French Chocolate Macarons

For the past few months, this is the recipe that I'm trying to perfect - French macarons.

The first time I tried a French macaron was from Bizu Patisserie from the Philippines. Then we went to Paris and tried some macarons from Ladurée and Fauchon... oooh they were melt-in-your-mouth heaven!

Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the ones from  Ladurée.

Anyway, after that yummy vacay, I wanted to try and make some. I hesitated at first because had this feeling that this is not an easy recipe. Luckily, I found a very easy to follow recipe for chocolate macarons from David Lebovitz.

Other than the fillings in the recipe, I followed the recipe to the T. I just had a hard time knowing when to stop folding the macaron batter... when do I stop folding?!

When I felt that enough folding has been done (even though from recent experiences, the folding was not enough on my first try), I piped them on my baking pans. Based on my research, some recommends using parchment paper instead of silicone mats, and some otherwise. So I decided to pipe them in both parchment paper and silicone mat.

As you can see from the photos below, they have pointed tops. Even when I rapped then to death, they won't go away. So it only means I didn't fold the batter enough. And the ones piped on the parchment paper were too crowded. C'est la vie! 

Here they are, all baked and ready to be eaten. Seriously, I ate a few pieces already even before I made and put the filling! :D You'll notice from the photos that they're cracked. C'est la vie!

Here's a comparison of the bottom of the macarons - parchment paper vs. silicone mat. The only difference I noticed was the shiny bottom when baked on silicone mat.

Now that the macarons are done, let's talk about filling. You can use any filling you like - buttercream, ganache, or even Nutella!

I didn't make the chocolate filling from David's recipe because I didn't have (and can't find!) corn syrup. So I decided to make chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream, something that I've got the hang of making. I used the recipe from My Butter Fingers, which she adapted from Smitten Kitchen (proud to say I'm a big fan of Smitten Kitchen) and Use Real Butter.

In my opinion, Swiss meringue buttercream needs a little getting used to. Actually, anything meringue or anything that involves beating egg whites still scares me. Overbeating/underbeating destroys the food you're making, which is totally annoying.

Anyway, here are the finished product complete with fillings.

I made these the 2nd, 3rd, (nth!) time and it never fails to disappoint me. Here are other photos of the nth (don't know when I made them!) time I made macarons. See the less pointed, shiny tops? And no cracks! perfect!

Do try this out. It's worth the stress hihi! Here are the links to the recipes I used:
David Lebovitz's Chocolate Macarons
My Butter Fingers' Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

By the way, I finally got a bottle of light corn syrup and made the chocolate filling from David's recipe. Fudgy yummy!

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Flourless Brownies

I was in search of a chewy brownies recipe for two days. I love my usual brownies recipe because it's soft and dense and perfectly rich. But I find it too sweet sometimes.

Yesterday I checked some of my usual sources of recipes, and found the perfect one from David Lebovitz, his gluten-free brownies. The recipe has no flour in it, instead it uses a bit (as in super-bit) of cornstarch. So instead of using the title gluten-free brownies, I decided to use the word "flourless", because the brownies are flourless.

So what's gluten? Here is the definition from Wikipedia.com: 

Gluten (from Latin gluten, "glue") is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and to keep its shape, and often gives the final product a chewy texture.

Apparently, some people are allergic (or their body reacts badly) to gluten. From Wikipedia.com:

Gluten sensitivity (also gluten intolerance) is a spectrum of disorders, including celiac disease and wheat allergy, in which gluten has an adverse effect on the body. It can be defined as a non-allergic and non-autoimmune condition in which the consumption of gluten can lead to symptoms similar to those observed in celiac disease or wheat allergy (other conditions which fall under the gluten-related disorders spectrum).

Symptoms of gluten sensitivity may include bloating, abdominal discomfort, pain, or diarrhea; or it may present with a variety of extraintestinal symptoms including headaches and migraines, lethargy and tiredness, attention-deficit disorder and hyperactivity, muscular disturbances as well as bone and joint pain.

I don't think I react badly to gluten, so it really doesn't matter if I cook gluten-full or gluten-free food. :) But the brownies recipe from David Lebovitz seemed so rich and dark and everything nice! So I gave it a go, and here's the finish product

Seriously, the picture's not doing justice to how good these brownies are! It's as dark, rich, soft and dense as I want them to be... in other words perfect! And it's gluten-free!

I followed the instructions to the T. The mixing/beating part was torture! I decided not to use the mixer and just use my handy-dandy whisk. I beat the batter for more than a minute (I think it was even more than two minutes) until the batter was smooth. My arm felt like it was about to fell off! But better safe than sorry for not beating it too well. :) 


I didn't add nuts to the brownies... my husband and I do not like nuts in brownies. Instead I added a few drops of chocolate chips on top before baking. 

