt and sweetness (via a touch of honey) to your liking. Oh, and it spreads like a dream. Follow along:

Easy Homemade Almond Butter

You will need:

• 3 to 4 cups almonds, raw or toasted (I am a sucker for the toasted flavor)
• fleur de sel, to taste (I generally use a teaspoon or two)
• honey, optional (I go back and forth with honey. Sometimes I add it, sometimes I don’t. But, I still think it is best in small doses…a teaspoon here or there)

Place the almonds in the bowl of a regular sized food processor.

Process until fine crumbs form, about a minute or two.

Add salt, and continue processing.

The nuts will start to form a chunky paste, maybe after about 3-4 minutes, and the paste might pull away from the bowl in one big mass. Don’t worry, keep processing.

The chunky paste will turn to a smoother butter with chunky parts. In theory, you can stop here – if you are going for a chunky-ish butter, but I keep on keeping on for at least another minute or two.

Eventually, you will get a lovely, smooth, almost liquid-type butter. It is the stuff of dreams. Add your honey here and process until combined.

Spoon into a jar, let it cool (the butter will retain some heat from the processing), then cap and refrigerate. In theory, your almond butter should keep for about 2 weeks, though many sources tell me they have had no problems at week 3 and 4. I recommend processing in small batches for freshness.

Note on homemade almond butter:

I have read that soaking almonds in water speeds up the processing time. I have never done this, as the processing time does not seem especially lengthy to begin with. Depending on the brand and type of food processor you use, your butter should be ready in under 15 minutes. Perhaps under 10.

I have also read that many people have to scrape down the processing bowl periodically. I have never had to do this. I just let the blade and the bowl do all of the work. Eventually (again, at least in my machine), the mass will grab everything in the bowl, and it will naturally come back together. Science folks, would this be reactive centrifugal force? (I got a C in college physics, so maybe I shouldn’t make guesses).

As mentioned, I prefer the flavor of toasted almonds. I purchase raw almonds, toast them in the oven until fragrant, then cool them to room temperature to process (yes, you can process while they are still warm, but I cool mine for handling purposes).

[Ed note: We interrupt this fairly dessert-y blog to bring you something green. We hope you like it. Henceforth, an interview with Sarah, Queen of Kale - mostly unedited]

Hi Sarah! This is going to be fun. You are our very first blog interview, and stranger still…it is not dessert related (well, maybe in a roundabout way).

So let’s get started: We were introduced to you and your healthy, tasty kale chips by way of your sister, Molly – who just happens to be a the Head Baker and Kitchen Manager at Baked. Was it always this way? Did Molly have the predominant sweet tooth in your family growing up while you veered towards the greens?

Not only was it always this way, there is a video kicking around my parents house in Vermont of Molls baking in her playskool kitchen when she was around 3 or 4.  It’s pretty amazing, maybe one day she will share it with y’all.  I am the oldest of 3 girls, and I seem to be the only one to remember mom making our baby food in her avocado green champion juicer.  The only sweet treat I knew of before I hit public school was a carob covered rice cake.  Mom used to also make us “sugar on snow” which was shaved ice (also made in the champion juicer) and she drizzled maple syrup on it and it formed this tasty candy.  I also have great memories of the smell of fresh baked peanut butter cookies when we got home from school.  Fork imprint and all.

Our middle sis Rebecca is an amazingly talented artist, who was pulled into the world of theater at a young age.  We knew this was coming when she used to boss us while playing Barbies.  The stage always had to be set just so.  It was her future director emerging.  Rebecca also makes custom jewelry, check out her etsy site.  And is a mad talented lighting designer.

The three sisters!

Why kale?  Kale is a MAJOR superfood.  Check it! After realizing that a lot of people still don’t know what kale is, I decided I wanted to make a tasty snack that I knew people would LOVE and not even realize they were eating something that was healthy for them.

