Estia - Restaurant Week

Despite having lived in Philadelphia since 2010, as of the 15th of September, I still had not participated in Philly's Restaurant Week. Restaurant Week always seemed too expensive and time-consuming to be worth the food, and I was right.

However, that doesn't mean that dinner at Estia, a fancy but laid-back Greek restaurant, was not enjoyable. Quite the contrary! It was one of the best social events of my college life, shared with the group of friends who frequented my dorm's computer lab. Yes, apparently, solid friendships can form among strangers when we all spend 10+ hours a week in a computer lab for 2-3 years. Especially when they nonchalantly walk in on me passed out over my computer science notes.

The food was delicious, and the atmopshere and service were excellent. The walls were decorated with giant chunks of rock, and there were linen curtains at the booths and an open kitchen.

Appetizers included grilled octopus (fresh, fleshy, and slighty charred tasting), or salad. The grilled octopus also had some endive triangles, which was pleasant because it is not a leaf I commonly find at restaurants.

 The main choices were juicy (also slightly charred) lamb with a sauce I didn't like, an entire almost-deboned fish, or a vegetarian dish that the server did not recommend. 

Dessert was either honey semolina cake or baklava, with exactly 1 raspberry (although, possibly by accident, my friend got both a raspberry AND a blueberry). The honey cake was disappointingly dry and crumbly, and the gelato did not make up for it.

Restaurant Week meant that we could get a dinner meal for $35 (appetizer, main, dessert), which ultimately amounted to around $46. Yummy.

Fancy Dinner & Notable People

In one night, I met a person from Consumer Reports (regarding food), a sustainable dairy farmer (Ronnybrook Farm), a chef (who incidentally has been on the Food Network), and a bunch of other really successful people in the food industry. By "successful", I mean that they've accomplished things. They've changed the world. Not through pipetting in a lab or trading shares, but through following a vision and a passion. It makes me wonder whether I'm as passionate about anything.

Super appetizers with carbonated punch. Again, everything was really classy and I was the awkward rock that prevents the wagon from smoothly sailing (heh, worst metaphor within a 1 mile radius). First, I had issues figuring out what to wear. As I wanted to travel minimalistically, I brought 3 fancy outfits, 1 T-shirt, and shorts, for 3 days. It turns out that for fancy events, people change into eveningwear, especially after walking around in business casual on a farm earlier in the day. Oops?

And then I had issues getting out of my chair without triggering everyone's Awkward-Alert!-radar.

Ensuite, I took pictures of my food, which might be socially frowned-upon.

然后，I asked for an autograph.

Dinner was self-service with steak on bread, salmon, bread, quinoa, and beets.

Dessert was a cake from the Culinary Institute of America. Apparently, the red stuff is actually ribbon, even though the tour guide told us that for the cake decorating class, everything had to be edible. One of the layers was chocolate, while the other was plain cake with dulce de leche tiramisu(?) filling. I somehow ended up with 1.5 slices of cake, which was a bit too much but I ended up eating it all anyway, since it was really tasty.

There was also some apple tart which was good, and brownies.
Ronnybrook Farm supplied 10 pints of ice cream, which was delicious.

A lot of socializing went on, and I learned a lot about milk (but no sources). Ronnybrook Farm cows are not considered "organic" because they are fed antibiotics only when they're sick. Apparently, Horizon and other organic farms have to kill any sick cows because they aren't allowed to give cows antibiotics, lest they lose the "Organic" label from the USDA. I already read previously that the label itself is difficult and expensive to purchase, meaning that organic farmers don't bother with the label. Also, apparently Ronnybrook Farm cows live to about 15 years, and after they're done with milk production, they're allowed to retire and graze the grass until they die. Horizon cows ostensibly only live 3.5 years. Ronnybrook Farm prides itself in owning about 200 cows who they all know by name. They also haven't bought a cow in 40 years.

I'm taking all this with a chunk of salt though, because it's honestly difficult to buy good milk in so many circumstances (income, convenience, posession of car or bus pass, large scale/schools), and it's also difficult to know for sure what companies are doing.

We also had a presentation about restaurant ownership. The thesis was that the goal is to exceed customer's expectations, and to definitively change how the customer feels about the establishment when he/she walks out. I definitely don't think I've managed that consistently with the cafe I work at. It's actually also applicable to social interactions. If you haven't made a significant positive impression on someone, whether it be in an interview, a date, or performance...well, how much did you care about the relationship with the other party?