If you want to try out this recipe, visit David Lebovitz's site and check out his Gluten-Free Brownies.

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Chewy Choc Chunk Brownies

Ahhh...

The cheater's way to heaven. :)

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Chocolate Crinkles 2 Way

It's that time of the year again when I usually bake chocolate crinkles.

I have been doing this recipe from Allrecipes for years and it has never failed me yet. But, last year a friend sent me another chocolate crinkles recipe using a chocolate cake mix... interesting, right? Oh, and that recipe is by Paula Deen. :D

The Allrecipes cookies are so easy to make that I don't have to use a mixer. Paula Deen's recipe is called Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. It is also very easy (it uses a cake mix!) but I needed to use a mixer for this because I needed to cream the butter and cream cheese (yes, it has cream cheese!) together. The only thing that takes time for both recipes is the rolling of the cookies and covering them with the powdered sugar.

I made the cookies from Allrecipes first. I mixed the ingredients the night before, and baked two batches the next morning. It's also the perfect time to use my new cookie scoop. :D Here's what my cookies looked like:

Don't they look perfect?

After baking the cookies, I prepared the ingredients for Paula Deen's recipe. I still need to put the cream cheese and butter to room temperature. When everything's ready, I made the dough and placed them in the freezer so the dough will harden quicker.

When the last batch of the Allrecipes cookies were done, I baked one batch of Paula Deen's cookies (using the same cookie scoop of course!). Here's what Paula Deen's cookies looked like:

Aesthetics-wise, the original recipe were perfectly-domed and the powdered sugar coated the cookies perfectly too. :D Paula Deen's recipe were a bit flatter than I expected, and the powdered sugar stuck to the cookies (even before I baked them... and I even coated some twice).

Here they are side by side (L: Paula Deen's recipe; R: AllRecipe's recipe):

Texture-wise, they're both soft. Allrecipes' cookies were a bit cakey (bot not too much cake-like cakey). Paula Deen's cookies really are soft and gooey! I guess the Allrecipes' cookies were like that because of the baking powder. If I remember it right, I usually replace the baking powder with baking soda... or maybe ADD baking soda because I have a note in my recipe 1 tsp baking soda... and I have no idea why I forgot that! I usually made them soft and gooey and comes out a bit thinner than that. So this time I liked Paula Deen's texture.

UPDATE 19-Dec 2011 12:55PM: After posting this blog entry, I baked the remaining dough from the Paula Deen batch. Output: cakey too! And they're the same batch! Did I set the oven's temperature too high? Did I bake it too long? Or maybe because I left it in the fridge overnight, just like the Allrecipes batch! I don't know... but the main thing here is... they have the same texture now.

Allrecipes' cookies

Paula Deen's cookies

Taste-wise, I like them both. :D Although I think Paula Deen's cookies were a bit saltier. I also asked my #1 critic and my guinea pig... my husband. He liked the Allrecipes' cookies better. The chocolatey-ness will definitely depend on the cocoa powder (for the Allrecipes) and the chocolate cake mix (for Paula Deen) you use. I used Green and Blacks Cocoa - Organic Fair Trade 100% cocoa powder and Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix).

FYI, I used the same cookie scoop so they're all uniform in size (I think it's 1 tablespoon), used the same baking tray, baked at the same temperature (175ºC/350ºF) at the same period of time (10-12 minutes).

I only used half of the recipe in Allrecipes and I made a total of 20 cookies.

For Paula Deen's recipe, I made a total of 32 cookies.

I think you'll just have to make them to try them out yourselves. :D

Here are the links for the recipes:
Chocolate Crinkles from Allrecipes
Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies by Paula Deen

Happy baking and happy holidays!

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Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nutella was on sale the other day, so I bought two jars. So now... what to do with all that Nutella? Bake, of course!

See those two cutie Nutella jars? Bought them in Italy during our holiday two months ago and I looove them! Each jar just contains 30g (the normal Nutella jar has 400g) and they're sooo adorably cute!

Anyway, I made some Nutella cookies before, but hubby and I felt something's missing... the chocolate chips. I can simply add chocolate chips to the last recipe I used, but decided to look and try out a different recipe completely.

