Luscious ginger flavored cookies, perfectly molded, dusted with sugar and stacked in a cute container for your enjoyment! These cookies were delicious, and the ginger flavor was not overwhelming. They had a bit of a crunch and a faint nutty flavor. No wonder these morsels made the 7X7 Big Eat list!
Miette Patisserie, San Francisco
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
Slice of sea bass on a mound of rice with a dab of wasabi and garnished with sliced scallions. $3.99 for two pieces
Slice of tuna. $3.99 for two pieces
Crazy Sushi, San Francisco
Both these nigiri have such a beautiful pink color. I loved the maguro, and I recommend maguro nigiri to all the novice sushi eaters out there since I think it’s one of the least fishy tasting. Maguro is readily available at sushi places and is more forgiving on a squeamish palette. I’m definitely no sushi expert, but I try to eat out of my comfort zone. That’s why I tried the suzuki, and I’ll say that I’m not a fan. Perhaps Crazy Sushi’s cut wasn’t fresh, but it had an odd flavor that did not agree with me. I had to dunk that piece mulitple times into the soy sauce to get it down.
I love the free side salad at Japanese restaurants with the familiar sesame, ginger dressing. Yum!
And what’s a sushi dinner without some Japanese beer? Sapporo is my prefered choice, hehe!
Sweet marinated pork tocino with garlic fried rice and eggs over medium. The rice is garnished with more fried garlic pieces and chopped scallions. Cucumber and tomato slices are thrown in for good measure.
Kuya’s Asian Cuisine, San Bruno CA
This is a classic Filipino breakfast! Tocilog comes from combining the Filipino words for sweet marinated pork (tocino) and egg (itlog). We didn’t have tocino very often growing up, but it was one of my favorite breakfast items along with longanisa. Probably because they are both so flavorful and fatty, a common thread in Filipino food, lol! I have to say that Kuya’s tocina was a bit on the hard and dry side for me, but it still tasted great. There are some amazing flavors in this dish: the sweet and salty from the tocino and the intense garlic from the fried rice. The runny egg (and you have to order it runny!) blends everything together. So familiar, so delicious!
French shortbread cookie with marzipan filling and apricot and raspberry jam.
Victoria Pastry Company, Greenbrae CA
I’m not quite sure of the technical differences between a cookie and a pastry. The shop called this a cookie, but I would’ve been more inclined to call it a pastry (and probably erroneously). Maybe because it was quite large, glazed, and had marzipan and two different jams. In any case, it was scrumptious! It was so soft and not overly sweet. The marzipan gave it a nice almond flavor and the jams were delicious. I don’t make it out to Greenbrae very often, but I will swing by Victoria Pastry Company for another yummy treat the next time I do.
And, yes, I still had a Philz Coffee New Manhattan with me from the SF commute. They tasted pretty amazing together! Mmm, gotta love Philz Coffee…
Sushi roll with bbq eel, avocado, and topped with tobiko and unagi sauce.
Crazy Sushi, San Francisco
Like most people, when I first started eating sushi I tended to stick with the rolls containing cooked items like rock ‘n rolls and California rolls because they were easier to stomach than the crazy, raw nigiri or sashimi (it doesn’t even have rice!). And I continue to say, “There’s nothing wrong with that.” I still enjoy ordering rock ‘n rolls because I simply love unagi! I also order unagi nigiri because bbq eel is delicious and the unagi sauce is an added bonus. I’ve since become more adventurous in sushi land – ordering more and more raw items, but I still take comfort and enjoy my inauthentic rolls. A word of advice: Nobody likes a sushi snob!
Chocolate lavender, hazelnut, and chocolate macarons.
Miette Patisserie, San Francisco
I remember having macarons once or twice as a kid, but it’s only recently that I’ve truly “discovered” these amazing confections! They’re like magic in your mouth – a dizzying combination of chewy, soft, crunchy, silky, grainy, and sweet. There are so many flavors and colors that each time you try a different one, it’s a completely new and exciting experience. Miette serves some of the best in town. Of these three flavors, I liked hazelnut the best!
Rabbit two ways – braised leg and a roasted saddle wrapped in pancetta. Served with Jimmy Nardello peppers, Romano beans, and farro. $30
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
This dish was just OK for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the pancetta wrapped saddle – it was cooked perfectly and tasted amazing! However, the braised leg in combination with the sauce was SO salty! And that says a lot coming from me, a salt monger. I did love the Jimmy Nardellos – they looked great and tasted even better. I’ve recently noticed more restaurants using these lately, as well as shishito and padron peppers. I won’t complain because I love them all. The remainder of the plate was forgettable…
Luscious, salted caramel ice cream – arguably their most popular flavor! Kid size scoop, $2.50
Bi-Rite Creamery, San Francisco
I have to admit that Bi-Rite is my favorite ice cream in San Francisco (with Three Twins a close second). They have great flavors, but I think it’s the consistency that does it for me. Other creameries have ice cream that are too milky or too airy. Bi-Rite’s is right in the middle – which is perfect for me! The pic doesn’t do the ice cream justice since I took it after the melting point. They make the ice cream in small batches using Straus Family dairy and other local and organic ingredients whenever possible. Their tiny storefront near Dolores Park has a line around the corner whenever it’s warm and sunny, but it’s worth the wait!
