City Eats

Photo of pork cupcake courtesy of the Four Seasons Hotel Washington DC; photo of "Tug Boat" courtesy of Carmine's

When budgets run short, American lawmakers love to take a bite out of those trio of scoundrels known as gasoline, tobacco, and alcohol, with the hope that governments will fill their coffers and we'll cut down our consumption.  Never mind that taxes haven't helped much in at least one category.

But now comes the news that Finland is going to levy a tax on (gasp!) those sweet things that get us (and presumably even the cold-to-the-bone Finlanders) through the day. Consider this report from Helsingin Sanomat:

On Thursday, the government decided in its general session that a tax is to be levied on candies and similar sweets, chocolate, cocoa products, ice cream, and popsicles or ice lollies.

Initially the tax on sweets was supposed to be the equivalent of almost one euro per kilogram, but now the tax has been set at 75 cents a kilo.

The tax on sweets was last in force in 1999. At that time (still in the markka era) the tax was the equivalent of EUR 0.58/kg of sweets.

The planned tax will increase the prices of sweets by some 1 to 15 per cent, while the price of ice cream could rise even more than that. The tax is to come into force from the beginning of next year.

Interestingly enough, according to the article, "[b]iscuits and sweet buns and pastries will be exempt from taxation." I guess the government knows not to fuck with the Finnish pulla coffee ritual.

Given our budget shortfalls, grinding economy, and childhood obesity, could America be far behind on this sweet tax trend?

Photo by hozinja via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution License

This may be the most painfully cute sugar cookie ever. I say "painfully" because the beehive-shaped treat is available at, ahem, Buzz Bakery in Alexandria, where pastry chef Josh Short created it several years ago for a  fundraiser. Now it's permanently on the menu at Buzz.

I have to admit, over the years, I have enjoyed many other Buzz creations over this one. Despite a nice sweet lemon hit in the frosting, the cookie was crumbly and arid, a dryness that was only emphasized by the winding pavement of black sugar crystals. I'll leave this one for the kids to suck on.

Whether you like the beehive cookie or not, I suspect it'll be available one day soon when Buzz expands into Ballston, as part of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group's plan to recreate the original Buzz-Rustico dynamic duo in Arlington.  An NRG spokeswoman said Rustico will open first, followed later by Buzz. She had no timeline for the openings, though ARLnow says Rustico should open in September or October.

So why always pair the two concepts?

NRG co-owner Michael Babin "thinks that they work well together," the spokeswoman said. Babin told ARLnow, "What’s neat about the Buzz atmosphere is that it’s not the typical bar atmosphere, and if you want that you can go to Rustico."

Damn, the things you miss when you're out videotaping large, chain-let restaurants that aren't quite as large as they think. On Friday, Bravo announced the 12 contestants for the debut season of Top Chef: Just Desserts, and among them are D.C.'s Heather Chittum, pastry chef for Pure Hospitality's two Georgetown properties, Hook and Tackle Box.

Chittum got married last month, presumably after taping Just Desserts, and is now, according to her Facebook page, going by the name Heather Roth. I don't know if she'll continue to go by Heather Chittum professionally, but I do know this: By whatever name, she's a terrific pastry chef.

Chittum has not only created one of the most memorable desserts in recent history and won herself the top pastry honor in town in 2008, but she's done something perhaps even more challenging: She's managed to successfully navigate the treacherous waters at Pure Hospitality, where chefs on the savory side get tossed overboard with alarming regularity.

Her survival skills will be important on Top Chef: Just Desserts, which will be hosted by Gail Simmons and will premiere at 11 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15, presumably to get some spillover viewers from the Top Chef episode before it. The way the teaser video above plays out, the producers of Just Desserts want you to understand that pastry chefs can be just as mean and backstabbing as their cousins on the savory side of the kitchen.

Watch the video and check out the nasty comment directed apparently to Chittum: "You can almost taste the resentment in her cookie." (Or maybe the judge says, "cooking," I can quite tell.) A fellow contestant then piles on in classic Top Chef fashion: "Heather, you weren't forced into anything."

The look on Chittum's face is priceless.