It's something to mull over.

Bird Nest Birthday Cake

It's quite bizarre being back after an unintentional 6-month hiatus. School got in the way and I almost feel as though food blogging is just a fragment of my past. Today, everyone (specifically my demographic, ugh), takes photos of food with their fancy phones. Blogging isn't that special anymore. People want TL;DR and pictures to glaze their eyes over.

Nevertheless, the food blogging continues because I still believe that I offer a unique personality to this blog.

I got home on Friday for Spring Break, at 11pm, and the first thing my sister requests is that I make her a cake for her birthday party. She wants fairy cakes, but as one cake rather than individual cupcakes. Despite the fact that my sister, at 9, can already make pancakes, cookies, cornbread, and cake, she still asked me to bake and decorate her birthday cake (with a candle bird and nest). It's nice to get requests.

Yesterday afternoon, I used the Victoria Sandwich Cake recipe to make the cake, but since my scale is at school, I'm sure that the measurements were a little off (especially as my cake ended up much shorter than I expected). I also made some buttercream icing for the "grass" which my mum ended up scraping off and throwing away after the party was over (because no one in the family likes buttercream icing).

To sandwich the two layers, I used melted peppermint marshmallows (microwave, 30-40s) and cookie pieces. I cut some strawberry flowers because apparently, it's plausible to have a bird's nest in a meadow. The nest itself was artfully constructed out of 4 pieces of Kit-Kat, and some crushed Oreo. I added 10 blue jelly beans as eggs because my sister is turning 10. I used a fork to make the buttercream icing textured. Finally, I sifted some powdered sugar over everything.

This may be one of the prettiest cakes I've made (I still think my Portal Cake is one of the most authentic-looking ones in the world though) and it tasted pretty good too (I got a compliment from my sister's friend!). I just hope that I can avoid using buttercream icing in the future.

Vegan Cookies and Cake

I enjoy the blog "The Life". Although I'm not vegan (actually, I can't call myself lacto-ovo vegetarian anymore either), the baking recipes are great because I use oil more often in my overall cooking. After a terrible end of the week, which was slightly alleviated by the consumption of a whole packet of marshmallows (284 g) in three sittings (2 am, 11 am, and 7 pm), I figured I might as well bake some things and binge on them all. I made vegan chocolate cookies which kind of remind me of Oreos (without the cream) or chocolate graham crackers and lemon cake which I didn't mix well enough. These recipes came from "The Life" and are simply amazing.

Notes/alterations to the chocolate chip cookies:

1. No chocolate chips

2. Substituted the white flour with whole wheat flour and a packet of lotus seed flour that I had lying around

3. Less sugar

4. 1/4 cup water + 1/4 balsamic vinegar, and 1 tsp baking soda instead of baking powder

5. It doesn't matter which rack I use in an unpreheated oven for 15 minutes. They turn out perfect, even according to SP

6. Added red pepper flakes!

Notes/alterations to the lemon cake:

1. Didn't have enough lemon juice, so added some vinegar

2. Baked for 35 minutes + left it in oven for 10 minutes

3. 1.5 cup of white flour + 1 cup of whole wheat flour... + unknown extra bits of flour...not sure how much I ended up using

4. Added red pepper flakes

A great thing that happened two nights ago (after I went to get marshmallows for my binge) was that I happened upon a baking tray, a cake tin, and a dish drying rack next to the dumpster in the courtyard. The baking tray fits perfectly in the small oven that I have for the summer (I actually had brought my own baking tray, but it was too long!). I'm hoping to find a mini-fridge with shelves next (last month I found a fridge without shelves and a microwave without the turntable, unfortunately). Although some people will think that this is disgusting or weird, I believe that it's helping the environment and my finances.

Surprisingly, I have only bought baking powder once in my life. 55 g in 5 sachets. Most of the time, I use baking soda in my baking. If a recipe calls for baking powder, I just substitute some of the liquid with vinegar and use baking soda instead of the powder. It always works. I've been reading Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter, and he (along with other chefs, I suppose) claims that bakers are more precise and antsy about measuring than cooks, who like creativity and splashing in ingredients here and there.

