Czech it out!

My day job has brought me to the Czech Republic for a few days, a good opportunity to try out some different cuisine. I had no idea what to expect of the food in Prague but imagined it to be a bit like German / Austrian / Swiss cuisine. What I found was dumplings. The goulash I ordered in a very traditional restaurant, with onsite brewery, came with two different varieties: potato dumplings and bread dumplings. The former were a bit like the large Roman gnocchi; the latter came with lardons inside and were more tasty. The goulash itself, had some beautifully braised beef, and a wonderfully sweet garnish of red onions, red peppers, and a pinch of grated cabbage.

Butter ratings:
Restaurace Novoměstský Pivovar, Prague

Cake and the City

Cupcakes on parade at American Cupcakes, San Francisco, CA

On July 9 2000, the world changed forever. HBO’s popular drama Sex and the City, addressed racism and dating a smoker in the same episode. And as Carrie Bradshaw, announced what was to be her biggest relationship that season, viewers watched her grappling with the biggest cupcake in New York City and a nation experienced collective food envy.

The “homme du jour” was a carpenter called Aiden: the “plat du jour” a yellow cupcake, topped with raspberry frosting, from the Magnolia bakery on the lower West Side. Carrie’s fidelity to Aiden lasted four weeks: America’s fidelity to the cup cake is still going strong, and unlike Mr Big, even the sexy French macaron couldn’t dull America’s appetite for these red velvet devils.

In the thirteen or so years since, the cupcake has made a bid for world domination. This is partly due to the fact that, unlike the delicate gallic marvels, the supersized American cupcake can be easily baked at home, providing the housewives of the world with a kind of personal gratification the writers at SATC weren’t thinking of. 

The SATC cupcake was plain sponge, topped with pink buttercream frosting, piped in a simple swirl. The class of 2013 features flavors such as caramel fleur de sel, s’mores, as well as the ubiquitous red velvet, which has become more American than apple pie, (also available in cupcake form).

Back in 2009, I made a late-night pilgrimage to Magnolia on Bleeker Street, still busy at a quarter of midnight. And on a recent Sunday morning in San Francisco, the sunny city serenaded with foghorns from across the Bay, I decided to pay a visit to three of the city’s finest.

 First stop was American Cupcake, on Union Street, the sci-fi interior, adding an ultra-violet tint to my red velvet cupcake. My senses further confused by the incredible scarlet of the moist chocolate cake, I began to wonder how many “e numbers” (or their American equivalent) I was consuming, until I was slapped in the face by the lascivious saltiness of the cream cheese frosting.  This had never been my favorite, as I had always found it a bit sour, but the salt added a new edge, which I am keen to recreate, and added an intense enhancement to the chocolate sponge.

Red Velvet cupcakes at American Cupcake

Next was Kara’s Cupcakes, the quieter branch on Scott Street, rather than the Ghirardelli Square location. Here, I chose fleur de sel: chocolate buttercream on a chocolate sponge, with a salty caramel interior. Maybe it was the temperature it was served at, but this just didn’t do it for me. The buttercream was hard and bland, the cake fell to pieces in my hand, and the caramel interior popped out like an eyeball on to the plate.

Chocolate and Red Velvet at Kara's Cupcakes

Finally, came Susie Cakes on Chestnut Street. The shop interior had  much more of a mom’s-kitchen atmosphere than the other two and so did the cakes. The raspberry cupcake, was of the original Sex and the City generation: an ordinary sponge, but topped with a deliciously tart strawberry buttercream.

Traditional cupcakes at Susie Cakes

With the general availability of cupcakes worldwide (even Zurich has its first dedicated store, where English is spoken for the benefit of bored ex-pat banker’s wives) it was great to revisit the cupcake on home soil. Even if American Cupcake’s menu (featuring—I kid you not—chicken deep fried in red velvet batter) suggests that stores are beginning to branch out to keep custom, I found the great American cupcake alive and well and living at the foot of Pacific Heights. 

New Feature: Weekly Wine

I have decided to include a weekly wine feature on this blog. As I currently live in Switzerland, it will concentrate on Swiss wine but may showcase wines from guest countries, if I am travelling.

So, here we have the inaugural post of Weekly Wine.

2012 Merlot Bianco Bucaneve DOC Cagi Cantina Giubiasco

Charming wine from Ticino, in the south of Switzerland. A white Merlot, unusual for it’s straw colour, rather than blush. As suggested by its name, meaning ‘snowdrop’, crisp and dry with a slightly buttery aftertaste.  Great as an aperitif; goes splendidly with Asian food. 

Founded in 1929, Cagi-Cantina Giubiasco produces 600,000 bottles of wine per year, 90% from the Merlot varietal. 

Easter Bunnies Sprüngli Style

It can't have escaped your notice (unless, like me you have spent the last 10 days in the Far East) but Easter is coming very soon! My personal contribution to Easter will be revealed tomorrow, but for now I want to show you what Sprüngli, here in Zürich has been up to. They are changing their window display daily: yesterday sponge rabbits and today icing sugar pictures on top of cakes. They are quite original!

Hong Kong Interlude

I haven't done any baking at all this week, since I have been on a business trip to China for my day job!  Although you can find European cakes and pastries of the highest quality, and European bread (not commenting on the quality) here, local specialities in the shape of baked goods are few and far between. Most cake shops stock very sweet and creamy versions of European standards, adapted for the Asian palate. One notable exception, in Hong Kong is the Macau Egg Custard Tart. These are really the same as the Portuguese 'pastel de nata' since Macau (a Chinese Special Administrative Region), close to Hong Kong, used to be a Portuguese colony.
I will leave you with a few pictures all taken in Hong Kong and see you when I return to Europe next week.

A Hong Kong cake shop

The Peninsula Hotel location of the best afternoon tea in town, apparently 

Macau egg custard tarts

A Chuecheli* lover's guide to Zurich

 When it comes to buying and eating bread and cakes, Zurich is a bit disappointing. Among all the high-end jewellery and watch shops, you are hard pressed to find a traditional Konditorei or Backerei such as you might see in Munich or Vienna. I guess the sizeable population of bankers is more interested in spending their time making money than whiling it away enjoying a cappuccino and Apfelstrudel like their Austrian neighbours.
It is not to say that Zurich pâtisserie doesn't exist; it's just not so present as you might expect and I use the word pâtisserie, because there is a distinctly french influence to what is available. The most famous Zurich pâtisserie, Sprüngli, is known for it's Luxemburgerli, which are essentially mini french macarons. And if you want the authentic french version you can pick them up from the Zurich branch of Ladurée but without the authentic Parisian queues.
A recent outing to Honold (est. 1905) Zurich's self-styled 'confiserie' revealed a second growing influence on cakes, that of the English-speaking ex-pat community who have brought their love of cupcakes to Switzerland. And it's telling that Zurich's own cupcake shop has an English name 'Cupcake Affair'.
In fact, you can buy cupcake-making equipment all over the city, perhaps aimed at wives of expat bankers sitting bored at home and wondering what to do with that Neff oven.
As a footnote, I must add that just round the corner from my apartment is Zurich's only 24-hour 365-day-per-year Backerei where you can buy fresh baguette at 3am.

*'chuecheli': swiss german for little cake

Sprüngli Luxemburgerli

Chaussons aux pommes for carnival at Sprüngli

The real deal: Ladurée macarons

Traditional ...

... and not so traditional at Honold