Bakerella and The Sweet Tooth Therapist

So I met her - the queen of pop. Okay, the queen of cake pop. I like to call her the next Martha Stewart. There we were, in a sea of what had to be a thousand (well, 200) women, me and my mini-me, and her buddy Curious George. We waited in line for what seemed like 2 and a half hours... actually it WAS 2 and a half hours, to have our Cake Pop book signed by Angie Dudley, Bakerella herself. Now I don't usually get hyped up about people, just food. But someone who can do such creative things with food, that kind of person always peaks my interest. Can I just be the black Bakerella? Pleeeze? A book deal??? For cake??? OMG, this woman is living my dream.

Everybody was so happy that day. And why? Because we were a group of like-minded cake-loving, craft-doing women getting answers to our questions about cake pops, blogging, and have-you-quit-your-day-job (to which she surprisingly answered "no"). I remember looking piercingly into Angie's eyes as she answered my questions. The plan was for her to recall my brown face and curly 'fro when someone within her publishing company asks "can you make some soulful southern treats for your next book? We'd like to appeal to the African American consumer." And then she would reply "no, but I know someone who can." We'd collaborate and call the book "Bakerella and the Sweet Tooth Therapist" and I would live happily ever after.

After awakening from my daydream, I left Williams Sonoma fully inspired and ready to make cake pops. I immediately purchased all the supplies needed as well as a second copy of her book - the signed copy goes into the closet along with the unopened limited edition Barbie collection (my other love).

Angie is the first person to inspire me to actually show up for a book signing and stand in line, and I'm glad she did. It was a pleasure to meet her and learn from her. I'd like to think that aside from making a nice chunk of change from the book deal, Angie is experiencing the joy that comes from knowing you've inspired and impacted others in a positive way. That kind of joy is priceless. That kind of joy is what sweet tooth therapy is all about.

Living the Sweet Life

Wow, I've come a long way - from absolutely hating to make cupcakes to making it my daily passion. That just goes to show what maturity can do for you. A year ago when my business mentor said "you should do cupcakes - they're all the rage now" all I said was NO. Layer cakes and I had such a history, such a love affair. I thought cupcakes were just too messy, too much trouble (translation - didn't want to learn a new skill, and certainly didn't want those pastry bags to clean up). But then it hit me - 6 pounds, that is. Six pounds of chocolate layer cake weight gain. I mean what else are you supposed to do when somebody gives you a whole cake (and then you practice and practice duplicating it)? After that, I wouldn't bake a cake for months for fear of turning on my voracious sweet tooth.

When I finally recovered from my fear-of-weight-gain-from-cake-aholicism, my baking passion was revived by the cupcake. There really is something magical about those little cakes. They're cute, satisfying, and somehow I can eat just 3... well it's better than a whole 8 inch 3 layer cake.

After months of agonizing over a name, the business is called, of course, Sweet Tooth Therapy - and the website is coming soon, like in a few days soon. The focus has changed from southern cakes and cupcakes to a focus on the fact that sweets really are therapeutic. Yes I am still a dietitian, but one who has chosen to embrace her deepest passions - baking and eating. :) Life really is sweet.

Sweet Tooth Therapy is Good for the Soul

Well I know it's been a while since I've posted anything here so please forgive me. No really good excuse, just blog neglect.

Anyway, I've recently had a sort of revelation. As a dietitian it's my duty to promote a healthy lifestyle. I think I had been going overboard though, in an effort to control my love for sweets. But now I realize that the love of sweets and being healthy is much easier when you embrace the cupcake. So that's what I've done, so much so that I'm opening a cupcake biz. I did a quick bio yesterday for the cupcake website and wanted to get your opinion on what I've jotted down so far. Here it is...


My earliest memory of baking was when I was 3, making AND tasting mud pies in the backyard in Texas, working hard to get the right consistency and shape. I eventually graduated to being the official mixer-holder for my Arkansas mom's many orders for cakes and pies. Not seeing my love of baking as a career option, I ended up moving to Atlanta and getting a degree in psychology, and then nutrition. As a registered dietitian I declared there was no way I would contribute to the obesity epidemic by being a baker, despite the fact that my love of baking was growing weary of being suppressed.

Well, I've finally given in, thanks to the cupcake boom. At last there's a way to combine my loves of baking, psychology, and a well balanced diet. There is nothing more therapeutic than savoring the flavors of your childhood. I once had a customer take one look at one of my cakes and burst into tears. He said he hadn't seen a German Chocolate cake that looked like that since his southern grandmother passed away. And the cupcake, well that's the ultimate weight watcher's joy. Life can't be all salad and green beans, and a cupcake gives just the right portion for a little sweet tooth therapy.

I don't know if it's moving from Atlanta to the Bay Area that has made me miss the flavors of the south so much, but I've discovered that I'm not alone. When I just say the words red velvet or banana pudding, I don't care where I am, the room lights up with joy. And if I can bring that kind of joy to others by doing something I love, then y'all better know I'm gonna do it, and do it well.

