Bake it til you make it

Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Tart

I just got my September / 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine -- an issue devoted to all things Paris -- and I noticed a "Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tart" on page 149. I decided to make it. Take a look (For high quality click here and just below Views click " watch in high quality"):

The recipe is after the jump. PS, it's outstanding!

Fried in a way Paula Deen wouldn't like!

My computer is fried. Toast. Hasta la vista.

And it took four years worth of files with it!

Back your files up, people. Otherwise, you will be like me and frustrated as hell.

7-Up Cake

                                    

Having my passion for baking almost completely deflated by none other than Sherry Yard, I decided to return to my roots (Cowtown baby!) and make a 7-Up cake. The recipe is from an unknown church cookbook submitted by Mrs. Philonese Thompson. It's after the jump.

Here's my video about the cake:

Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling

BITYMI TV presents:

Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling

. The recipe is posted after the jump along with PART 4.

Having done four videos about this one cake, I must say I was extremely disappointed with how the cake turned out. I think, as I mentioned in the fourth installment, that the cake would be fantastic without the fleur de sel. I have noted in red on the recipe after the jump where exactly the salt should be omitted.  :

                                 PART 1:

                               PART 2:

                                                                          PART 3:

When you wish upon a frog...

I am well aware that this website is about baking. I am also well aware that I (Jon-Marc McDonald) control most of its content. Therefore, on rare occasions, when something happens that is very exciting but has nothing to do with baking I might stray from the site's primary purpose. Which brings me to the reason for this post.

As of yesterday the official website for the upcoming Disney animated musical feature film, The Princess and the Frog, is up and I encourage all my readers to take a look. Why? Well my very good friend, Michael-Leon Wooley, is the voice of Louis the alligator in the movie. Michael, who was last seen on the big screen playing Tiny Joe Dixon in the movie Dreamgirls and can be seen in the upcoming movie Ghost Town (click picture for the trailer where M-L plays a medical attorney who tells Ricky Gervais he died "a little bit less"), has a  voice that the Washington Post described as "golden throated" and the next-to-impossible-to-please  theater critic Ben Brantley of the New York Times called "soulful".  Michael is also a veteran of Broadway where he was last seen (heard) as the voice of Audrey II, the man-eating plant, in the revival of Little Shop of Horrors.  In addition, M-L has done innumerable voice campaigns for various commercials. On any given day you are sure to hear his voice on TV.

The Princess and the Frog, scheduled for release in December/2009 is a 2-D film (traditional animation, meaning they draw the whole thing instead of using computers) and will be the first Disney animated movie that features an African-American princess. The cast includes Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Jennifer Lewis,  Jim Cummings, Peter Bartlett, John Goodman, Jennifer Cody, Angela Bassett and  my friend, the incomparable Michael-Leon Wooley. The film is being scored and composed by Randy Newman and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements

And one other thing. Michael performed the song " We Have to Change " by Henry Krieger and Bill Russell at a Barack Obama fundraiser in New York City on August 11. The song was written specifically for the fundraiser.

So why does this warrant a mention on my blog? Because Michael, a man with a heart of gold and gentle spirit,  has been such an incredible friend during some extremely dark times in my life.

I should note that, on occasion, I act as Michael's  publicist. However, that is not why I am writing this on BITYMI. I am writing as a friend.   And now that production for Princess is under way I wanted to take this time and let him know how very proud I am to call him my friend! No one deserves this more!

Congrats M-L!

The interesting thing about this picture is that literally seconds after it was taken (by the inimitable Michael Steele, website here) M-L left for an audition for Princess. The picture is from March 7th, 2007.

BITYMI TV now has its own channel

BakeItTIlYouMakeIt.tv is your one stop channel for all things baking. Here is the first video:

The Magnolia Bakery Cupcake : Fight the urge PART 1

                                  

A few weeks ago a good friend asked me to provide the desserts for her baby shower (my post about the shower here).  Since one of her request was cupcakes I began experimenting with different recipes. One recipe, from 500 Cupcakes: The Only Compendium You'll Ever Need, turned out quite well and others...well other recipes failed to rise to the occasion.

While testing a variety of recipes I came across the infamous Magnolia Bakery cupcake. I should note that I have a strong resistance to all things Magnolia. The uber-publicized bakery does not -- and quite honestly cannot -- live up to the hype. When I moved to NYC in early 2001 I went to Magnolia, which was just beginning to  experience immense popularity thanks to Sex and the City. At the time, the lines extended around the corner and there was some excitement on my part to get my hands on such a coveted cupcake. And I must admit I was impressed.

But my cupcake crush quickly turned stale. Every subsequent visit to Magnolia left me a bit emptier and more perplexed. I wondered what happened. Was it me? Were my expectations too high? Was the media to blame? Perhaps it was like a second date.

You know what I mean. The kind of date with someone your friends told you was great. They build up the person to be some kind of wunderkind of the human race. They essentially set up an impossible situation.

So you go on the date. Turns out, you enjoy it. This Mr. Wonderful has it all. He's successful, handsome, intelligent and a great kisser. You enthusiastically agree to go on a second date and count down the hours 'til you see him again.

While waiting, your friends -- emboldened by the success of the first date -- "build the brand" and shape the narrative further. They tell you about how much he loves his mother, how he rescued a puppy from Delhi while building a water-filtration system for the  city's poorest, how he runs a youth program for paraplegic teenagers in his spare time.  You realize that you might, in fact, be falling in love. You pinch yourself a few times, smile when you think of his smile, giggle at the joke he told while you replay it over and over and over again in your head.

You envision how your family will react when they meet him for the first time, what your first place will look like together. No, wait! You're gonna marry the man. Come hell or high water this man is yours. Children? You betcha. Two. Point. Five to be exact. And then the time comes for the second date...