So… a few years back I had a health scare.  Around that time, Kris Carr’s documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer came on TV.  I watched it, and it changed my life.  The thought of people healing themselves through food really resonated with me. Right then I decided, why should I wait before something happens to make positive changes in my life?  So I bought some kale.  Whatever I cooked, pizza, soup, salad, I added a little kale.  Then I started green juicing. I felt amazing.  I discovered kale chips, I started out by trying to bake them in the oven.  But an oven won’t get to a low enough temperature, so they would just come out burnt.  So I found a dehydrator on ebay and the rest is history.  I experimented with sauces, and had a blast just creating them for myself.  It was when I shared them with friends and family that the magic happened.  I couldn’t make them fast enough!   As soon as I arrived in Austin, I started Sarah’s Kale Chips.  It began online www.sarahkale.com and now I am in several retail stores around Austin.

Hellz to the YES we can talk about Austin!  I LOVE this city. I’ve always had an energetic pull here.  I am also a singer/songwriter (www.sarahmarzalekkelly.com)  My first time in Austin was for SXSW when I was a wee lass of 18 with my dad.  I fell in love with it then.  I had been several times over the years, and each time I left, I felt like I was leaving home.  So finally, I decided it was time.  In September, the whole family came to help me pack up my condo in NJ.  Then, the sisters and I began our “down country” road trip to move me to Austin!  It was a lot of fun.

The food trucks here are AMAZING.  A food truck is too small for the wall of dehydrators that I envision for my future.  Sarah’s Kale Chips is expanding at a rapid pace just to meet the demand.  Do you believe I am still a one woman operation?  I’d love to have Sarah’s Kale Ranch.  We grow our own kale, host wellness classes, cooking classes, etc.  I also want to have a live music venue at the ranch.  Austin is a fit, foodie, music town.  I can combine all of my loves into one fabulous location.  

For starters, your sweet + salty brownie makes me weak in the knees.  Basically, anything with chocolate and peanut butter makes me a happy girl.  I love chocolate, anything chocolate.  Then again, I’ve never met a cheesecake I didn’t love… or a chocolate chip cookie, red velvet cupcake, now look what you’ve done!  haha!

This is probably a horrible idea, but have you ever thought about kale chip brownies? 

I bet people thought bacon on a chocolate cupcake was a horrible idea too, until they tasted it.  If I created a straight up sea salt chip, and it was placed atop the brownie that might be delicious (and purdy.)

Can you use kale chips in any recipe? i.e. kale chip crusted chicken? 

I have actually used kale chips in lieu of croutons for soups that I have created.  Kale encrusted  anything would be delicious in my book.  One of my favorite parts of the process is when I get to eat the kale crumbs!  Delicious.

[If you have any kale questions for Sarah, feel free to leave them in the comments section. And remember, if you want great kale chips, you can order from Sarah.]

almost as fun as this

Here we go.

I play a lot great games while I eat, one of which is called “Name Every Ingredient” (awesome name, I know — I made it up all by myself) for which — you guessed it! — I go out to eat, order an arbitrary dish, and try to guess every single ingredient.  The game involves a lot of me doing this:

Oh oops.  Wrong clip.  Uhh.. embarrassing.  I mean this:

and this:

On a serious note, Name Every Ingredient is a great exercise in palate-refining — to be able to blindly discern and identify ingredients is an admirable skill for all cooks and bakers alike.

So, obviously, you and I both like tasting food.  Duh.  But do we listen to it?  Yes?  Awesome!  I do too!  Oh, no?  Well you should.  The sound of cooking and eating and digesting (yep I said it) are kind of the best.  From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, I’m typically overhearing some sort of something going on in the kitchen –  now more so than ever because my bedroom is adjacent to our house kitchen and I’m kind of a pastry chef who spends many hours in kitchens every day.  I’m also a light sleeper who’s woken up by this:

Crap, wrong clip again.  OK sorry, I’m done trying to be funny. I promise.  Really, though, my roommates do a lot of this:

And this:

And when I’m laying in bed, pretending to be asleep, it’s fun to guess what’s for breakfast.  Or lunch.  Or dinner.  Or midnight snack.  To be completely honest, this:

is one of the most satisfying sounds in the world.  You know why?  Because it means it’s time to eat.  There’s nothing quite as exciting as not being sure whether this:

is eggs or bacon in the skillet until the scent creeps in through the cracks in the door and it’s so totally BACON!  Ugh.  Yum.

ahhhh, yes, the glorious sizzle of a hash brown on the griddle

Now for a completely unrelated biscuit recipe.  I probably don’t know what making biscuits sounds like and definitely don’t need to taste one to tell you what’s in one, but regardless, you should make these biscuits.  They are my favorite — that is, other than the ones from Roy Rogers I only ever ate at highway rest stops.  Joke.  Oh, or at Tudor’s Biscuits.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you’ve never been to West Virginia and that’s fine.

laying down some big beets, bro

Buttermilk Biscuits (makes 12)

4 cups pastry flour
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes and chilled
1-3/4 cups buttermilk + more for brushing
1 oz unsalted butter, melted, for brushing

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cut or rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a course meal; do not overmix.

