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Happy New Year to all! The holidays are never long enough, are they?

But now it's time to get back to business. With a new year ahead of us, we're very excited to be making some new additions! We'll be busy in the kitchen stirring up some new recipes. I've got a few in mind... maybe some sugar-free products, some gluten-free - although no promises! What's tough about these two kinds of cakes and pastries is we refuse to stray away from our philosophy: using the highest quality ingredients to bake the highest quality final products. We don't want to cut any corners, which makes baking sugar-free and gluten-free very challenging. 

Any other suggestions or recommendations? Over the holidays we were receiving numerous phone calls asking about Lemon Cake. We do bake a fabulous Lemon Poppyseed Cake as well as a Lemon Custard Cream and a Lemon Rum Cream, but I think a plain Lemon Cake would be nice too. Another request I received is for Coconut Cake, so I'll be working on that too.

What do you think? Anything else you would like to see our bakery carry?

In a previous blog post we mentioned a growing trend towards individually sized desserts. We sort of took that to the extreme with our brand new Cake Bites. There were two different sweets running through my mind when I came up with this idea of Cake Bites. First, chocolate. Just plain ol' chocolate. Minute amounts of chocolate can make your day so much brighter, don't you think? I also love working with chocolate: making chocolate decor pieces, chocolate candies, chocolate bars and don't forget chocolate truffles.

Second, donut holes. Why is it that donut holes are so much better than regular-sized donuts? Well, for a couple reasons, I think. Firstly, because they are bite-size, they are easy to eat. You don't have to commit to a whole donut if you don't want to. Secondly, and probably more importantly, there's a better glaze to dough ratio. A much, much better ratio. Even though the donut hole is smaller, the entire hole is covered, AND it's more glaze than what you would get out of a bite of a regular donut.

I have the same problems with cake slices as I do with regular-sized donuts. Sometimes I really want cake but can't finish a whole slice (or rather, won't let myself... but the topic of weight-watching while working at a bakery is neither here nor there). And like the glaze on a donut, sometimes I wish there was a higher icing to cake ratio. Thus, the cake bites were born.

They're really perfect because you can have as many or as little as you want without compromising the quality of our cakes. We used the same exact batters, icings and ingredients as we do with our whole cakes but, obviously, scaled down. And then, mostly because I love playing with chocolate, I tossed the bites into chocolate shavings to give it the truffle look, inspired by dessert idea #1.

We're going to start off with chocolate cake. The chocolate Cake Bites are Chocolate on Chocolate, the white Cake Bites are Chocolate Rum and the mixed Cake Bites are Chocolate Mocha. If they really take off we'll start adding some other cakes and flavors.

They launched today at our Fremont store so stop by for a sample, and let us know what you think. They will hit Palo Alto and Santa Clara stores later this week/beginning of next week.

Hope you like them!

A quick post on our new food specials we just launched at our Fremont store last night! This makes our eighth round of specials at the store, and we hope you're enjoying them.

We've added three brand-new dishes this time around:

TRI-TIP STEAK: tri-tip steak served in a red wine reduction with mushrooms, country potatoes and grilled vegetables

This new special has quickly become my personal favorite. There's not much else food I like better than steak, and this one is paired perfectly with its sides. The mashed potatoes (though always good) were getting a little overdone so we subbed in country potatoes. Now just hold on a second before you dismiss them so quickly! True, you usually see them served with your scrambled eggs, but they've never been this good before. It's a perfect concoction of soft potatoes, onions, bell peppers and spices. Finally, even though we love meat, we always need a little bit of greens too.

SEAFOOD STUFFED SOLE: FRESH sole stuffed with seafood, served with a bed of sauteed spinach, corn & asparagus risotto and lemon buerre blanc sauce

If you love seafood - fish in particular - this dish is definitely for you. We took FRESH, wild Sole and stuffed it with Mahi Mahi, fresh Salmon and even more Sole. There's a bit of Shiitake mushrooms, cilantro and other spices thrown in there. It's plated with a bed of sauteed spinach, topped with a corn & asparagus risotto, finished with some veggies and a lemon buerre blanc sauce.