I have to disagree with him. I splash in tablespoons of vinegar, I throw in pepper flakes, and I even didn't measure the flour for the lemon cake today (so, I might have 2 cups of flour in that lemon cake, but it could also be 3). I'm not extremely precise with measurements, and things mostly turn out fine. The book also lists a stand mixer and a whisk as essential for bakers, but I have neither and I consider myself decent at baking. The book is geared solely towards stereotypical computer scientists who don't cook (the stereotypical humour, writing style, everything!), and I guess I was a bit distracted by this (in addition to the "BUY THIS BOOK!" message studded in every chapter. The worst part, however, is that there are barely any citation of sources. Sure, I don't think he's lying when he says that there's gluten in wheat flour, but there are no scientific papers cited! Interviews, pictures, and blogs are listed (but not by MLA or NEJM standards), but it's not enough. Monell isn't even mentioned! Also, I guess I'm disappointed that the existence of non-tasters for quinine aren't mentioned either.

However, it was an overall good read because there were some useful tips, and there were explanations of a lot of things that I've never questioned. For instance, why do we bake at 350 degrees F for some things [e.g. cake], and 375 F for others [e.g. cookies]? Well, one reason is that sugar caramelises above 350 degrees F, and you don't want your cakes to caramelise, but cookies that look brown and caramelised appear more appetizing. I have two pages of notes for things that I'd want to explore further, particularly adding maltodextrin to peanut butter and cooking with a slow cooker.

Independence Day

This day, I got a lot of free iced tea because Wawa was giving them out. I also got a piece of candy   and a cupcake. There were allegedly 1776 cupcakes (that's what the flyer said, but the flyer also predicted the wrong time for the fireworks), but at around 12:30, the loudspeaker announced that there were over 2500. I was near the front of the line because I had gotten there so much earlier. So many people tried to cut into the front of the line, because, of course, they felt entitled, and they didn't want to wait at the back of the line. Fortunately, the people in charge ushered everyone who tried to cut to the back. So I got my cupcake as planned. It was a very plain cupcake, by Termini Bros. I wonder who got to eat the 5 layer cake.

Bubble Tea Cake - Updated!

Below: Left: Cake Assembly Version II, Right: Cake Assembly Version I

Want cookies? Check these out!

Last time, my bubble tea cake had way too much baking soda, so I remade it today to ensure that my recipe is valid, with less baking soda. Here is the complete updated recipe with some helpful notes and pictures! The back-story: I had a dream in which I was icing a bubble tea cake. It turns out that no one has publicly documented online a bubble tea cake before, so I made one!

This is the brand of tapioca pearl that I use; it's $1.98 in Chinatown. It's an instant-cook brand because I have had a bad experience with the one you have to cook for hours. Each bag contains about 2 cups. I used the cheapest available (read: low quality, in this case) Pu-erh tea. I think that black tea would have been the best; Pu-erh  tea has a nice smell and a slightly burnt taste, in my opinion. However, I drank a lot of black/green tea during school, and I wanted a change.

INGREDIENTS for ONE 9-inch (23 cm) diameter round pan of cake 2-3 cm in height

6 tbsp tea leaves (I used loose Pu-erh tea leaves, although traditional bubble tea uses black tea. You can use whatever you like)
4 cups of water

1 large egg
1/4 cup of brown sugar + 1 tbsp
1/2 cup white sugar +/- some to suit your taste
1 tsp oil (use peanut oil if you want a peanut flavour)

1.5 c all-purpose flour (I used 1.25 c white flour and 0.25 c wheat germ. You can also use 1 c white flour and 0.5 c whole wheat flour)

0.5 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp vinegar (I used balsamic because that's all I had, but any vinegar should work)

1 dry cup of instant pearl milk tea (bubble tea) tapioca pearls
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar

Bubble tea straw

METHOD (<1.5 hours total working calmly)

0. A few hours before you start the cake, heat up 4 cups of water and your tea leaves (without sugar). Keep this on a small simmer until the tea is way beyond the desired strength. After cooling, pour out 180 ml (3/4 cup). Leave the rest of the tea in the pot. You may need to use more or fewer than 6 tbsp of tea leaves, depending on the type of tea and your preferred strength.