I found one from justJENN which looks simply divine and chewy and perfect.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
from justJENN

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup Nutella
• 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpats (or baking paper).
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, the sugar and the brown sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla until combined.
4. Gradually add the flour until the mixture is combined. 
5. Then mix in the chocolate chips and the Nutella. 
6. Drop by Tablespoons onto the prepped baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. 
7. Let cool on wire racks. When the cookies come out they will go from rounded balls to lovely flat cookie discs.

The Nutella was supposed to be swirled and not completely mixed... I think I over-mixed the Nutella to my cookies. It doesn't matter... they're still great!

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These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

I loooove chocolates! I know I've said it before... I'll say it again! I loooove chocolates!

I am a fan of Hershey's! I like it more than other brands. When we moved to London, I thought I can easily buy them here... I was wrong! They are not easily available in groceries/supermarkets!

I've found some store selling Hershey's and other American sweets/candies.  I try to avoid these stores because I will surely buy something (more of some things) whenever I go there.

Here are a few of my favorites

You can make me eat the most expensive milk chocolate there is, but I always go back to Hershey's Milk Chocolate. My aunt sent me some a few weeks ago, their Easter themed products, shaped like a bunny. :D

Another new Hershey's product is the Hershey's Drops. It kinda looks like M&Ms, but without the candy coating and they're bigger. It comes in resealable packs. When hubby and I opened a pack that my mom sent me, we finished it in two days! :D

Let's not forget Hershey's Kisses! Same chocolate, just cuter. :D

Another Hershey's product - Reese's. I never liked the peanut butter-chocolate combination before, and I can't remember when I started loving this. All I know is I love it! My aunt also sent me some Reese's, their Easter themed product shaped like an egg. Whenever I eat one, I'd stop myself from eating more than three in one sitting.

Since I started liking Reese's, I love anything with a chocolate & peanut butter combination. These will include the Twix Peanut Butter bars and Oreo Peanut Butter Cakesters. This is the first time I bought these products and I love them! Good thing the store's very far away from our place. Otherwise I'd be there almost every week. haha!


Speaking of Oreo, I also like this! Good thing this is also available in groceries/supermarkets here. The cookies & cream combination is sooo perfect! I found this Oreo Brownies from the store and I love it! I'd buy one again the next time I go to the store.

Okay, now I'm hungry! S E L F - C O N T R O L.


FYI, this is not a sponsored post. It's all me!

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Chocolate Mousse Cake

I was craving for the chocolate mousse cake from Red Ribbon, a bakery in the Philippines. Since there's no Red Ribbon here, I decided to try and make one myself - another baking challenge for me.

I found one recipe from Annie's Eats, called a Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake which she got from Cook's Illustrated. The cake is made of three layers - bottom layer is chocolate mousse cake or a flourless chocolate cake, middle layer is made of chocolate mousse, and the top layer is made of white chocolate mousse.

Red Ribbon's version is ALMOST the same with a slight difference - bottom layer is a plain chocolate cake, middle layer is chocolate mousse, and top layer is whipped cream.

I followed Annie's Eats recipe, except for the top layer. To make it more of Red Ribbon's version, instead of making white chocolate mousse for the top layer I just removed the white chocolate and just used whipped cream with a bit of gelatin. So I can't really say that this is a triple chocolate mousse cake because the top layer isn't made of chocolate. :D Check out Annie's Eats to see the recipe with the white chocolate mousse.

Hubby liked it! I love it! He even added some chocolate chips on top to make it more like Red Ribbon's.

The recipe below calls for a 9 inch (or 10 inch) springform pan. But since there were only two of us that will eat the whole cake, I cut the recipe in half and used my 6inch springform pan.

Chocolate Mousse Cake
adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients

For the bottom layer

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces (plus extra for greasing the pan)
• 7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• ¾ tsp. instant espresso powder
• 1½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, separated
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

For the middle layer

• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed
• 5 tbsp. hot water
• 7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1½ cups heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt

For the top layer

• ¾ tsp. powdered gelatin
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1½ cups heavy cream