For the Love of Lemon Cake - Part 1

I never really knew how much I loved lemon cake until I noticed that I had chosen it for my wedding cake. At the top of my blog page is my famous fabulous lemon pound cake covered with a pucker your puss lemon glaze - YUMMMM! That was my choice for my birthday cake last year - please don't count the candles. If you had asked me what my favorite cake was, I would have said pound, or carrot. But when I think about it, I truly do love a good lemon cake.

On this past Saturday I happened upon an episode of the Barefoot Contessa which featured a lemon cake that caught my attention. Since I had all the ingredients, I decided to try my hand at Ina Gartens' lemon yogurt cake. Lemon is what this cake truly is. The fresh lemon flavor is awesome. However, I do have a number of complaints about it. First of all, the texture is like a brand new sponge that has been used to soak up an oil spill. The word unanimously used to describe this cakes texture was "weird". The cake also browned too fast on the outside while leaving the inside somewhat undercooked. It ended up looking more like a loaf of cornbread than a lemon cake. By the way, I refuse to take credit for the problems with this cake, since I noticed comments on the food network website with the exact complaints that I had.



Needless to say I won't be using this recipe again. However, this leads me to revisit an unfinished pursuit of an awesome lemon cake to add to my cake list to satisfy customer request -Hmm, my birthday is coming up. Maybe I'll be my first lemon cake customer. I guess this means "For the Love of Lemon Cake" will be continued.

Happy Healthy New Year

After all of the chocolate cake binging in December my body is craving something more sensible. Instead of the traditional black eyed peas and collards, I made black eyed pea and collard green soup - and we loved it! Now on to the sweet stuff... I made a half hearted attempt at a refined sugar free refined flour free dessert - some sort of zucchini carrot raisin pineapple bread that turned out to be a near miss.


Due to not wanting to follow a recipe or measure, it was too wet and absolutely not sweet enough. I used whole wheat pastry flour, flaxseed, applesauce, molasses, and agave nectar. All of those were good choices, but too much wet and not enough dry. Of course I had to salvage as much of it as I could. So I turned it into a bread pudding by adding whole wheat bread, more raisins, a handful of walnuts, a half cup of brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of butter - ok 3. Anyway, I love it.



Honesly, at first glance I wanted to call the final outcome Yuck Bread. My husband took one look at it and walked away. But with a bit of creativity and a nice serving dish, it actually turned out to look almost as good as it tasted. So I guess I'll call it Z'Bread Pudding. With a dollop of cream on top (preferably ice cream), it's the best thing for keeping a resolution of good healthy eating and endulging in some sweet tooth therapy at the same time.

Cupcake Therapy

The plan was laid out - take the little one to GranMaMahs for NYE and have an adult dessert - Tiramisu. I spent a nice chunk of the day gathering the ingredients to make even the ladyfingers from scratch. Then, the plan fell through. The little one stayed home and the dessert plan changed to a more brat friendly option - cupcakes. Not, I repeat, Not my thing. In fact, I find them to be a major pain in the tail. The recipe was fine, vanilla cupcakes from Billy Reece on Martha Stewarts website. I like the one bowl concept, even though it worked out to be 2 bowls for me.












But I just don't like all the fuss, the icing, the pastry bags, the overflow of cupcake batter. What a mess.

Now the little one thought the whole project was just a joy.

And I don't blame her one bit - she didnt have to clean up - all she had to do was eat em up!


So they turned out OKAY as far as I'm concerned. I much prefer a more sophisticated treat - like the Tiramisu I originally had on my mind. But who can resist putting a smile on a kids face?... and filling her mouth at the same time so I don't have to hear any whining about not going to GranMaMahs. I guess in the end, cupcake therapy worked out for both of us. :)

The Josephine Baker Story

The cake of the week is banana chocolate chip, which I have decided to call the Josephine Baker cake - it's rich, it's sexy, it's fun, and very classy - and Miss Josephine was definitely a chocolate sista who was very well known for her way of rockin' that skirt of bananas. My inspiration for this cake is the banana chocolate chip layer cake I so loved at Cafe Intermezzo in Atlanta - Lord how I miss that place. I called and got the "desert concierge" to describe the cake to me, and I went on my own from there. What I came up with... 4 layers of moist banana cake resting comfortably between blankets of fresh bananas and dark chocolate ganache - then covered in more ganache and a million mini chocolate chip morsels. Delicious, although not yet flawless.
The pros - finally a banana cake that's not too dense and perfectly moist. The cons - its hard to find good mini chips - the Nestle ones are so bad I couldn't eat them - just for decoration. Also, the layers are too thick - next time it will be 6 thin layers. This will really make for a beautiful and statuesque cake, much like its namesake. This is probably my 5th attempt at getting this cake right. My husband agrees I'm getting close. Overall, I'm at the doorstep of chocolate banana heaven.