The last cheesecake...

All good things must come to and end. So too must the monthly cheesecake that we had come to expect from our friend Hiro.  He is leaving his life as a researcher here in Providence to return to Japan where he will once again immerse himself in clinical pursuits for about 80% of his time if not more. As the Japanese say..yoku nai!

The monthly cheesecake

A slight list to the right

The fruit gets a little sparse

Till the next time!

Once a month we could expect a tasty New York Style cheesecake to appear courtesy of Hiro. No more! Today we enjoy the last cheesecake...at least until someone else brings one in.  Hiro may be gone but there will always be cheesecake. It is interesting to note the various configurations of the fruit on the top over the course of the several months that these were forthcoming. This one seemed a little sparse but the cake was good even if it did look a little lop-sided!  Sayonara cheesecake!

Eiskaffee

Iced coffee is a big thing in the US in summer. Especially around here with the plethora of Dunkin Donuts and other coffee places. It seems that everyone is walking around slurping from quart size cup. The summer students this year have also taken to storing their Iced Coffees in the food refrigerator so there is a lineup of them every day.  Iced Coffee is usually about the same anywhere you go and if it's good depends on whether the place makes good coffee to begin with that will still taste good when watered down a little.  Hint: if you want any coffee to taste good from Dunkin' Donuts add a turbo shot.

It looks best when served parfait style.

Unfortunately we did not have enough fancy glasses so the presentation for all was not as fancy. Still tasted great!

If you're tooling around Germany in the summer when it is hot and plop into a cafe and order an Ice Coffee or Eiskaffee, you get something a little different. That's what was featured today. This is a delicious and refreshing treat on a hot day.  It is also easy to make.  Just take some cooled strong black coffee, add a little bit of ice. Then add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a small scoop of chocolate ice cream, top it off with good whipped cream and a wafer of some kind. Then serve it with a straw and a spoon. As we say in Boston this is wicked good and is nowhere near as heavy as some frozen drinks.  The ice cream goes well with the coffee and serves to lighten and sweeten it without going over the top.  It's ausgezeichnet and great on a hot day!  Make yourself and Eiskaffee as opposed to an iced coffee!

We also had one of our students offer some baked goods that she had made but we decided we would hold them till tomorrow since we had the Eiskaffee planned. Well, wouldn't you know she decided to take them back since they were going on a trip to Block Island.  The nerve!  We attribute to youth and/or a misunderstanding of cake time rules which mandates that once you give it it's no longer yours.

Memories of Grandma Miller and dreams of Hong Kong

We are still in the lull that usually happens after student cake month but despite no takers for bringing a cake today we relied upon a remnant of Grandma Miller's visit that we had kept stored away in the event of a gap. One remaining zucchini bread was available to keep us from going hungry.  For good measure we had some whipped cream to top it off if one so desired. After all, a little whipped cream never hurts.

It was somehow poignant that on a day when we had a small offering the cake master decided to weigh in from Hong Kong where he is preparing for his wedding with pictures showing the abundance of offerings to be found at bakeries in Hong Kong. We had been told about how good they were but were skeptical not knowing of any tradition in Hong Kong associated with baking or pastry. But check these places out.  We could fill many a cake hour schedule with these masterpieces. Does that mango cheesecake look good or what? WE NEED TO HAVE CAKE HOUR IN HONG KONG!

It's only too bad he won't be able to bring any of these back with him.  And...let's just pray he doesn't show up with frozen Durian.

Makes you drool!

Quite a variety and not a bean in sight!

Now we're hungry...

Good sutff!

Mango cheesecake - why didn't we think of that?

Hey, does the cake have a tumor?

 A good coffee cake is always appreciated during cake time.  Today's was no exception.  This looked rather typical but was an orange pineapple coffee cake from Sam's Club of all places.  Cakes from Sam's may not be gourmet but they are always big enough to accommodate the group. They aren't bad, though and are usually fresh and never dry.  We have several different kinds and this one contained a swirl of orange pineapple topping that during baking either stayed on top of the cake or ended up sinking into the middle - hence today's title.

Nothing like a good coffee cake!

If this was under the microscope that discoloration in the center might be considered tumor tissue!

When sliced part of the cake had what appeared to be a separate discolored center that appeared to be different than that surrounding cake.  We have seen this type of thing many times on pathological slides where what we know to be a tumor is surrounded by the normal tissue it had invaded or grown in.  So being scientists we drew parallels between the cake and what we do. I think we are spending too much time looking at cakes.

Line 'em up!

Grandma's got a fresh new look! She must stay away from the water cooler!

After yesterday's carrot cake gluttony that ended the student cake month competition things were partially of necessity a little low key today. No one signed up but fortunately the last resort vending machine had an ample selection of cookie's that could get people through their sugar fix.  For commercial cookies these are absolutely fine but maybe a little too soft for cookie aficionados.   We were thrilled to see the Grandma had a "Fresh New Look"!  Just check it out.

