Travel Spotlight: Galapagitos

 

We had the opportunity to visit Ecuador this past September and had an incredible time. As we reflect on our trip, Galapagitos resemble the pink and white frosted animal crackers sold in America today but are slightly different. They are smaller, coated in milk chocolate and absolutely covered, front and back, in multicolored non-pareils. The tiny sprinkles contribute an added crunch to the treats.

Upon returning to the States, we searched for Galapagitos, both online and in-store, to no avail. We felt we had no choice but to attempt to recreate them at home. It requires only three ingredients and a little time, but we found it was absolutely worth it and loved introducing friends, family and coworkers to the treats. 

You will need animal crackers (we chose Keebler), milk chocolate chips (Ghiradelli for this last round), and a shaker of non-pareils. For a 13-ounce bag of animal crackers, we found we needed 2 12-ounce bags of chocolate chips to properly and fully coat the crackers.

After tempering the chocolate over a double-boiler (created by layering a Pyrex bowl over a sauce-pan with a 2-inch layer of boiling water), we quickly dipped the whole animal crackers into the chocolate. Once completely covered, we placed them on a baking sheet covered in parchment (or wax) paper. While one of us did the dipping, the other did the sprinkling. To ensure they are completed coated on both sides, I would recommend pre-sprinkling the parchment-lined baking sheet.

To quickly cool, we pop these into the freezer. They are ready for guests to enjoy within the hour, and last for 1-2 weeks (though we have found they are long-gone before then).

Until next time,
SugarSource

Unexpected Find: Home-Colored Sugars

In preparation for baking our first King Cake, we went on a neighborhood-wide search for yellow, purple and green colored sugars. We were only able to find red, green and blue, venturing from store to store in vain. After discussing the merits of dyeing the frosting, thus incorporating the traditional Mardi Gras colors into the cake, we stumbled upon a trick so easy, it’s hard to believe I haven’t come across it before!

In a small glass jar with a lid, I mixed 1/2 cup white granulated sugar with 2-3 drops of food coloring. After some vigorous shaking, the sugar was transformed. It was amazing! I would recommend shaking immediately after the dye has been added (and the lid has been secured). The longer the liquid sits on the sugar crystals without movement, the more it starts to stick to a few, reducing the overall distribution.

The next time you find yourself without the proper colorful sugars – especially around a holiday – give this a try. To get a coarser texture, you can opt for a different kind of sugar. Sugar in the Raw, for example, was the base for our purple, creating a deeper, richer shade.

Until next time,
SugarSource

Dear Sugar Source: Second Life For Cake?

Dear Sugar Source,

I made chocolate cupcakes for a birthday party and though many were consumed, I still have 8-10 left! Is there anything I can make with the leftover treats? It seems like they are drying out by the day.

Sincerely,
Fellow dessert lover

Great question, Fellow Dessert Lover!

There is one very easy solution to dealing with leftover cake – cake balls! These little bite-sized treats remain a crowd pleaser time and time again. Steps below!

Step One: Unwrap the leftover cupcakes and crumble. If the cupcakes were previously frosted, you will want to make sure you break up those clumps for an even consistency. In this example, I had made my favorite chocolate cake recipe a few days prior.

Step Two: Mix in frosting. Depending on the number of treats remaining, you will need to eyeball the amount. If you bake a traditional sheet cake, it will take an entire can of frosting. Here, I had about 9 leftover cupcakes and delivered several hefty dollops of frosting (store-bought, I have to admit). This is really what you are using to bind the crumbled cake together. You will want the final product to be malleable, not crumbly, but not too wet either or it won’t set!

Step Three: Freeze (24 hours should do the trick).

Step Four: Dip! You can choose to dip in candy coating, chocolate, whatever your preference. While still drying, you can top (sprinkles or sugar are my go-tos). Here I used the chocolate ganache featured in my favorite chocolate cake recipe.

Step Five: Freeze again! You want to ensure the coating solidifies, or you will have very melty treats on your hands (literally).

Step Six: Serve and enjoy! One word of warning: the hotter the temperature, the messier these tiny treats will become.

Until next time and Happy Father’s Day,
SugarSource

Travel Spotlight: Sweets of the South

In addition to a trip to San Francisco, I have been lucky enough to sample sweets in several other cities this summer. Oddly enough I didn’t manage to capture the sweet experiences on camera, but hopefully my descriptions will do them justice!

Louisville, KY

– Graeters: I have heard about the renowned Graeter’s for quite some time, and finally had the opportunity to try this famous Cincinnati offering. Established in 1870, this company has been churning out ice cream treats for almost 150 years, and from the few flavors I was able to sample, it’s no small wonder why they are legendary. The mint chocolate chip was pure mint flavor – no green dye used here as a part of the process – and the dark chocolate pieces seemed to be whisked into every bite. Later I learned that they add warm chocolate into the ice cream while it is mixing to create chocolate ribbons, distributing delicious chocolately particles throughout the entire batch. The lemon and raspberry sorbets were refreshing, but the clear star was the ice cream. I will be back to try another – rumor has it the peach is amazing.

– Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen: This is the first time I have ever seen or experienced an upside-down cupcake. This local establishment flips over the conventional cupcake and coats it in a glaze-like icing (slightly reminiscent of what is used on doughnuts). It proved to be a bit too sugary for my taste, but I had the opportunity to sample multiple flavors in one sitting – the Oreo, strawberry, chocolate caramel, and vanilla. The cakes were quite large, dense and moist. The Oreo was a little dry – I’ve found this to be the case with a few cookies-and-cream flavored baked goods – and the strawberry tasted artificially flavored (the brilliant pink hue did not help assuage this feeling). The chocolate caramel did not have a particularly strong caramel taste – it was as if they didn’t fully allow the flavor to develop before glopping on the frosting. Though appropriate for the birthday celebration, I do not feel compelled to try them again.

Atlanta, GA

– Piece of Cake: Only in town for a short period of time, I quickly Yelped the nearest bakery to my location, and Piece of Cake appeared. Off we sped, and we sampled a variety from the glass case – caramel, white chocolate, orange, and cookies and cream cupcakes. The cookies and cream, like others before it, was quite dry and only vaguely reminiscent of the chocolate sandwich cookies from which it was presumably derived. The orange reminded us faintly of an orange-cream popsicle (but came nowhere near the dreamsicle version discovered in Denver), and the caramel was about average. Though the white chocolate did not possess a strong flavor profile, it was still pretty good as a stand-alone treat. If or when I return to ATL, I will be checking out the other cupcakeries in the area for comparison.

Charleston, SC

– Kaminsky’s: The attraction of the beautiful frosted cakes proved to be too strong to resist, and I finally entered the shop after passing several times. Close to conventional dinner time, the establishment was pretty full and I made the decision to forego a traditional dinner, replacing it instead with a monstrous slice of German chocolate cake. The lush, coconut glaze led to layers of moist chocolate cake that were rich enough to have a flavorful chocolate experience without overwhelming the walnut- and coconut-packed fillings in-between. Though I ended up in a bit of a sugar coma, easily remedied by a long evening stroll, I would do it all over again, trying a new kind of cake the second time around to sample more of the wonderful offerings of this local favorite.

With a few more travel plans left, I’m ready to buckle up and try more of what America has to offer…

Until next time,
SugarSource

 

Travel Spotlight: Seattle Sweet Spots

Doughnut,
Top Pot

Seattle may be best known as the birth place of Starbucks and for the 12th Man, but it has quite a few sweets to offer to visitors and residents alike. I swept through the city on a business trip, and managed to sample some of Seattle’s sugary selections while in town.

Top Pot. Touted for it’s hand-forged doughnuts, it is no surprise that this local shop made the list. While I preferred raised as a child, cake are my go-to these days and though I made the switch, my love of sprinkles has remained consistent. The chocolate icing was a sweet balance to the salty-sweet cake dough. And the sprinkles? The perfect complement.

Chocolate Box. Located about a half-mile off of Pike’s Place, this wonderland has cakes, cookies, macaroons, and a wide variety of chocolates and wines available for tasting and purchase. They had a small selection of cupcakes available from Pinkabella, and I tried the snickerdoodle. It was moist and dense with a strong cinnamon profile. I would give another a try, though I would probably try to seek out one of the bakery’s locations to see the full cupcake spread.

Cupcakes,
Yellow Leaf

Cupcake Royale. Blackberries were in season while I was visiting, so the blackberry buckle was a natural choice. A substantial mound of blackberry-flavored frosting greeted me – it wasn’t until my second bite that I reached the delicate, fluffy cake below. It was delicious, a wonderful combination of vanilla and natural blackberry flavor fused together in a small, delightful package. This experience, combined with the cupcakery’s encouragement to practice “Random Acts of Kindness,” makes this institution “king” in my book.

Yellow Leaf Cupcakes. This small shop, which refers to itself as a “micro bakery,” manages to pack a large variety of cupcakes in a small space. I gave two a try:  chocolate pomegranate and passionfruit guava. The chocolate pomegranate lacked the distinct flavor of the fruit, which I imagine is hard to capture naturally. The cake was unremarkable – neither dry nor too moist, but not memorable either. The passionfruit curd of the second cupcake was wonderfully tart and sweet, though the frosting was flavorless with the consistency of shortening.

I was pleasantly pleased with the few treats I managed to taste while in town, and I look forward to trying several more on my next visit to The Emerald City.

Until next time,
SugarSource