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Steamed soup dumplings with a pork filling atop a napa cabbage leaf. $5.50
Shanghai Dumpling King, San Francisco
These dumplings were SO delicious! I only ripped one or two while trying to eat them with chopsticks so I was particularly proud of myself. When I first had these, I wondered how they got the soup inside the dumplings. Apparently, the dumplings are made with a pork filling and a gelatin aspic. The aspic melts into a “soup” when the dumplings are steamed – genius! These are very fun to eat and Shanghai Dumpling King’s are some of the best in San Francisco.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2010, 2011, 2012
November 17, 2013. So I guess they’re not using the napa cabbage on the bottom anymore. That’s a shame.
Tender white sea bass with summer squash, plum tomatoes, purslane(?), saffron and aioli. $29
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
The fish was cooked perfectly, but I must say that the broth stole the show. It was so flavorful and refined. The chunky cuts of plum tomatoes and squash were perfectly proportioned and provided great color. What I didn’t like was the purslane. It looked cool as a garnish, but it was too slimy and the fleshy texture was off-putting. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to eat it, lol!
Mixed lettuces with Chioggia beets, avocado, toast and a tarragon vinaigrette. $13
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
This dish was absolutely beautiful with the pinkish red beets, green lettuces and avocado, pale vinaigrette, and dark toast. I didn’t know what a Chioggia beet was, but apparently Chioggia is a coastal town near Venice and the beets have concentric white and pink stripes before they’re cooked. They tasted great! Not sure where the mixed lettuces were though. There was only one type of green, and it appeared to be some type of cress.
What is a CHERPUMPLE, you ask? Only the most ridiculously fabulous cake/pie dessert ever invented! From the online research prior to my first cherpumple attempt, I learned that it consists of 3 stacked layers – traditionally with a cherry pie baked into a chocolate cake, a pumpkin pie in a spice cake, and an apple pie in a yellow cake then covered in frosting. You’ll see that I took some liberties with the cake flavors because of sale prices at the grocery store, hehe! What, we’re in a recession, yo!
I don’t usually write posts about food I’ve made, but I decided to make an exception since I was particularly proud of successfully completing this monster and since I’ve attempted this twice, I can hopefully provide some useful advice to future cherpumple bakers (and conquerors). Mine is not the most beautiful or perfectly executed cherpumple ever, but I’m still proud of it!
Ingredients and Supplies
Making a cherpumple is not cheap, so be prepared to shell out some dough (no pun intended). The good thing is that the cakes, pies, and frosting are supposed to be store bought so you don’t have to make them from scratch, which tends to be a little more expensive. It also saves additional prep and baking time. That being said, you should expect to block off a chunk of your day to complete this project. I suggest baking all the layers in the morning, allow them to cool during the day, and assembling the cherpumple in the evening.
I decided to make my own cream cheese frosting since I don’t like the consistency and flavor of store bought frosting. Nothing ruins a cake than a sticky, overly sweet frosting. The recipe I used is below. The grocery store was also having a sale on Betty Crocker cake mixes, but I couldn’t find a spice cake in that brand so I had to compromise to save some green. I substituted a white vanilla cake for the apple pie layer because who doesn’t love apple pie a la mode?! And I used the yellow cake for the pumpkin pie layer – not a big deal.
Besides what’s in the pic above, I would suggest getting 10″ springform cake pans. These are easy to use and proved extremely helpful when stacking the layers. Although not absolutely necessary, I also recommend a long icing spatula (although even a butter knife would do) and a cake stand (cause you should display your hard work, am I right!?).
Creating the Layers
The apple pie I bought was rustic and the top crust had some pretty large bubbles which arose high above the filling. I was afraid that the cake batter might crush the weak, buttery pie crust when poured on top, or that the cake would collapse while baking. To prevent this, I cut slits into the top crust so that the cake batter could seep in and create more structural support. Genius move!
Here’s a good trick with the 10″ springform cake pan. Turn the bottom of the pan upside down so that it creates a short platform for your cake. Now there won’t be that annoying indentation on the pan bottom to fuss with when removing the cake. Easy cheesy! Also be sure to spray the cake pan beforehand with a baking spray (I used Pam).
Mix the cake batter according to the box directions. Pour a small amount of batter into the sprayed cake pan, and swirl to cover the bottom of the pan. Place the pie into the pan and cover with the remaining amount of batter. Grocery store bought pies are usually a standard 9″, so they’ll fit perfectly. The box cake mix will make batter enough to cover the entire pie with extra on top. Depending on the size of the pie, the batter may approach the top of the cake pan, but there shouldn’t be enough to flow over.
