The birthday girl wouldn't dance!

Today we celebrated a birthday, yay!  It was for one of our new colleagues working as a research assistant prior to further education to a PhD.  The birthday treats were some vanilla and chocolate cupcakes from Whole Foods, some nice Breyer's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and some coconut gelato. So we sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed the goodies. 

The birthday girl and the goods!

The cupcakes were good, but somewhat generic as you would expect.  The swampy gold color of the frosting on the chocolate cupcakes was certainly interesting.  The Breyer's was as it always is. The coconut gelato was a bit especially with birthday honoree, who  and was the first thing to go. But all in all it was a good standard kind of birthday party.  

Nice and typical birthday selection!

Coconut gelato was something different!

Breyer's "Natural" Vanilla was as it always is!

Chocolate cupcakes with swampy gold frosting!

And the vanilla cupcakes are covered in pink!

Except someone was suggesting that the birthday girl dance and to "West Side Story" no less.  A couple of the songs were lyrically modified to fit with the celebrant but no dance.  It's really not surprising though inasmuch as when you tell someone dance is something you do on the side and they automatically come up with the West Side Story connection for you to perform to, it is a stretch. Our dancer may now think twice before sharing any outside interests again!!

No Mambo for today!

And forget about the Jet song also!

The pizzelle were a hit and we had some artisanal NYC chocolates.

Today's entry for student cake month were some homemade Italian cookies.  The person who made and brought them isn't really Italian so what gives?  Apparently these were something that he had once, decided he liked them and then learned how to make them himself, you know, the usual stuff just like everybody else does right? Well not really so kudos to him for learning and for bringing them for us to enjoy.

A couple unknown treats lie in store!

I liked them so I learned how to make them - doesn't everyone do tha

Nice little stack of pizzelle.

He made pizzelle, which is not a little pizza like it sounds. Pizzelle are traditional Italian waffle cookies made from flour, eggs, sugar, butter or vegetable oil, and flavoring (usually anise or anisette, less commonly vanilla or lemon zest).  The batter is prepared then poured into a pizzelle mold, similar to a waffle iron that gives the cookie its unique snowflake pattern. The mold is then held over the burner of a stove to cook (unless it is electric which also happens.)  These are popular at Christmas and Easter neither of which we are near but, I told you, he just liked them.  We got them plain in a big stack, which was fun. They are frequently covered with powdered sugar and can even be used to make a sandwich with ice cream or cannoli filling. We didn't go there.

The shape comes from the mold. Snowflake?

They were very good!  They were not too crispy i.e. overcooked and not too mushy.  They had the right amount of crispness for sure. And of course the were enjoyable because, as a European  recipe, they are not sickeningly sweet. Everyone enjoyed them and suffice it to say the pile did not last too long.

Stacked them high!

And the stack is starting to decline!

For a complementary treat we also had some chocolates that came from New York City.  Another of our associates had visited recently and came across some candies made by Li-lac Chocolates which claims to be and probably is New York's oldest chocolate house and has been making hand made chocolates since 1923.  The package included a history of the place which certainly was news to us. 

From the oldest continuous chocolate house in NYC - LiLac!

Another slice of NYC history!

Looking good and mostly chocolate and nuts...even better!

They were very good, mostly dark chocolate with embedded nuts which we liked.  There were no issues with cream filling or the like that you realize you don't want after you take one bite.  All together the two treats made for a good flavorful time today at cake hour!
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And the first student entry is......homemade lemon squares!

It's July which everyone associated with cake hour knows is student cake month. This is our friendly, non-competitive contest for the lab students to show us their cake hour stuff. It is also a surreptitious way to get them to bring in sweets for the rest of us but never mind that! We accept anything but prize homemade goodies a bit more.  As a matter of fact if it is not homemade you can't get the highest five star rating. I guess we are a little demanding in that regard.

First off with some lemon squares!

Today's kickoff entry was homemade lemon bars from our Brown Medical School student doing some concurrent research. These baked in a rectangular pan and then cut up into small squares so we suppose that makes them lemon squares.  These are tricky since they combine sweet and sour.  You have the sugar to lemon balance correct or they end up too tart or the sugar overwhelms the lemon to the point where you don't taste it.

Ready for eating and ready for their closeup!

We like the coarseness of the top!

Lemon curd over yellow cake makes for a sweet and sour treat.

Our student baker nailed it though.  These featured the lemon curd-like topping over a thin layer of yellow cake. They were baked well to come out nice and moist and the lemon balance - if we can call it that - was correct. Good job for the first entry and we give our gal 4 stars!!

Quick Cream Pie made with real cream to boot!

While driving back to a supposed cakeless cake hour a Stop and Shop was seen so I decided to stop and shop for something.  A quick visit to the bakery section for a quick pick and came up with a chocolate cream pie - made with real cream!!! They have to make that disclaimer, I suppose, because a lot commercial bakeries use vegetable based cream whipped toppings of which we are not fans.  So the disclaimer helped seal the deal with this pie.