A. Cake Batter!

1. Mix sugars, egg, oil, and tea in a giant bowl. It will look extremely ugly.
2. Mix flour(s) and baking soda in another bowl.
3. Pour 1/4 of the liquid stuff into the dry mixture and mix until there are no more lumps, using figure 8s. Add another 1/4, mix, and another 1/4, mix, then the last 1/4 and mix until smooth. You will have a batter that is a bit thicker than pancake batter. Leave this batter alone while you prepare the tapioca pearls. The batter does not taste great when raw.

2. Tapioca Addition & Cake Batter!
4. Remove loose tea leaves from the pot, and pour tapioca pearls and one tbsp of brown sugar into the leftover tea. Turn on the heat to high. Cover for around 3-5 minutes, until all the pearls have risen to the top and taste good. 

5. Then, turn off the heat and fish out the pearls(I used a tea strainer). Fold them into the batter, trying not to get too much extra tea into the batter. You should stir the batter after putting in a spoonful of tapioca, because the tapioca is hot, and we don't want cooked chunks of egg in our cake.
6. Grease your baking dish using a butter wrapper from your stash in the freezer!

7. Quickly fold the vinegar into the batter. You will hear a small hissing noise due to the vinegar reacting with the baking soda. When the vinegar is evenly incorporated, pour the cake mixture into your pan.

 (note the bubbles -->)

8. Bake in an unpreheated oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F on the middle shelf. Then, stick a fork into the cake, and if it comes out clean, it's cooked! The cake does not rise significantly.

9. Place hot cake onto a cutting board. Alternatively, you can wait until the cake has cooled by cooling it on a metal cooling rack. The cake should be super spongy and springy.

10. On the cutting board, place the rim of a glass jar on the cake and cut out a hexagon around the jar using a really sharp knife. Cut with all your strength, as the tapioca pearls are really sticky! Cut four of these hexagons (yes, it's possible!).


11. Trim each hexagon into a circle. Preferably, each circle gets a tiny bit smaller (to emulate a bubble tea cup).
3. Cake Assembly version I
11. In a mug, mix 3 tbsp tea with 1 c of confectioner's sugar to make a tea glaze. If you want a LESS runny glaze, use 2 tbsp tea. I used 3 tbsp.

12. Place the circular cakes on top of each other on a pretty plate, starting with the smallest. Spoon glaze between each layer (yes, it drips!).

13. Glaze the top of the cake, then stick your bubble tea straw through all four layers so that your cake won't topple over.

14. Eat by grabbing off chunks by hand! Drink leftover tea! The cake must be consumed within 4 hours. If left longer, the tapioca balls will dry out, as do most tapioca products not submerged in liquid. 


4. Cake Assembly version II
11. Fill a (bubble tea) cup 1/2 of the way with bubble tea cake chunks (leftover from Assembly I or just... in general).
12. Add tea, sugar, and milk in whatever ratio you want. You should add the milk first if the tea is still hot/warm and you're using a plastic container.
13. Drink "bubble tea cake"-flavoured bubble tea (using straw to suck up the tapioca and cake)!



5. Pudding Cake
If you want a more moist cake, you can add 240 mL (1 cup) of tea, instead of 180 ml. You follow the instructions as before, and you still bake it for 20 minutes at 350 F, middle rack. However, as this cake is really moist, you should NOT upturn it onto a cooling rack or cutting board. You can NOT assemble it to look like a bubble tea cake. Use a non-metal spatula to cut it into wedges and serve with icing or green tea ice cream.


Other Notes
1. Click Here for notes about ingredients/taste!
2. 0.5 tsp baking soda was definitely enough; the cake doesn't really rise, but it is still crumby and relatively light. There isn't much fat in it either!
3. The cake I made today was a bit to moist and pudding-like because I put too much tea into the batter.
4. The tea has to be REALLY strong; I used stronger tea this time, but you couldn't really taste it. Perhaps it's just the type of Pu-erh I got (the cheapest one)...
Maybe the Rickshaw brand (green metallic packaging) of black tea would've fared better. It sure tastes better.
5. Of course, other options include using coffee, hot chocolate, coconut juice, or other teas. One could probably even use taro powder, or green tea powder.
6. My friends liked it!
7. To see my first version (i.e. inception of bubble tea cake in this world)  with more bubble-tea-container pictures, click here.


Smile! :)

Bubble Tea Cake!

In the evening of the 19th day of the 6th month of the 2012 year since the flying spaghetti monster was born, PIE-314 invented bubble tea cake.