SPANISH STUFFED CHICKEN: stuffed with feta cheese and green chiles, served on a bed of grilled baguette, roasted pepper coulis, spanish rice and vegetables

A lot of colors going on on this plate! We took an airline cut of chicken (also known as the Hotel Cut or the French Cut - basically the first joint of the wing is left on the breast) and stuffed in with a generous amount of Feta Cheese and green chiles. If you like Feta Cheese, you will definitely enjoy this stuffing. We then rolled the chicken in fried, Chipotle tortilla crumbs. It's served on a bed of grilled baguette, topped with roasted pepper coulis (typically a puree of vegetables) and garnished with Spanish rice and vegetables.

We also kept a few specials from the last round as they were in high demand: Chicken Carbonara, Tilapia Buerre Blanc and Fish N Chips.

As always, feel free to leave comments or suggestions for our next round of specials. Until then, Bon Appetit!

Tea? A cup of Joe? Try dessert. It has been so interesting to watch our customers’ wants and needs change over time. We have shifted from large cakes to smaller cakes and now, to individually sized desserts. So we started making more tarts: fruit tarts, lemon tarts, banana cream tarts. We started making both regular nd mini sizes of our eclairs, cream puffs and more. We added individually sized cakes: mousse cakes, cheesecakes, anything we could make in a smaller size. And now, dessert cups.

Orange Almond & Peach Trifle Cup

We wanted to start simple. Inspired by the English Trifle, we made small trifle cups with cake, fruit, custard and whipped cream. Today, we have two kinds: one for chocolate fans and one for Orange Almond fans. (Btw, if you haven’t tried our Orange Almond, it really is one-of-a-kind! The torte is mostly made from freshly ground almonds instead of flour to give it a real great almond flavor, perfectly paired with orange zest and orange icing.)

But that was maybe too simple. We threw together ingredients that we already had ready for other products. We needed a challenge and a spark of creativity.

Enter VERRINES. Verrines, just a fancy word for a multi-layer dessert served in a glass or cup, opened a door of endless possibilities! So don’t be surprised if you see multiple blog posts on verrine updates. Here are the combinations we have so far:

Chocolate and Espresso Mousse Verrines: a layer of espresso mousse, chocolate cake and Mascarpone cheese; topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings

Chestnut and Chocolate Mousse Verrines: a layer of chocolate mousse, mocha ganache and chestnut mousse

And finally, I have saved the best for last. We had to get real creative with this one but we’re quite happy with the end result. This is the first dessert we’ve created using champagne, and I have a feeling that it won’t be the last.

We’ve always concentrated much more heavily on taste rather than appearance. That’s not to say that presentation isn’t important (because it certainly is!), but despite the presentation, the quality of a product will stand for itself (side note: our mousse are always made from scratch, with no preservatives, additives, powders, etc). We’re not going to ever strive for anything less than great in taste – it is still and will always be our main priority. But I think we’re taking a step in the right direction in terms of presentation now too. Hope you agree!

After a little bit of a hiatus from macarons, we decided to come back with three flavors that were too good to not share with the world. Last week we began making S’more macarons (that’s right!) and this week we added PB&J and Chocolate. The S’more macarons are really fun – to eat and to and to make. One of my favorite things to do in the winter is to set up a little campfire to make S’mores with my closest friends. Ya’know, roast the marshmallow on a stick and right before it gets too gooey, stick it between two pieces of graham crackers with a small piece of chocolate. Somehow the S’more makes the cold winter nights more bearable. And hopefully you’ll feel the same about our S’more macarons.

In between the two graham-cracker-flavored macarons shells lies homemade, all natural marshmallows (none of that jet-puffed stuff!) and two thin layers of our famous chocolate frosting. The combination brings back great campfire memories.