Today we talked about an interesting little contradiction happening in people's work lives here and elsewhere. Upon changing the water in our water cooler filled with big bottles from that place in Maine, we notices the plastic plate that the bottle top sat on was covered with a green slime.  Upon removal it was clear we had a nice crop of algae growing.  We wondered why no one had observed this earlier and thought this could be a major issue.  If you check out the following link, however, you see that indeed this was previously noted.....back in 1992!
http://www.aquaprix.com/bacteriaincooler.html





So that nice fresh spring water we are consuming is in fact flavored with algae.  In Boston, in April, they put a "boil water" order in place for over two million people when a pipe ruptured and the back up system, though functional, possibly contained about 5% pond water from one of the older back up reservoirs.  At the same time though a large chunk of the affected population was going about their business at work drinking water contaminated with probably the same amount of goo.  I think I will go back to the water bubbler we have that uses appropriately treated muinicpal water. It seems the more you learn about bottled water and its issues the better regular tap water is looking.

The Big T makes his first cake and knocks 'em for a loop!

The final entry for student cake month was destined to be interesting. A reluctant if not shy participant who had not really been taking part due to his supposed lack of interest in sweets.  He was placed on the schedule somewhat involuntarily to make sure he didn't escape his obligation.  He - supposedly - had never baked anything before which is fine because he could have bought something.  But the Big T went for it opting to create something to compete with what came before. In the process he hit one right between the goal posts.

Check out  the cake carrier.  A pre-Tupperware aluminum version the likes of which no one had ever seen before.  The packing tape to secure it was also an imaginative touch. As mentioned we were expecting something interesting but the unveiling produced gasps of disbelief.  The dude concocted a four tiered carrot cake made from scratch.  It looked freakin' awesome, albeit not the most intricately decorated cake, and made quite an impression on everyone who saw it.

Pre-Tuperware cake transport

Our first time pastry chef

Practically a wedding cake

Admiring his creation

It also made a bigger impression on everyone who ate it. It was a no holds barred recipe - that he found in an "old book" in his house -  that contained everything you expect in a good carrot cake including pineapple, coconut, chunks of walnuts, carrots, of course and that whole cup of vegetable oil that makes it oh so moist and caloric.  The classic cream cheese frosting was also spot on.  The cake was a good size and the creator assumed he would be taking a good chunk of it home but as you can see it completely disappeared.

The devouring begins

Aw shucks, I'll gladly give you my...recipe!

I guess I won't be taking any of this home!

The deed ...and the cake..is done

Our baker developed an instant following and several cacklers were so enthused that they had to have the recipe prontissimmo. They even went so far to plop pen and paper in front of him as if he would remember the recipe off the top of his head.  The response was adulatory enough that if it had been a rock concert they might have been asking for his underpants. People joked he should change careers, he should become a baker, he had something to fall back on if he failed in his chosen line of work...all this after baking one cake!!  Or did he?

Funny how there happened to be just enough various size pans to make what he did. Clearly someone had baked before...and that cake carrier...how was it that was just lying around..never having been used??  It almost seems that someone in the house had done some serious pastry work in the past.  Was this really the big T's creation?  This could have been the controversy but nah, we believe him especially since he could recite enough of the recipe to convince any skeptics.  So our reticent pal who had never baked before and had previously freaked out at the prospect of singing "Happy Birthday" because he thought he would look foolish stepped right up to the plate and for the final pitch of student cake month hit one right out of the park!!  Go big T!

Since this was also awarded a five star rating we now need to schedule a bake off for the three five star winners. Stay tuned!!!

Five stars despite Martha's flaccid flan recipe

Today's student cake month entry was a twofer. Our volunteer baker came up with two fruit tarts - a peach creme tart and a fruit flan recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart.  Visually spectacular and also delicious on both counts!  The creme tart was baked to perfection so that the consistency was as one expected and it was not overly sweet.  The flan was flawed!  Despite the best efforts - including a stint in the freezer  - the custard would not hold together and it got a little soupy. According to our student baker who was somewhat stressed and feeling the pressure the recipe called for flour in the custard. Flour?  This is a custard not a gravy, Martha Stewart, what are you thinking. Since it looked great and tasted great - especially with the addition of orange peel to the custard - we attribute the glitch to a deficient recipe. Two cakes, both looking and tasting fabulous brings this a five star rating much to the relief of the student. Since her colleague in the lab took the prize last year she felt the pressure to replicate the five star success. She pulled it off so the winning streak continues, Evan Walker!

A twofer!

Fabulous flan

Peachy Tart

The ambitious baker

Baked to perfection

Soupy goodness!

Tomorrow the cake master leaves for his wedding in his native Hong Kong!  Congratulations to him and his bride to be.  It turns out they are getting married in a Catholic church in Hong Kong. Cna you imagine?  Who knew they had such things?  Also since he is not a Catholic we wondered how that could happen. Apparently it can happen, he just gets characterized official as being part of "another cult."  Is that how the RCC refers to other religions as cults?  Hmm.

When asked about a bachelor party it turns out there was one held which is appropriate because with all the strip clubs in Providence you can't really not have a bachelor party. It was lame with only three people in attendance and a rather tame club was chosen. I guess he will have to wait to experience pole dancing or legs and eggs.

It turns out the organizer of the bachelor party was a grad student who had been part of a disgraced lab that had to retract papers and was booted out of town. The PI landed a position at another university far removed from here indicating they believe in redemption or they were desperate for faculty members.  Hopefully it wasn't this bitter lab experience that drove this grad student to become an expert on strip clubs.