Direction

1. To make the bottom layer, butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325˚ F.  Combine the butter, chocolate, and espresso powder in a large heatproof bowl set over simmering water.  Stir occasionally until the mixture is smooth.  Remove from the heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the vanilla and egg yolks.  Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt on medium speed until foamy, about 30 seconds.  Crumble half of the brown sugar into the mixing bowl with your fingers to remove any lumps.  Beat until incorporated, about 15 seconds.  Add the remaining brown sugar and continue to beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute more.  Using a whisk, mix one-third of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the remaining egg whites gently with a rubber spatula until no streaks remain.  Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
3. Bake until the cake has risen, is firm around the edges and the center has just set but is still soft (center of cake will spring back after pressing gently with finger), about 14-18 minutes.  Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour.  Do not remove the cake from the pan.  (If not making the second layer right away, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to proceed.)
4. To make the second layer, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl; set aside.  Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Once melted, remove from the heat and let cool slightly, 2-5 minutes.
5. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream, sugar and salt on medium speed until the mixture begins to thicken, about 30 seconds.  Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 30-60 seconds.  Whisk in the cocoa powder mixture until smooth.  Using a whisk, mix one-third of the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream gently with a rubber spatula until no streaks remain. Pour the mousse into the springform pan over the cooled cake and tap gently on the counter 3 times to remove air bubbles.  Gently smooth the top with a spatula.  Wipe the inside edge of the pan to remove any drips.  Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes while preparing the top layer.
6. To make the top layer, sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and let stand at least 5 minutes to soften.  Bring ½ cup of the cream to a boil in a small saucepan.  Remove the pan from the heat, add the gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved.  Let stand about 1 minute.  Cool to room temperature, about 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the remaining 1 cup of cream at medium speed until it begins to thicken.  Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 30-60 seconds.  Using a whisk, mix one-third of the whipped cream to the gelatin mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the remaining whipped cream gently with a rubber spatula until no streaks remain.  Spoon the cream into the pan over the middle layer.  Smooth the top with an offset spatula.  Return the cake to the refrigerator and chill until set, at least 2½ hours. 

Notes:

• The flourless cake will really shrink and collapse when it cools. It shrank so much that it pulled away from the sides. Next time I'll try making a normal chocolate cake for the bottom layer. From the picture below that the bottom layer's sides were already covered by the chocolate mousse layer, because there was too much space when I poured the chocolate mousse to the cake.
  
  
• The bottom layer was too bitter for our taste. I think it was because I used 70% dark chocolate, and on top of that I added too much espresso powder. I used the Starbucks Via for this. Will adjust this next time.

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Chocolate Nutella Bread Pudding

I think I'm addicted to Nutella... all I can think of making are desserts with Nutella! And... here's another one: Chocolate Nutella Bread Pudding.

I've never made bread and butter pudding before, so this is my first time. A normal bread and butter pudding will have sliced stale bread soaked in cream, milk and eggs. To add flavor to that, some would any or all of the following: raisins or currants,  cinnamon & other spices, a bit of brandy (or any other alcohol), and of course the sugar. So where's the butter? You spread the butter on the bread before putting them in the pan, then pour the custard all over the bread.

A chocolate twist to the traditional bread and butter pudding would be Delia Smith's chocolate bread and butter pudding - the custard is mixed with melted chocolate, Nigella Lawson's chocolate chip bread pudding - chocolate chips were scattered all over the sliced bread, and Ainsley Harriott's Chocolate croissant bread and butter pudding - the custard is mixed with chocolate and hazelnut spread.

As you all know, hubby and I are chocolate lovers, so that's what I did and combined all of their recipes: I adapted Delia Smith's recipe by using her steps and technique in making her chocolate bread pudding; I adapted Nigella Lawson's recipe by adding chocolate chips to the bread pudding; I adapted Ainsley Harriott's recipe by using chocolate and hazelnut spread (a.k.a. Nutella).

Ingredients

Yes, I know... the vanilla's missing

For the Custard Mixture

• 150 ml  whole milk
• 150 ml  double cream
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 T sugar
• 3-4 T Nutella

For the Pudding

• 50-100 g chocolate chips
• 4 slices of stale bread
• 50 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 

To serve (optional)

• icing sugar, for sprinkling
• double cream, for drizzling

Directions

1. For the custard, place the milk, cream, Nutella and vanilla into a saucepan and bring to a scalding point, then take off the heat.
   
   
2. In a bowl mix the egg yolks and sugar together. Gradually add the cream mixture, whisking continuously.
   
3. For the pudding, remove the sides of the bread. Cut each slice of bread into 4 triangles. Spread some butter on both sides of each bread. Grease an ovenproof dish with butter. Arrange the buttered bread in the dish. Sprinkle some chocolate chips over the bread, then pour over the custard mixture.
   
   
4. Cover the dish with cling film and let it soak for an hour at room temperature. Put in the refrigerator and leave overnight (Delia Smith's suggestion is 24-48 hrs).
   
   
5. Preheat oven to 170C. Remove the cling film from the dish and bake for 30 minutes or until set.
6. Sprinkle some icing sugar over the bread pudding. Serve with a drizzle of double cream.