Speaking of memories, somewhere down this road called life, I stopped eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t know when, and I don’t know why. The only thing I know is that I miss it. Is it silly for an adult to crave such a thing? This is where my inspiration came from for our PB&J macarons.

The shells are made from a mixture of freshly ground peanuts and almonds, and then they’re filled with our very own peanut butter buttercream, infused with raspberry jam.

And who can get enough chocolate? We couldn’t make macarons and not have a chocolate one, but don’t say we didn’t warn you: this is VERY chocolatey! Chocolate shells filled with our incredibly rich mocha ganache.

Any other flavors you’d like to see?

I can’t believe the holiday season is behind us. 2010 definitely seemed to have flown by, and now we’re almost done with January too! I suppose that’s how Valentine’s Day creeps up on us. I don’t know about you but more than once have I found myself scrambling for a present at last minute. Something more creative than some flowers or a box of chocolates, yet still meaningful and perhaps even delicious.

This is where we step in!

Last year we began making our famous Chocolate on Chocolate cake in the shape of a heart. We drizzled some raspberry icing on the top, decorated with a few chocolate pieces and a couple raspberries. It turned out beautifully, so we’re happy to offer it again.

In addition, for Mother’s Day last year we stumbled across a sweet creation in our kitchen. We married two of my favorite desserts to create a tasty Tiramisu Cheesecake, unique to our bakery. This is available in 8″, 10″ and a 6″ heart.

And for years now we’ve been making our Sweetheart Cake specially for this occasion. Taking the same chocolate cake that put us on the map (so to speak!), we kicked it up a notch from our Chocolate Rum by frosting it with raspberry cream cheese. It’s so good we often get requests for it throughout the year but it’s only available these couple of weeks – so make sure to place your order!

If you or your loved one aren’t cake people though, we do have several other options: cream puff hearts (filled with fresh whipped cream, covered with dark chocolate and drizzled with raspberry icing), individually-sized heart-shaped Strawberry Mousse, heart-shaped cookies (available in Raspberry Sandwiches, Half-Dippeds, Gingerbread, and Snickerdoodle).

Critics call this holiday a “Hallmark Holiday”. It may or may not be true, but we hope you enjoy it anyway and let the people you love know you love them! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Recently we have mixed two of my favorite products: cheesecake and Tiramisu to create an incredibly rich and tasty Tiramisu Cheesecake! We literally joined the two ingredient lists together. Sitting on homemade lady fingers, the cheesecake itself is made from a blend of cream cheese, Mascarpone cheese, espresso made from Italian-imported beans, Kahlua and Meyer rum. We then top the cake with a Mascarpone whipped cream. The result is a cake rich in taste but not overpowering in any one flavor (we have a lot of flavors going on there!).  If you love our Tiramisu cake, this one is a must-try!

Now available for orders: the sizes we offer are 6″ heart (about 4-5 servings), 8″ round (8-9 servings) and 10″ round (12-16 servings). Decorations around and on top of the cake may vary.

Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. Were about to launch a Twitter-exclusive promotion and we want your votes! Check out our profile/previous tweets for more details: www.twitter.com/theprolificoven

Have a great weekend!

This year marks our 30th Anniversary and to commemorate, we’ve been designing a 30th Anniversary cake. We know we’re a tad behind (two months!) but yesterday we were finally able to introduce it. There have been a lot of changes since we first open our doors in 1980 — including our expansion from one store-frontto four — but our philosophy and goal has always remained the same: make the finest quality products with the finest quality ingredients.

Since Chocolate on Chocolate is our most popular cake, it only seemed fitting that it played a role in our 30th Anniversary cake. Many of you in the past have also asked for a “black & white” cake, so we took this opportunity to fulfill your wishes (honestly, nothing pleases us more!).

One layer of your favorite chocolate cake, with one layer of white cake, filled with mocha almond ganache and frosted with mocha ganache

Chocolate Flowers available for extra charge

This cake will be available for orders all year, in all sizes. We hope you enjoy it!