ModernDomestic

Easy Picture-Perfect Ice Cream Sandwiches

by moderndomestic on August 1, 2011

Ginger sponge and goat cheese ice cream sandwiches.

I don’t write about the stuff I bake for Spilled Milk all that often, because it’s usually the same things over and over again. I mean, how many times do you really want to hear I made 175 mini cupcakes?

But last week we had a media tasting for a bunch of DC food writers and bloggers (check out the scrumptious pics), and I decided to challenge myself and do something different. Everything on the menu was something I had never made before – which sounded like a great idea when I proposed the menu, but was a little stressful when it came to execution.

One of the items I was determined to make was mini ice cream sandwiches. Ever since my ice cream sandwich fail from last year (they tasted good, they just weren’t pretty) I was determined to do it again right. Not that messy ice cream sandwiches don’t have their own charm – but I want the desserts I make for our clients to be as pretty as they are tasty.

My mistake last year was the sandwich type. I did a chipwich style sandwich – I took a cookie, scooped on some ice cream, and pressed a second cookie on top. This resulted in very messy sandwiches – the ice cream started melted and squishing out the sides and getting all over the cookies. It also didn’t squish evenly – the bottom of the mound of ice cream was much larger than the top, so they were poorly balanced. And the cookie sizes varied slightly, so all the sandwiches were different sizes. Tasty, yes, but servable to the food media, no.

This time I decided to use a different approach. Instead of cookies, I made two half sheets of sponge cake (specifically a roulade sponge, which is normally rolled up with a filling) and sandwiched a layer of ice cream in between. Then I let the whole thing freeze for 24 hours and punched out the sandwiches with a fluted circular cutter. All of the sandwiches looked awesome – the ice cream was in a perfect layer between the cake and all the sandwiches were the exact same size. Instead of looking like a messy craft project, I actually looked like I knew what I was doing.

Eventually I’d like to perfect the chipwich style ice cream sandwich, but if you’re looking for an easier and prettier method then the stamping method is the way to go. Sponge cake is perfect because it’s flexible and the high egg white content makes it sturdier than butter cake. I used this ginger sponge cake recipe and made my own goat cheese ice cream to sandwich between, but it would be lovely (and beautiful!) with a variety of cakes and ice creams.

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Community Supported Pie

by moderndomestic on July 22, 2011

Star-spangled cherry pies.

About a month ago, I read about a new trend sweeping the nation – Pie CSAs. Yes, just like a CSA from a farm, people sign up for a “share” from a bakery where they’ll get a different pie every week. I thought this sounded pretty awesome.

So, this is one of the good parts about having your own business. The parts that makes the bad parts – the sleep deprivation, the lack of free time, the stress – worth it. Because rather than sitting back and thinking “oh, that’s a great idea – someone should do that” I thought “great – we can DO that.”

Yes, we’re DOING that. Specifically, we’re setting up a three-month pilot project to see if a pie CSA would work in DC. CSA members will pick up a pie every other week from our 14th and U stand, and we’ll alternate between sweet and savory pie (so you won’t get overwhelmed with dessert). All the flavors will be off-menu, and we’ll be pushing the edge with our flavors (think peach bourbon, buffalo chicken, and chocolate chipotle). The pilot starts on July 30th – and we still have a few spots open! Check out the Whisked! website here to sign up.

If you’ve never had one of our pies, trust me – they’re good. I know they’re good because we work very hard to make them good. We spent several months perfecting our pie crust technique. We source our produce from farmers who sell at the 14th and U market – especially Kuhn Orchards and Garner’s Produce - and their produce is so much better than what you get from the grocery store. We agonize over the appropriate “juiciness” level of our fillings. We test and test and re-test our savory tarts until we get them just right.

So if you want some easy (and delicious) dinner and dessert options, sign up for the pilot. Help us bring more pie to DC!

Italian zucchini quiche - roasted zucchini, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarela. Kind of like a pizza, but a quiche.

Key lime pie. Cool and refreshing and just the right amount of sweet and tart.

BBQ Chicken Tart. I find this filling irresistable - as in, I seriously can't stop eating it.

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Our First Market

May 8, 2011

We did it. We had our first Whisked! market. I will never again look at a farmer’s market stand in the same way. Whenever I see a stand I will think “Hmmm, how did they get their stuff there? What kind of van do they have? What kind of tent weights do they use?” The [...]

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Whisked! is Open for Business!

May 2, 2011

And we’re up! The Whisked! online store and website went live this morning. The people of DC can now order our treats – either for pick-up at the farmer’s market or for delivery (we have a $50 minimum for delivery, FYI). I’m proud I only had a mild freak-out when I knew the site was [...]

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Big News – And A New Addition To the 14th and U Farmers’ Market!

April 27, 2011

For the past six months I’ve been working on a big project that I’ve wanted to share with you, but I couldn’t. And it’s been killing me. But when you’re working on something huge, with so many moving parts and pieces, you don’t really want to talk about it until everything’s fallen into place. So, [...]

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Strawberry Kiwi Shortcakes

April 7, 2011

I have strawberry shortcakes on the brain. I’ve been thinking about different things I can do with the dessert, like making strawberry shortcake ice cream, bar cookies, or hand pies. But I didn’t think about making actual strawberry shortcakes until last weekend, when I had a bunch of fruit left over from the fruit tartlets [...]

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Fruit Tartlets

April 3, 2011

I don’t post about my desserts for Spilled Milk much these days – mostly because you’d get bored of endless photos of mini cupcakes. But these fruit tartlets I made Friday are new, and I was so pleased with them I thought I’d share them with you. You’ve seen these tarts in a dozen bakeries [...]

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A Movable Kitchen

March 21, 2011

Sometimes, I envy cooks. Not because they can do all sorts of things I can’t do – like cook a perfect steak, or braise shortribs until they fall off the bone, or cook a piece of fish correctly. No, it’s because cooking doesn’t require so much . . . stuff. I’m house and pet-sitting for [...]

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

March 16, 2011

I’ll be honest, I myself won’t be celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. My plans involve driving a friend to the airport and then transferring a bunch of my baking stuff to the house where I’ll be housesitting (it’s a complicated operation). But for those of you going out, may you stay away from the green beer [...]

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Zucchini Rye Bread

March 15, 2011

Most quickbreads are really more like muffins than breads. And, let’s face it, most muffins these days are just cupcakes without the frosting. So the problem that most quickbreads face is that they’re just cake – sweet, fine-crumbed, buttery – and should be left to the dessert table. That’s why I was so intrigued with [...]