Make a well in the center of the mixture. Pour in 1 1/2 cups buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon, gently working flour into buttermilk until the mixture just holds together.  The dough will be shaggy.

Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle about 3/4 in thick.

Using 2-1/2-inch round cutter cut out biscuits. The dough scraps can be gently pushed together, patted out and cut one more time but be careful not to overwork the dough.

Place biscuits on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons of buttermilk.

Bake about 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the tops are golden brown. As soon as you remove the biscuits from the oven, brush with melted butter. Serve warm or transfer to a wire rack to cool.

My mom had a thing for butterscotch chips. She used to eat them like M&M’s – popping a few pieces into her mouth throughout the day…tiny handfuls between meals. And, in a few instances, they were used as quick and efficient cake décor. A few perfectly arranged butterscotch chips edged the perimeter of a freshly baked cake (courtesy Betty Crocker) piled high with canned frosting. But she never baked with them. I wasn’t even aware at the time, they were meant to be (to some degree) interchangeable with the ubiquitous chocolate chips. In fact, mom never even placed the two similar looking bags close to each other in the cupboard. The butterscotch bag was in the “snack” portion of the cabinet and the chocolate chips were firmly in the baking (er…boxed mix) section.

I inherited almost 99% of my mom’s sweet tooth DNA, but I missed the butterscotch chip strand. In fact, I almost went out of my way to avoid any bagged butterscotch chip. I still do. Occasionally, I find myself buying a bag (very rarely) in honor of mom (or, is it misplaced nostalgia) and I am still mystified by the overly manufactured taste and unnatural color. I love butterscotch (obviously). I dislike butterscotch chips.

But mom’s day is about moms. And I am absolutely certain my mom would have loved this Bon Appétit recipe for Butterscotch Drop Scones. I made the recipe two ways. First, I followed the recipe exactly as mentioned…butterscotch chips and all. On the second pass, I substituted chopped Valrhona Dulcey for the butterscotch chips. What is Dulcey? It is a problem. I need it out of my house stat. I CAN’T STOP EATING IT. The Valrhona website says it “marries intense biscuit flavors with a pinch of salt, a creamy texture, hints of caramelized milk, and unique blond color.” Guess that about sums it up. Yeah, you should buy a few bars. If you are feeling extra spendy, you can buy the stuff in bulk (and maybe give some to a baking friend).

But here is the thing. I actually liked both versions of the scones. The butterscotch chip version was crazy good. I ate two for breakfast and one for lunch. The Dulcey version was superb as well, but the scone obscured some of the subtler aspects of the Dulcey flavor. Don’t worry, I am giving the Dulcey a go on a cake next week.

Regardless, make your mom these breakfasty desert scones for Mom’s day (you can even sprinkle in a few regular chocolate chips to knock her socks off). She’ll be thrilled. And, hey, don’t forget to call her more often.

Butterscotch (and Dulcey) Drop Scones via Bon Appétit Magazine.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
⅓ cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced into half-inch pieces, chilled
1 cup butterscotch chips (about 6 ounces) or Valrhona Dulcey, chopped coarsely
½ cup (or more) heavy cream, chilled
1 large egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Add chilled butter; using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Mix in chips. Whisk ½ cup cream and egg in small bowl to blend. Gradually add cream mixture to dry ingredients, tossing with fork until dough comes together in moist clumps. Add more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Drop dough by ¼ cupfuls (I used my ice cream scoop with release mechanism for uniformity and ease…the scones were slightly smaller and cooked slightly quicker) onto large rimmed parchment lined baking sheet, spacing apart. Bake scones until golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sandy (yup, the hurricane) really mucked up our Fall. And this Winter just seemed to stretch on and on (salved only by kind customers, great neighbors and loads of cake) so we are really hoping for a beautiful Spring/Summer (or at least a Spring/Summer without any extreme weather) with many lazy beach days, tons of ice coffee and ice cream (and coffee ice cream) and a few quick important trips to Coney Island for Totonno’s and Mermaids.