Notes

• In Delia Smith's recipe, soak period should be 24-48 hours. I only soaked mine for 2-3 hours. :)
• Before pouring the custard mixture, make sure it's cool enough so that the chocolate chips won't melt. Because that's what happened to me. You can see from the picture below that some of the chips are already melting and losing their form.
  
  
• My pan is too deep and when I first covered it with cling film, the bread's floating above the custard. Plus some parts of the bread were not soaked in the custard (see photo above). So, in step 4, place something over the pudding before covering it with cling film so that the bread will not float and the custard mixture will be absorbed by the bread. In my case, I placed a plastic container.
• I didn't sprinkle icing sugar over the bread pudding. Instead, I added a teaspoon or so of sugar in the double cream before drizzling it over my sliced bread pudding. 

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Super-easy Nutella Brownies

World Nutella Day is just a few days from now. Can't wait for the new recipes people will be sharing. :)

I'm not joining the World Nutella Day recipe sharing thing, it's not my own recipe but this is just something worth sharing. I just love Nutella! And I've been looking for another yummy Nutella recipes for the past few days. And today I finally got one.

I saw the recipe from Savory Sweet Life. She got the recipe from the book Desserts 4 Today: Flavorful Desserts with Just Four Ingredients. This means only one thing: the recipe only calls for four ingredients. Yes, you read that right, FOUR! (1)Egg, (2)Nutella, (3)Flour and (4)Hazernut.

The recipe will produce 12 mini cupcakes. I have the mini-cupcake pan but I ran out of the mini cupcake liners, so I opted to use the normal size ones. I just doubled the recipe to produce 12 cupcakes.

I'm not into nuts. Actually, I can survive if I add the hazelnuts I wouldn't mind it that much, but hubby's not a fan. For him, if it's chocolate, he wants it all chocolate. Plain and simple. So I was thinking of just replacing the hazelnuts with chocolate chips.

I baked the brownies for 15 minutes. While they were in the oven, I realized that I forgot something... the chocolate chips! Too late now, they were already halfway. So, I just finished baking them and voila! My 3-ingredient Nutella brownies!

Yummy of course! It kinda lacks a bit of chocolateyness, but it's still delicious. I'll just top each one with some Nutella. :)

That's the best-looking frosting/topping I've done in years!

Check out Savory Sweet Life's {4 Ingredients} Nutella Brownies for the recipe.

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Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

After moving to our new apartment a month ago, I finally baked something!

I've always wanted to try the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe, but never had the chance. One thing that encouraged me the most is an episode from Friends, when Monica was trying to copy the chocolate chip cookie based on Phoebe's grandmother's recipe. Turned out it was the Nestle Toll House recipe. hihi!

So now that I've got my oven, got my baking utensils and finally bought ingredients, I baked! Funny thing is, I can't find any Nestle Toll House chocolate chips! hahaha!

You can get the recipe from Very Best Baking.

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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Been gone for a while. Working has been a big hindrance to my blogging! And to my baking! tsk tsk...

Anyway, here's a new recipe I'd like to share. Since it's already obvious and I think I've said it a million times that hubby & I love chocolate, and a chocolate chip cookie is not enough to satisfy our cravings that day, I searched for a double chocolate-chip cookies.

Sorry for the blurry photo... I just used my phone to take a shot. The important thing is they were yummy! They're not as chewy as I expected, but chocolatey nonetheless.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Real Simple

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk-chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Lower to medium speed and add the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. On low speed, add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
2. Form the dough into approximately 1 1/2-inch balls. Place on parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
3. Bake until the centers are just set, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

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US Food Trip: Phoebe's Cupcakes

Before leaving for our trip to the US (read previous post Back from Vacation), I included Phoebe's Cupcakes in our Chicago itinerary. Just found out about it from Cupcakes Take the Cake from the blog's list of cupcakes.

We went to the shop on our second day in Chicago. Lloyd and I bought a cup of coffee and the Death By Chocolate cupcake - Chocolate Cake with a Fudgy Chocolate Frosting. Rommel & Alina bought the Tuxedo cupcake - Vanilla Cake topped with Chocolate Sugar Cream (sorry no picture of the Tuxedo... I thought I had one though). The Death by Chocolate is to die for. Chocolate lovers will love it. The Tuxedo's yummy too.

Death by Chocolate

Their flavors change every week. Their flavors for this week: Pumpkin Pie and Apple Crunch Cake. Did I mention they also sell dog treats?

How I wish I'm not that far away from Chicago.

Phoebe's Cupcakes, L.L.C.
3327 N. Broadway Ave.
(between Aldine Ave & Buckingham Pl)
Chicago, IL 60657
http://www.phoebescupcakes.com/

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