Langues de Chat

My Aunt came back from France with a little gift for me: A box of Langues de Chat from La Duree (recently most known for their Macarons). Of course the packaging is amazing (the cat! with its tongue out!) and the little butter cookies inside are delicate and delicious.

Breakfast and Tea Time

Jin Patisserie: a great place to stop and collect yourself with a cup of tea and some tasty pastries (including great French Macarons). I had the opportunity to go last week with some talented ladies that I really only know because of the internet.

We also ate breakfast together at 3 Square Bakery. It was salty, crunchy, delicious:



What delicious things dd you eat over the weekend?

Valentine's Day Weekend

I just had a lovely weekend filled with old friends, lots of baking, LOTS of eating, a beautiful hike, a good run and time with my sweetie.

We attempted red velvet cupcakes using a mix and our wits and only sort of succeeded, next time we need more red food coloring and more chocolate. We'll use this recipe if we do it again.

They sure looked good before we baked them, though.




Most impressive were these heart shaped pear and raspberry tarts that Jamie and Thea made using a recipe from the last page of the February issue of Martha. They came out light and fluffy and delicious.





Then we all sat around the table, eating and catching up for hours. It was great to have my oldest friends over to help break in the house and fill it with good cheer. Here's the dining room, it's coming along slowly:

Tiramisu for Two

Over the weekend I decided to make a quick Tiramisu (more or less with this recipe) in little coffee cups. I like making individually portioned desserts because somehow it makes them feel really special.

Tiramisu is one of those desserts that seems like it would be complicated but is actually pretty simple as long as you have some kind of mixer (I use a Kitchenaid Stand mixer).

I'm also dying to make some of David Lebovitz's desserts. Have you read the Sweet Life in Paris yet? It is so good.

Bulgarini Gelato

In the most out of the way, totally hidden strip mall in Altadena is the best gelato I've ever had (and I've been to Italy). The owner of Bulgarini is Italian and shuts the store for months at a time while he's gone researching flavors and bringing back key ingredients like Italian Espresso or Pistachios. It's worth the trek for those of you further away. Lucky for me I'm just a couple of miles away!

I got three flavors last time: Pistachio, Coffee and Chocolate.

As the sign says, it's crazy good.

During the winter, Bulgarini Gelato is only open on weekends, FYI.

Lark Cupcakes

Finally checked out Lark in Silverlake. Do these images do the chocolate and the coconut cupcakes justice? Never even got to photograph the cream puff, it disappeared too quickly. Went with Jamie, Jordan and Vivian.

And if the cupcakes didn't knock my socks off, then this doilyscape did. Turns out I'd already seen it on flickr and blogged it for AT, but it was magical in person. That's Jordan, he and Jamie and I went to high school together. Jordan has a band in LA and I can't get enough of the first 2 songs on their site.

Marshmallows!

With Fall coming I have 2 desires: to go on a diet (did you see how much i ate in france!) and to make desserts like this. I LOVE marshmallows and this high end version of s'mores says Fall here I come!