Posts tagged gourmet

National Capital Area Cake Show: Hostile Cakeover

March 29, 2011 · Filed under business, competition, local color, other sweets, philanthropy, Philosophy, suggestions · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Holy, moly.  What an event.  And I was only there for Saturday!  The National Capital Area Cake Show was AMAZING!  I’m so glad my friend Yuli encouraged me to go!  After an evening baking with my family Friday, I started my day with an 8 AM class with Norm Davis on how he runs his shop and manages clients for his award winning cake business The Sweet Life.  Afterwards, I met up with my friend Morgan and we let the sweet smell of baked goods guide us.  There was a lot going on: more classes; vendor expo; entries for the wedding cake, themed, and divisional cake decorating contests; cookies; cupcakes; a live cake challenge with celebrity pastry chefs; free demonstrations and so much philantrhopy!  Right up my alley!  I was really impressed with the sense of community as well as the professionalism of the bakers, especially amateurs!  Next year, I’m definitely taking more classes and loading up on the swag as much as possible.  (full photo album of what we saw here.)

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But my very favorite part was the Cupcake Cocktail Hour and Cupcake Challenge which Gimme Dem proudly participated in with what my sister like to call the “Plump and Juicy Fuzzy Navel Cupcake.”  It was long week with the addition of bar training and spending time tweaking my recipe… but Friday night, with the help of my family, we nailed it.  It took a lot of Schnapps and peach puree to get the recipe right, but we finally got a standout peach flavor to pop against the intensity of the orange zest.

I had a great time meeting spectators and sharing with the other bakers.  On top of all that, I was shocked and surprised to get  an email telling me we won second place in the amateur division!  I am not ashamed to quote the email here:

from NCACS Cupcake Challenge <info@cupcakechallenge.org>
to Katie Beckman <beckmaka@gmail.com>
date Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 11:17 AM
subject Congratulations!
Hi Katie,
We are writing to congratulate you on receiving a 2nd Place Award in the 2011 NCACS Cupcake Challenge! The results are posted on the website at www.cupcakechallenge.org . Please send your mailing address and I will mail you the ribbon!

2nd Place, Amateur: Fuzzy Navel Vegan Cupcake, Katie Beckman

Thank you so much for competing and I hope that you will be returning next year to defend your title. The judges noted that not only was your cupcake delicious, but you did it with all vegan ingredients, which shows an added level of skill. They were very impressed! (For your personal bragging rights I will also note that your numerical score tied the winner in the professional category.)

Congrats,
Melissa Westervelt & Megan Ferrey
Cupcake Event Coordinators
along with the 2011 NCACS Committee

There were probably over a hundred entries and 40 or so bakers professional and amateurs.  I got a lot of really great feedback and really feel like I got the opinions of my peers.  I can’t tell you how good it feels to have won and I definitely wasn’t even expecting it.  Gimme Dem wouldn’t be here without all you and it really shows.  That said, I think a Gimme Dem Cupcakes and Empanada party is in order!!!  Shooting for April 16th, I’ll confirm and send invitations this week!

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Gimme dem ingredients?

September 16, 2009 · Filed under favorite, My Kitchen, suggestions · Tagged , , , , , ,

I love grocery stores.  I love open markets, dirty ethnic shops, gaping mega-grocers, and small business gourmets.  They tell you so much about the neighborhood and all the good food they’re cooking.  Grocery shopping is my favorite way to spend money.  All the shapes and sizes, colors and textures, then add to that the people watching!   You can see the soccer mom’s just waiting to pounce their 100 calorie packs while the ethnic people carefully knock, smell, pull or pluck a the produce.  All the food is just waiting for the right moment to be devoured.  I have memories of going into stores with my mom and drooling over the selection of baked goods.  We’d pick out a loaf of something and eat half of it on the way to the check-out (leaving some to account for).  Tacky, I know, but that’s what dreamy sentimental stuff in my head is made of…

gime somethin to chomp!

Truth is, you can’t have great cupcakes without great ingredients.  Luckily, my travels take me over a pretty big area of Northern Virginia, so there are a lot of great grocery stores and ethnic shops I frequent.  Living in the suburbs outside DC, I have the benefit of access to better maintained/bigger stores that have great selection and competitive prices as well as the little businesses.   I am looking to into some fancier stuff, so I’m hoping to find a place to buy whole vanilla beans, quality chocolates, and the like.  Do chime in with ideas.

I’m a vegetarian and I don’t like to eat a lot of processed stuff.  In general I enjoy cooking from scratch anyway, so it’s all about fresh produce.  My favorite store, hands down is H Mart on Gallows Road in Merrifield.  Great Wall is also great.  You’ll find the difference between the two is ethnic/management.  H Mart is Korean and Great Wall is (duh) Chinese.  My favirte finds here have been canned/jarred items like Tamarind paste, Jasmine Extract, Bamboo Shoots, Lychee nuts, etc.  You know, Asian stuff!  They also frequently have people prepping free samples!

Better yet, farmers markets!  They are all over the place in my neighborhood and yours, I’m sure.  Usually May until Novemberish.  I get fresh breads, pasta, plants for my garden, cheeses when I want to show off my weak vegetarian ways…

deck garden

When I’m looking for better organic stuff I go for Whole Foods or make the hike to Wegmans.  There, I find more obscure seasonal items like figs or better vegetarian meal offerings.

For kitchen gear I don’t always have to go to a home good store.  At my local Shopper‘s they have tortilla presses and grill pans, and I found a great mortar and pestle at Duangrat’s.

As I try to get into the dreamier gourmet side of things, I’m looking to check out places that are a little farther away like maybe Balducci’s or some of the small markets like Fern Street’s or Taylor’s in DC.

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