Grab and Go Bakery from Stop and Shop or Market Basket or...

The disclaimer is what we like to see!

It was a classic chocolate cream, pie with a good basic pie crust, a good thick layer of dark chocolate filling - pudding based - not mousse - and a decent amount of real cream on the top.  It hit the spot and was very much enjoyed.  The dark chocolate was a plus.

Real cream in ample mounds on the top!

Nicely drizzled with chocolate sauce!

 We've had this many times and even though it is supposedly made in store this type seems to be in several stores - we found one in Market Basket also. Whatever, it is a good version of a classic American dessert so get it at either place and enjoy!

Two relatively thick layers of good stuff!

The pineapple cakes are back!

Pineapple cakes are a tradition in Taiwan.  It is a relatively simple cake or small tart consisting of flour, butter, egg, sugar and pineapple jam or compote.   It is believed to have originated with Taiwanese wedding tradition where the wedding cake is supposed to have six flavors to accompany the six rites that are part of the ceremony.  One of the flavors was pineapple and is it supposed to symbolize that the marriage will be fruitful - lots of kids, that is.

Lovely souvenir box!!

Nicely individually wrapped and two kinds!

One of our colleagues returned from Taiwan and brought several boxes back with him for souvenirs - a very thoughtful gesture for sure.  These ones came from the award winning Shu Shi bakery which was endorsed by the former president of Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou. We know it is award winning because there is a card in the box that told us so!!  In addition the signature of the former president is on the package!

The pink ones are the ones that have the "cranberries"!

A little promo for their award winning cakes!

 The cakes are actually small individually wrapped tart-like cakes. The outside crust is very much like an American pie and the inside filling is more of a jam-like than fresh fruit filled. Most of the sweetness is in the jam not the crust. There were two variations in the box, the standard pineapple cake but also one that contained "cranberries" though the package called them "vine raspberries". They were both good and they went great with coffee as they do with tea which is how they are normally consumed in Taiwan!

Basic but pretty good!!

A nice lemon tart for the day

We are glad that people keep cake hour in mind when they visit Trader Joe's. It is a place that everyone seems to like.  One of our group paid a visit and picked up a Viennese Lemon Tart.  You must admit it sounds better to say a Viennese Lemon Tart as opposed to just a Lemon Tart.  Who knows if the people in Vienna even make this kind of thing.

Someone went to Joe's and we got a lemon tart!

Simple yet nice!!

It is essentially a relatively unadorned flan type cake with a regular pie crust bottom, a layer of not too sweet lemon curd or custard, and a dusting of confectioner's sugar on the top.  It looked very good and certainly tasted so.  The tartness of the lemon was refreshing and as already mentioned it had an appropriate level of sweetness.  If you are at Trader Joe's and want to give it a try, we certainly recommend it.

Good and round!

Just a little dusting helps to offset the tang of the lemon!

Just because it looks unassuming doesn't mean it it isn't good!

Pumpkin Pie and a landscape drenched with snow

Today is the first cake hour of April - yeah!  But it was more reminiscent of something from the winter.  First, someone brought a pumpkin pie today!!  The pie is normally associated with autumn and the holidays but it is clearly still available is some places like BJs which is where this one was from.

Somebody went to BJs!

And brought a pumpkin pie.

Very round and very smooth!

 This was a very good size pie, probably about 10 inches with a solid pumpkin color and a very smooth top. It tasted like these pies typically do with a nice taste of the spices without being overbearing.  A little whipped cream would have added a nice touch but no matter. It was a nice offering for cake hour.

Looks pretty classic!

A little whipped cream would have added the final touch!

The winter theme went will with the weather from the weekend which included and April 1 snowstorm. Although Providence want no particularly affected, for the one of us who was driving north through New Hampshire and Vermont the weather made for a travel disaster especially given the fact that the rental car was a Dodge Charger with rear wheel drive.  Who knew they still made rear wheel drive? 

Nice car but keep it out of the snow!!

 With steady snow, white out visibility almost, and little to no plowing the Charger was no match. During the course of the over 6 hour drive, (normally just over 2.5 hours) the car fishtailed up every hill, drove sideways at one point. and did a complete 180 ending up facing the wrong direction on an Interstate highway with a truck stopping about 10 feet away.  This was followed by getting stuck first in the snow. It had to be left on the road meaning the last mile to the destination was on foot at 1:30 in the morning.  The next day it got stuck in the mud.  The only upside to the whole thing was the landscape the next morning that was literally drenched with snow.

The small tree on the left - drenched with snow.

The red thing in the middle is a barn that is normally very visible.

Try getting your car up this road!

The Charger wasn't going to do it!

On the return trip, with normal dry road conditions, the Charger was great to drive with awesome acceleration and pickup!  Just don't take it into a snowstorm.