Now that I'm settled in back at home here in Oregon I'm ready to post about some delicious chocolate shops & bakeries that we visited while on vacation. Pictured above are some cool souvenirs that I bought in New York City. On the left is a "kangaroo cup" that I bought at the Max Brenner chocolate shop that we visited with my sister in law. You can put pieces of chocolate on the side that can melt into your cappuccino or hot chocolate drink! It's so neat & so much fun to drink out of!
On the right is a bag of superb baking chocolate from Jacques Torres also known as "Mr. Chocolate". It is 72% bittersweet & can be used for baking & hot chocolate. I can't wait to experiment with it & create a fabulous dessert! Also, I bought this little bar of milk chocolate which I can put into my kangaroo cup to enjoy with my coffee! Yum!
We also visited two bakeries in NYC. On our first day in the city we went to the famous Magnolia Bakery known for its cupcakes. We tried a vanilla cupcake, red velvet cupcake & a small round flourless chocolate cake. They were definitely very good, but I feel proud saying that we at Farmer's Tea can make cupcakes that are just as good & probably better!
Then, on another day we visited Babycakes Bakery. They are a very unique bakery because they make many gluten free & dairy free-vegan items as well as items with spelt flour. They sweeten most of their baked goods with agave nectar as well. I tried a chocolate cupcake, carrot cupcake, cinnamon bun with raisins, chocolate chip cookie & cornbread. It was a good sampling of their offerings. Their bakery was very cute & old fashioned. I really applaud them for making alternative baked goods! I thought that their chocolate chip cookie was very good. It was very moist & satisfying. The cinnamon bun was also excellent as it was very moist & sticky! Yum!! I thought that the cupcakes could use a little more flavor, but the frosting was really nice. Overall I think their baked goods are great & I congratulate them! It inspires me to try out more gluten free, dairy free & alternatively sweetened baked goods!
This week I'm going to try working more with agave nectar making some mini cupcakes for a party & next week I'm going to try out some more gluten free & dairy free cakes. I'll be back with more baking experiments shortly!
Last night I decided to start my experimenting using agave nectar as a sweetener in some baked treats. In these cakes I used light agave nectar however next time I use the nectar with chocolate I might try the dark agave nectar. I would like to see what effect this would have on the taste. These mini chocolate dairy free cupcakes pictured above are topped with chocolate ganache. I am very pleased with these! The cupcakes are very moist & have a great flavor. Agave nectar has a different sweetening effect than regular sugar but it is very delicious! I noticed also that the cupcakes have a nice smooth crumb to them & the tops of the cakes are very smooth. They could even be topped with a bit of powdered sugar for a different effect.