Tap the pan against the counter several times to remove any bubbles and to make sure that the batter has settled completely under the pie. Keep tapping until no more bubbles surface. I tapped for quite a while with the apple pie to encourage to cake batter to enter the slits and fill the cavity.
Baking the Layers
I learned from my failed 1st attempt that it’s better to err on the more cooked side when baking the cake layers. Otherwise, the undercooked cakes may be too weak to support all the weight when stacked.
The baking directions on boxed cake mixes will vary. I followed the instructions on the Betty Crocker box for the most part, except I increased the baking time (since there’s a frickin’ pie in there!). I preheated the oven to 350 degrees F, and cooked the layers for 1 hour 15 minutes minimum, then kept checking for doneness after that. I wasn’t very scientific – I used the toothpick method and just shook the pan to see if it was still jiggly in the center.
I know it’ll add more time, but I definitely suggest baking the layers individually. This time around, I baked the chocolate and white cake layers at the same time, and I found that they baked unevenly. The chocolate cake was mostly baked, but hard on the side closest to the oven wall. And the white cake seemed perfect when I pulled it out of the oven, but after cooling I found that the top center was still jiggly.
All ovens are different, but mine definitely gets hotter in certain areas more than others. So if you want to play it safe, bake the cakes separately to ensure that they are baked evenly and thoroughly! Even when baking them individually, you should still rotate the pan periodically to ensure even cooking.
To cool the cakes faster, I set the pans on a wire rack, then removed the sides of the pan after 30 minutes of cooling.
Assembling the Cake
When the cakes are completely cook, it’s time to level the tops of the cakes so that they will stack evenly. I’m not a professional and I don’t trust my skills in cutting a level top, so I put the springform sides back on and used the rim to guide my cuts. Easy!
Some of my cakes didn’t rise completely above the rim, but I still used the pan rim as my guide. I figured that there would be frosting to cover up the rounded edges. Using the rim as a cutting guide also ensured that all the three layers would be of uniform thickness.
I’m kind of a neat freak so I used a basting brush to clean off I crumbs I created. I was afraid that if there were too many crumbs, they would get in the way when I tried icing the cake and create an ugly mess!
This is the most crucial step (assuming your layers are thoroughly cooked and completely cooled)! You should have someone help you when stacking the cakes. These layers are heavy and the pies inside make them very fragile, so be careful.
Apply a layer of icing on top of the first layer. I suggest one person hold the second layer (that is still sitting on the springform pan bottom) directly over the first layer. The second person should hold the sides of the cake with both hands and carefully shimmy the cake off the pan and into place, while the first person slowly slides the pan bottom out from underneath. Make sense? Phew, you did it! Only one more to go.
Add another layer of icing atop the second cake, and carefully repeat the above steps to place the final cake on top! You can now breathe again. Step back, take in some initial glory, and admire your handy work before continuing.
Icing and Decorating
The first time I attempted to make a cherpumple, I had purchased canned icing and I must say that I didn’t like the consistency or flavor one bit! It was also difficult to work with and spread unevenly. This time around, I was not only determined to keep my chermpumple upright, but I also wanted it to taste delicious!
So I decided to make my own icing – cream cheese icing, no less! I used a simple recipe from “The Best of Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library: Baking”, 2005. Here’s the recipe:
Cream Cheese Frosting
Spread this frosting on any dessert for a rich, tangy topping. It will keep for 1 week, covered, in the refrigerator.
1 lb (500 g) cream cheese
6 tablespoons (3 oz/90 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (5 oz/ 155 g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (essence)
Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter. Using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat until smooth. Reduce the speed to low, add the sugar, and beat until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Bring to room temperature before using.
Makes about 2 3/4 cups (22 fl oz/680 ml)
I actually tripled the recipe and had some left over, yum! I also added a little bit of food coloring to make it a light pinkish color.
I applied the frosting using a long icing spatula, trying to even out most of the unsightly lines. To cover up my messy icing job (hey, I’m not a professional!), I used a container of sprinkles and randomly applied the different colors. Because the frosting was still damp (oops), the sprinkles actually started melting and running down the cake in some sections. I think it created a cool streaky effect!
And… Voilà!
This bad boy weighed 18.4 pounds (with the cake stand), so transporting it over 20 miles to a work BBQ was an adventure in it of itself! Boy, was my lap tired!
I think it looked fantastic with the long, colorful candles. Happy birthday, Alan!!!
It was a little nerve racking removing the first slice, but it came out pretty easily and in one piece. Just have someone nearby with a waiting plate!
It looked absolutely beautiful inside, and the different cake and pie layers were easily distinguishable. You can see how the bottom layer (apple pie in white cake) had an undercooked middle, but it still withstood the weight of layers on top.
I wonder how many calories are in this slice!? Who cares, it’s a cherpumple, YAY!!! And yes, it was delicious.
Vittle Monster 