I suspect we're supposed to draw the conclusion that Chittum isn't long for the contest. Personally, I wouldn't make that assumption. Not by a long shot.

If you believe the New York Times, the latest treat to try to supplant the cupcake in our hearts and mouths is not the crepe but the whoopie pie. That's right, the whoopie pie, that hamburger-shaped cake split in half and traditionally filled with a sweetened hydrogenated spread of Crisco and  Marshmallow Fluff.

Maybe that doesn't sound so appetizing to those outside of New England. But I tell you what, after eating the whoopie pie at Something Sweet, Bo Blair's decadent little shop across from 2Amys on Macomb, I'm ready to swear allegiance to that oversized dessert sandwich from Maine. (Or is more Pennsylvania Dutch, given the Amish are apparently responsible for unleashing this sugary indulgence onto the world?)

Regardless, Blair's wife, baker Meghan Blair, reaches high and low for her interpretation of the whoopie pie. The cake batter is prepared with dark cocoa powder, while the filling falls back on tradition, incorporating a little Fluff into the recipe. The finished product is a big happy mouthful of moist chocolate cake, pleasingly firm to the bite, balanced with this sugary sweet filling with the tell-tale, almost rubbery texture of marshmallows.

At $4 a pie, this whoopie is more expensive than your average cupcake, but as the clerk told me, she can make her whoopie pie (and believe me, she was a very enthusiastic proponent of Blair's pie) last three days.

She has a lot more will power than I do.

From the little window in her new Sweetbites truck, Sandra Panetta told me she had just quit her job at the EPA the day before. I asked if she were a scientist, and Panetta said she was, a biochemist in fact. According to her own short bio page, the scientist didn't just up and quit the EPA to launch her sweet-tooth truck three days ago; since 2001, she has also been running her own catering company specializing in pastries, cupcakes, and tarts.

Scientist-turned-pastry-chef-turned-food-truck-owner, that's a helluva story, I told Panetta. (What I didn't think of until now, however, is this: Savory chefs will tell you that making pastries and desserts is more science than art, with no margin for error, so maybe I shouldn't find Panetta's story that surprising.)

Regardless, I arrived at Sweetbites a little too late in the day to sample her prime treats. (See picture below.) The only sweets left were her "Lemon Kiss Bar," which I thought would have been better with more citrus to balance the buttery shortbread, and her "Piña Colada" cupcake, which was not my type of dessert at all. Sweet-tart, with little bits of coconut in the white frosting, the miniature cake mimicked the rum-like flavors of the Caribbean drink with an almost scientific precision. Unfortunately, the only way I like my piña colada is under a palapa, with the waves lapping just off in the distance, my skin slightly warm from a day in the sun.

With that said, I wouldn't judge Sweetbites by these two items. I would judge, however, that I need to make many return trips.

You can follow Sweetbites via its Twitter account or from its own online calendar.

It's about a month later than originally thought, but Capital City Cheesecake will be making its brick-and-mortar debut on Saturday in Takoma Park with an expanded concept and lots of free samples.

"They have added to their original concept by hiring chef Annette Ryan who will prepare lunch items like salads, pasta salads and sandwiches as well as bagels baked on premises," e-mails Laura Barclay, who's handling PR chores for sisters and CCC founders Caitlin and Meaghan Murphy.

Wait, did she just say fresh bagels baked on premise? In Takoma Park, the town that thrives on organic produce, vegan-Korean fare and old hippie ideals? Be still my carb-craving heart!

No worries, though. CCC will still be a cheesecake factory of much gentler proportions. Pastry chef Caitlin Murphy will continue to crank out the cheesecakes on which the former online shop has made its reputation. You can buy them by the slice or in miniature form or in the standard 9-inch rounds. The shop is even launching what it's calling a "cheesecake truffle," which is a small bite of cheesecake dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut, pecans, or pistachios.

What else will be on the menu at CCC? How 'bout muffins, sticky buns, yogurt parfaits, and waffles,served for both breakfast and lunch. There will be fair trade coffee, too, from PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. based in Topeka, Kan., which only makes sense. I'm not sure the town's Prius class-consciousness could stand anything less. (Hey, I'm not beating up TP; I live there.)