In the meantime, we’d like to tell you about some odds and ends happening at Baked.

First, if you like Baked breakfast, you’ll really like our new and improved Muffin and Scone Calendar (I think our chocolate banana scone should be served everyday, but that is just me):

And, lo and behold we have a new hat (please keep Brooklyn hipster jokes to a minimum)…to shield you from the blissful summer sunshine (limited time only y’all):

By the by, we are going to GoogaMooga again. Actually, if you look at the list of food vendors…it seems everyone is going to GoogaMooga so you might as well come and stop by the Baked booth.

Finally, we are thrilled to be teaching a new class at the fancy De Gustibus on May 13th! You should come for two reasons: 1) We will be teaching recipes from the bakery and from all three cookbooks and 2) I can promise you that there will be many many things to eat.

That is all for now, though we have many more exciting (and possibly mind-blowing…) things on the horizon. We promise to keep you updated and hope to see you soon.

Matt + Nato

My addiction to the buckeye candy is well documented.  It is not something I am proud of, and – truth be told – I wish my addiction skewed more fabulous a la caviar and Krug Grande Cuve. I suppose I should be thankful that the buckeye, a ball of peanut butter “candy” dipped in chocolate, makes me so happy. It’s a cheap and easy endorphin rush.

I am glad to see that I am not suffering alone in buckeye compulsion. After we published a recipe for this native Ohio candy in our second book, Baked Explorations, we were thrilled to see it pop up in many beautiful forms in many beautiful places. We did not create the buckeye, but we are some of its most devout evangelists.

As luck would have it, I had to go to Ohio (yup, the epicenter for all things buckeye) for business last year. And because I was in Ohio, I had to go to Jeni’s Ice Cream. And because I was in Ohio in a Jeni’s, I had to consume my body weight in Jeni’s Buckeye State flavor because that is what happens when you lose all willpower and you give in completely (this happens a lot).

Thankfully Jeni published a book. This has saved me many dollars in unnecessary flights to Columbus, OH. Much has been blogged about Jeni’s unique (some would say unusual) ice cream base recipe, but suffice it to say it is almost fool proof. Throughout summer I vacillate between making something from Jeni’s book and something from David Lebovitz’s iconic book – (you should own both) and when I am feeling especially lazy, I swing by my local grocer for a pint of Steve’s. But here me out: I never go a day without ice cream. And Jeni’s Buckeye State recipe is seared into my memory.

The Buckeye State Ice Cream (Honeyed Peanut Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Freckles) via Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 ½ ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
½ cup unsalted natural peanut butter
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ¼cups heavy cream
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
4 ounces dark chocolate (55% to 70% cocoa), chopped

Directions

PREP:

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese, peanut butter, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

COOK:

Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heat proof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.

CHILL:

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth.  Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziplock freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

FREEZE:

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and begin to spin the ice cream.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  Remove from the heat and let cool until tepid but still fluid.

When the ice cream is thick and creamy and almost finished, drizzle the melted chocolate slowly through the opening in the top of the ice cream machine and allow it to solidify and break up in the ice cream for about 2 minutes.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.  Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Starting today at Baked you can grab any two brownies (including the limited-time only munchie versions) you want for just $4.20. Also, for our online customers, we are offering 20% off all brownie sets at bakedshop.com. Just enter the promotional code fourtwenty at check-out. Both offers end April 21^st! Go now. Get your brownies NOW!

What is 4 20? Why all the fuss? Well, for one, it is my birthday (but that is not the real reason for the festivities though I would not argue with you if you want to celebrate my birthday). 4 20 is also this. And for some reason, people that celebrate 4 20 really like Baked (guessing our store name has something to do with it). By the by, we wrote this book and not this book, lest you become confused.

Finally, in honor of Brownie Week, I bring you the Baked “Got Munchies” Brownie recipe which is basically our famous brownie recipe with munchies (yes, it is as simple as it sounds). I’d like to thank both Molly and Jordan for their very scientific research on the assorted additions.

