Monday, February 29, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 29th, 2016


Friday, February 26, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 26th, 2016


Thursday, February 25, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 25th, 2016


Friday, February 19, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 19th, 2016


Thursday, February 18, 2016

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Georgetown Cupcake - Vanilla and Buttercream Cupcake




This may look like the regular Vanilla Squared cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake - but the difference in in the frosting!  This free secret flavor has the classic vanilla cake base, but instead of a cream cheese based frosting, this one is all vanilla buttercream.  Many people may associate buttercream frosting with wedding cakes or maybe grocery store cakes, but this buttercream frosting is rich without being cloying or overly thick.  Be sure to try this out if you like classic vanilla flavors! 

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 16th, 2016


Seattle Visit - Fumie's Gold Mont Blanc Buche de Noel




It's been a while since Christmas, but this cake was too delicious to not share on the blog! While I was in Seattle visiting my parents for the holidays, my mom ordered this fabulous Mont Blanc Buche de Noel from Fumie's Gold in Bellevue.  We always make at least one trip to their store when I visit for all of their Japanese-style cakes which are always delicious.  

This special order cake was the perfect combination of a Mont Blanc (sweet chestnut flavor cake that's very popular in Japan) and a roll cake (also popular in Japan).  The squiggly (technical term, haha) part on the top is a very distinct Mont Blanc component, and it's a sweet chestnut paste that is so delicious! I wish that Mont Blanc cakes were more prevalent in the US - I think they would be really popular if people saw them more often in bakeries!

Friday, February 12, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 12th, 2016


Skoshbox - January Box




The January Skoshbox was filled with a great variety of sweet, sour, and even some savory snacks!  From the top left we have chocolate panda chocolate/cookies, fruit gummies, yakitori corn puffs, sugar "bread" cookies, cola-flavored soft candy, and a tongue-staining soda gum - I told you there was a lot in there, haha.  I have not had the majority of these snacks before, and it was really interesting trying each of them out.  I hope Skoshbox continues to add in lots of unique snacks in my future boxes! 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 11th, 2016

Trader Joe's - Hot Chocolate Sticks




How cute are these hot chocolate sticks from Trader Joe's? As soon as I saw them on the shelf I knew I had to buy a box.  The idea is very simple - you warm up your milk, and then stir the hot chocolate stick in the mug until the chocolate melts into the milk to make a delicious hot chocolate.  

I liked that the sticks were individually wrapped - they would make a cute decoration for a gift!  You could also adjust the amount of chocolate you melt in very easily, if for some reason you didn't want to melt in all of the chocolate... haha.  I hope they bring these back again during the holidays this year! 

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 10th, 2016


Cafe Mocha M&Ms




I have to confess- I bought these Cafe Mocha M&Ms a while ago and then planned on baking with them... then forgot about them, haha.  Finally I decided to try them out, and I loved the coffee scent and subtle flavor.  I generally like coffee-flavored chocolates and desserts, so these were right up my alley.




I always love coffee and chocolate together, so my first instinct was to mix these M&Ms into some brownies - yum! I know these look pretty much like the holiday M&Ms but there's definitely a coffee flavor throughout.  These also add some color and texture to the regular brownies, which is always a plus.  I can't wait to see what the next round of limited edition flavors are!

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 9th, 2016


Toll House Chocolate Peanut Buddy Bars




During the big East Coast blizzard that came through a few weeks ago, I wanted to make something that was easily shareable with some friends and was easy to bake.  Luckily, the back of the Toll House chocolate chips bag had the perfect recipe for me - Chocolate Peanut Buddy Bars.  I had everything needed on hand, and I love basically anything with chocolate and peanut butter combined.  
This recipe comes together really easily, and you can adapt it with any mix-ins you like - different flavor chocolate chips, nuts, candy, Nutella, whatever you feel like adding.  Of course, these big Toll house milk chocolate chips are always a good option! The official recipe included melting part of the bag of chocolate chips and spreading it over the top of the bars, but I kept it with just the chocolate chips mixed in and it was still delicious. I will definitely be making these again soon! 

Monday, February 8, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 8th, 2016


Georgetown Cupcake - February Flavors

February brings us a lot of special flavors at Georgetown Cupcake - and all of them have a pink component which makes them extra festive and pretty!

Strawberry: Classic madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh strawberries and topped with a fresh strawberry frosting and a fondant heart

Strawberry Lava Fudge: Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a rich fudge core topped with a strawberry icing anda fudge star drizzle

Raspberry Chocolate Chip: Classic Madagascar Bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh raspberries and Callebaut chocolate chips, topped with a whipped Callebaut chocolate ganache frosting and a double heart fondant decoration

Pink Chocolate Swirl: Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a twist of whipped chocolate ganache and pink chocolate buttercream frosting

Strawberry Cheesecake: Strawberry cheesecake baked with fresh strawberries and a graham cracker crust, topped with a fresh strawberry buttercream frosting and a double heart fondant decoration

Red Velvet Swirl Cheesecake: Classic cheesecake swirled with red velvet and a graham cracker crust, topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting and a double heart fondant decoration

Valentine's Day "XO" Chocolate: Valrhona chocolate cupcake with bubblegum pink vanilla buttercream, candy nonpareils, and “XO” fondant

Valentine's Day "XO" Vanilla: Madagascar vanilla cupcake with baby pink vanilla buttercream, candy nonpareils, and “XO” fondant

Friday, February 5, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 5th, 2016


Georgetown Cupcake - Black & White + Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge Cupcakes




The special January flavors at Georgetown Cupcake had a very chic black and white theme, and they were all delicious! 

Black and White: Valrhona chocolate cupcake studded with white Callebaut chocolate chips and topped with a twist of Callebaut white chocolate buttercream and Callebaut chocolate whipped ganache frosting

Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge: Chocolate cupcake cored and filled with fudge and topped with a marshmallow buttercream frosting, fudge star drizzle and sparkly white fondant snowflake

I loved the thick black and white swirled frosting on the Black and White cupcake, and anyone that likes the original black and white cookies that these are based on would enjoy this cupcake version!  The Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge cupcake was also wonderful, especially the marshmallow buttercream frosting with fudge - what a delicious combo! I hope these flavors come back as free secret flavors later this year! 

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 4th, 2016


Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 3rd, 2016


VS Pink + Ban.do Food Gifts




While I was out shopping a few weeks ago, I noticed a pretty delicious theme to some of the items I was seeing in stores.  The shirt on the left is from VS PINK, and the bottle is by Ban.do and sold at PaperSource.  Both of these would be great as motivation to go to the gym - or to get food, whatever you think is best, haha.  I think they would also make cute gifts for anyone else that loves fries/pizza! 

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 2nd, 2016


Shake Shack - February Custard Calendar

It's time for another great month of custard flavors at Shake Shack, with lots of delicious options. The s'mores and malted chocolate cheesecake especially sound awesome!

02/01 - 02/07: S'mores
02/08 - 02/14: Banana Caramel
02/15 - 02/21: Golden Sponge Cake
02/22 - 02/28: Malted Chocolate Cheesecake
02/29: Coconut Tres Leches


Monday, February 1, 2016

Lunchtime Links for February 1st, 2016