Saturday's grand opening schedule is after the jump.

Capital City Cheesecake Grand Opening Schedule

9 a.m.: Ribbon cutting and muffin samples

9  to 10:30 a.m.:  muffin samples

11 a.m.:  door prize giveaway: dozen muffins with free delivery

11 to 11:30 a.m.: Meet chef Annette Ryan and vote for new bagel spreads and toppings

Noon to 2 p.m.: Music, vegan samples, chocolate samples

12:30 to 1:30 p.m.:  Face painting

2 p.m.: Door prize giveaway: free lunch

3 to 3:30 p.m.: Meet our head pastry chef Caitlin Murphy and vote for new cheesecake flavors and toppings

5 p.m.: Door prize giveaway: dozen cheesecake truffles with free delivery

5:30 to 6 p.m.: Cheesecake truffle samples

6:30 to  7 p.m.:  Miniature cheesecake samples

7:30 p.m.: Door prize: 9” original cheesecake with strawberry/blueberry fruit sauce

Capital City Cheesecake, 7071 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park

I caught CityZen chef Eric Ziebold just as he was catching a plane back to D.C. He said he had about two minutes to talk. He told me that Cook is still making pastries at the restaurant inside the Mandarin Oriental. The open position is actually to replace the departing assistant pastry chef.

But there's a caveat to that, Ziebold admitted.

The chef has been talking to Cook about her future plans, and he sort of/kind of expects her to move on after working at CityZen for more than three years now. Ziebold says he's basically expecting to groom his new assistant pastry chef, whoever that may be, for the top job.

I asked Ziebold if this had anything to do with Cook possibly landing a spot on the forthcoming Top Chef: Just Desserts, which will pit pastry chef against pastry chef. He said no. He hasn't even heard if Cook has made the cut for the reality program, though he knows she auditioned for it.

But he does know this: Cook's next move will not be something lateral, to another restaurant. "Her goal is her own restaurant and to do her own thing," Ziebold said.

"Which she should," he added about Cook, who earned a Beard nomination last month for Outstanding Pastry Chef. "In my opinion, I think she's a fabulous baker."

By the way, Ziebold asked if I knew of any good pastry chefs, which would seem to imply that he doesn't have anyone immediately in mind for the new job.

These delicate, egg-shaped confections are Rob Kingsbury's contribution to the spring and Easter seasons at ACKC Cocoa Bar. The chocolate shells (both white and dark) contain some piped yellow frosting, which is sprinkled with red sugar crystals to resemble paprika. They're ingenious  — and, sadly, more delightful to gaze upon than eat. I found them too sweet for my palate.

As promised earlier, here are two recipes submitted by Hilary Nelson, aka the Cupcake Avenger, who responded to Y&H's call for good, home-bound meals to get us through the Snowmageddon last month.

You might think that snow brings out Hilary's taste for the white stuff — sugar, that is — but she's always hankering for sweets. Her blog is all about desserts. Aside from her recipe for chocolate pudding, she also included these two for Indian Spiced Rice Pudding and something called "Vanilla Garlic's Grandma Capune's Banana Cookies."

Recipes after the jump.

Indian Spiced Rice Pudding

3 beaten eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup cooked basmati rice

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 tsp each cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl combine eggs, milk, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla and spices. Beat until combined but not foamy. Stir in rice and raisins. Pour egg mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

2. Place casserole dish in a 2 quart square baking dish or pan on an oven rack. Pour boiling water into baking dish around casserole to a depth of 1 inch.

3. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, stirring after 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Vanilla Garlic's Grandma Capune's Banana Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 cup mashed bananas

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp EACH cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves

optional 1 cup walnuts and/or chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until well mixed.

2. Mix the mashed bananas and baking soda in a bowl and let sit for 2 minutes to froth a bit, this will give the cookies their rise.

3. Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Combine the flour, salt, and spices and mix into the butter and banana mixture until just combined.

4. Fold in the pecans and/or chocolate chips if using. Drop into dollops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 11-13 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Do you have a recipe you'd like to share with Y&H readers? E-mail it to me, along with photos. We'll publish the best ones on the blog.

Photo courtesy of Hilary Nelson