Notes about this recipe. The original Baked brownie recipe appeared in our first book, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking (with special kudos to Lesli Flick). The most successful Munchie additions were the salty pretzels and the M and M’s. The potato chips were a neat idea in theory, but they got a little lost and a tiny bit soggy after the bake (but, yes, we still ate the potato chip brownies nonetheless). I wanted to try adding popcorn, but then I came to my senses. I am certain you can dream up more possibilities. If you do, please share them with us.

The Baked “Got Munchies” Brownie

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), coarsely chopped
8 ounces butter (2 sticks), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
handful of slightly crushed salty pretzels
handful of slightly crushed potato chips
handful of M and M’s

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal pan 9x13x2 pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder.

Place the chocolate, the butter, and the instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water  and add both sugars.  Whisk until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan.  Mixture should be room temperature.

Add three eggs to the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk until just combined.  Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined.  Add the vanilla and stir until combined.  Do not over beat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture   Using a spatula (DO NOT USE A WHISK) fold the dry into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour/cocoa mix visible.

Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth the top with your spatula.  Add the pretzels to one quadrant of the brownies, the M and M’s to another, and potato chips to another. One quadrant should be left plain for brownie purists (or you can cover the whole thing in any munchie of your choice). Bake the brownies for 30 minutes (rotate the pan half-way through baking) and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan.  The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Do not overbake.

Cool the brownies completely before cutting and serving. The brownies will keep, tightly covered, for up to 5 days.

It was 10:20 AM.  I struggled to find a comfortable position in my awkward plastic chair-desk.  Quirky Dr. Fossett rolled a TV/VCR into our classroom and set-up what would be my very first viewing of Alton Brown’s “Good Eats.”

It’s now 8 years later and although I can’t for the life of me remember how Alton’s “Chili’s Angels” episode applied to that day’s high school Chemistry IRS (“Independent Research/Study”) lesson, I vividly recall Alton uncovering the science behind spicy-hot chili peppers on the fuzzy TV screen.  I remember the capsaicin and the Scovilles and the intense excitement I felt when I ran home at the end of the day to share my newfound knowledge with my father, whose love and enjoyment of extremely spicy foods used to strike me as sadistic.  “Dad! Guess what?! You’re not actually killing your taste buds with all of those peppers after all! Your tongue will be okay!” 

I can thank Alton and Dr. Fossett for introducing me to the science of food, a subject that I have become insatiably interested in and passionate about — and then I can thank Harold McGee for continuing to feed that curiosity.  Every chef and mentor of mine has recommended McGee’s On Food and Cooking as the foremost introductory reference text for the inquisitive cook.  The book has become my food bible.

All cooking is science, McGee makes clear.  To be a better cook/baker is to better understand the reactions that occur in the kitchen so that a batch of flat pancakes or cakey brownies is intelligible rather than perplexing.  In knowing that pancakes need air and structure to rise and hold its height, you’ll think of answers when you ask, how can I incorporate more air? And how can I strengthen the batter?  In knowing that dense, cakey brownies have more air and less moisture, you might try to competently achieve a fudgy brownie by eliminating any leavening agents like air (whisk less!) and chemicals (nix the baking powder and baking soda!) and by increasing the ratio of fat to flour (we like ‘em fat!).

Everyone has their own taste preferences — especially when it comes to brownies.  As the simplest, most beloved baked good that I know, the brownie helped me realize the basics of baking: the chemicals, the ratios, and the reactions.  Although I long ago perfected my brownie recipe — a sinfully rich, nearly flourless, buttery, fudgy bar — I had to try Baked’s Spicy Brownie recipe, a riff on their best-selling classic brownie.  The mild hint of heat provided by ancho chilies brought me back to my first ever food science lesson: what makes a chili hot?  I could picture Alton squirting sugar water into his mouth as Scoville did in measuring the heat intensity of various chilies.  These spicy brownies are mild at best — ancho chilies provide more flavor than spice — but, according to my food science expertise, would nonetheless benefit from a big, cold glass of milk to chug between bites.

In theory, a cupcake shake shouldn’t be so glorious. But it is. And the beauty of this quick and easy dessert is the sheer number of combinations available. Here are just a few:

peanut butter ice cream plus chocolate cupcake = peanut butter choco bliss shake

vanilla bean ice cream plus strawberry cupcake = strawberry shortcake shake

mint chip ice cream plus chocolate cupcake = chocolate mint chip shake

vanilla ice cream plus vanilla cupcake = birthday shake

Truth be told, I only tried a few combos (after all, beach body season is nearing). All were more than satisfying and many were worth repeating. My favorite combo however is Salted Caramel Ice Cream plus the Baked Chocolate Cupcake. It’s not as cloying as it sounds, and in small doses – say one 4 ounce cup – it will hit that perfect sweet spot on that perfect summer day.

Notes:

I found the perfect cupcake shake to have a high ratio of cupcake to other ingredients. Duh.

If you are making a cupcake shake, you should not bother with anything other than whole milk.

Yes, of course you need sprinkles.

You can double, triple or quadruple this recipe with abandon.

The cupcake shake is not available at Baked just yet. One of these days….

Ingredients and Directions for one very thick Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcake Shake

2 ounces very cold whole milk
2 massive scoops salty caramel ice cream (I used Steve’s)
1 chocolate cupcake
whip cream and sprinkles for serving

Blend the milk, ice cream and cupcake together until thick. Add more milk for a thinner shake and more ice cream for a thicker shake. Pour into a chilled glass. Top with whipped cream and sprinkles. Enjoy without guilt or embarrassment.

Depending on how you view such things Renato and I are either very cautious or very slow. After eight years of building, tweaking, updating and creating Baked in our favorite part of our favorite borough (yes…Red Hook, Brooklyn!), we are finally ready to expand Baked into Manhattan. [ed note: the Red Hook store will remain our flagship and will remain open through at least the year 2263...we hope.]

We, along with our great staff, are proudly crossing the Brooklyn Bridge – all eyes focused on the big shiny apple ahead. We come bearing our famous cakes, brownies, cookies, brooksters, muffins, scones and a multitude of other goodies.

Oh, and we might try out some new things at this new store. For instance, we might expand the menu, add beer and wine, extend our hours, karaoke? and well…the possibilities are endless (and a guy can dream, can’t he?).  But before we do any of this, we need your help. We need help finding a location.

We have everything else (recipes, big ideas, amazing staff, a few dollars for build-out, etc..) but we are having the darndest time finding a space. You see, finding a retail space in Manhattan is nearly as difficult as finding a decently priced apartment in Manhattan. While some great retail locations are in accessible databases, many are not. These are old school spaces. Simple “for rent” signs in the window with a hand scratched phone number underneath. While we spend a fair amount of time scouring the city for these signs, we can’t possibly canvas the entire territory every weekend. That is where you come in. If you help us connect to a space that we ultimately rent, we will give you a prize (actually, PRIZES!!! That is plural, y’all).

And now the details:

What are we looking for:

We’d love to be somewhere between midtown and the financial district, though if you find a great space anywhere in the city, let us know. Maybe it will work.

We think the space should be about 1500 square feet (give or take a few hundred feet), plus a basement for prep or storage. *if you have the perfect, but smaller-sized space, let us know…maybe it can be a “half-baked”.

Nice landlord = bonus. Decent shape = extra bonus. Outdoor seating possible = major homerun. (None of these are deal killers, just dreams).

How should you let us know about the space:

You can email us at info@bakednyc.com. Just make sure you provide contact info (and if you can – include a sentence or two about the space. That would be doubly dreamy).

We are also working with an incredible retail agent. If you need his info, let us know, we’d be happy to share it.

What is the prize:

Well, we actually think the prize is kind of cool considering we aren’t millionaires – but we want to give the lucky guy or gal 1 cake per month for one year. That is 12 (8 inch) cakes!  And bonus: Renato and I will come to your house and make brownies for your group or party.  And double bonus: we are more than happy to bring our favorite DVD’s to your brownie party to watch them with you (Renato = Moonstruck, Matt = Aliens). Again, all you have to do is connect us to a space that we ultimately rent.

Other stuff:

In our dreams, we would like to be open before the busy fall months arrive. Is that possible? Maybe with your help.

Oh, and pretty please: would love you to share this, FB this, tweet it, etc…etc…

And a big hearty thank you for helping us make the leap. Hope to see you soon.