Tea flavoured cake with tapioca pearls. In my previous blog post (Bubble Tea Cookies), I talked about WHY I put bubble tea bubbles (henceforth referred to as "tapioca pearls") in my baking. In short, I had a dream a bunch of days ago in which I was icing a bubble tea shaped cake, with vibrant orange icing. The tapioca pearls had been cooked into the cake. I made tapioca pearl cookies yesterday to see whether tapioca pearls could be baked, AND THEY CAN!

So, today, I made a spongy, chewy cake to match the texture of the tapioca pearls inside (actually, I made two by accident, since most of this was improvised). Excuse me for the imprecise measurements; as I am subletting in Philadelphia, I lack a lot of my kitchen tools.

UPDATE: I improved the recipe on the 24th of June, so go there for the recipe! I've crossed out the things that don't apply anymore here.

INGREDIENTS for ONE 9-inch (23 cm) diameter round pan of cake that is about 3 cm in height

2 tbsp tea leaves (I used loose Pu-erh tea leaves, although traditional bubble tea uses black tea. You can use whatever you like)

1 large egg
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 to 2/3 cup white sugar +/- some to suit your taste
1 tbsp oil (optional)

1.5 c flour (I actually used 1.25 c white flour and 0.25 c wheat germ. You can also use 1 c white flour and 0.5 c whole wheat flour)

0.5 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp vinegar (I used balsamic because that's all I had, but any vinegar should work)

1 dry cup of instant pearl milk tea (bubble tea) tapioca pearls
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar

Bubble tea straw

METHOD (~1.5 hours total working calmly)

0. A few hours before you start the cake, heat up about half a pot of water and your tea  leaves (without sugar). Keep this on a small boil until the tea is beyond the desired strength. Then, pour out 150 ml and let it cool. Leave the rest of the tea in the pot. (I messed this up today; it should take at least 10 minutes)

A. Cake Batter!

1. Mix sugars, egg, oil (optional), and tea in a giant bowl.
2. Mix flour(s) and baking soda in another bowl.
3. Add 1/3 of the liquid stuff into the dry mixture and mix until there are no more lumps, using figure 8s. Add another 1/3, mix, and then add the last 1/3 and mix until smooth. You will have a batter that is a bit thicker than pancake batter. Leave this batter alone while you prepare the tapioca pearls. The batter will not taste good uncooked.


2. Tapioca Addition & Cake Batter!
4. Remove loose tea leaves from the pot, and pour tapioca pearls and one tbsp of brown sugar into the leftover tea. Turn on the heat to high. Cover for around 3-5 minutes, until all the pearls have risen to the top and taste good. 

5. Then, turn off the heat and fish out the pearls(I used a tea strainer). Fold them into the batter, trying not to get too much extra tea into the batter.
6. Grease your baking dish using a butter wrapper from your stash in the freezer!
7. Quickly fold the vinegar into the batter. You will hear a small hissing noise due to the vinegar reacting with the baking soda. When the vinegar is evenly incorporated, pour the cake mixture into your pan.

8. Bake in an unpreheated oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F on the middle shelf. Stick a fork into the cake, and if it comes out clean, it's cooked!

9. Place hot cake onto a cutting board. Alternatively, you can wait until the cake has cooled by cooling it on a metal cooling rack.

10. On the cutting board, place the rim of a glass jar on the cake and cut out a hexagon around the jar using a knife. Cut with all your strength, as the tapioca pearls are really sticky! Cut four of these hexagons (yes, it's possible!).


11. Trim each hexagon into a circle. Preferably, each circle gets a tiny bit smaller (to emulate a bubble tea cup).


3. Cake Assembly version I
11. In a mug, mix 2 tbsp tea with 1 c of confectioner's sugar to make a tea glaze.
12. Place the circular cakes on top of each other on a pretty plate, starting with the smallest. Spoon glaze between each layer (yes, it drips!).

13. Glaze the top of the cake, then stick your bubble tea straw through all four layers so that your cake won't topple over.

14. Eat by grabbing off chunks by hand! Drink leftover tea! The cake must be consumed within a few hours. If left overnight, the tapioca balls will dry out, as do most tapioca products not submerged in liquid. (SP was hugging me while I took this photo; therefore, it is blurry)

4. Cake Assembly version II
11. Fill a (bubble tea) cup 3/4 of the way with bubble tea cake chunks (leftover from Assembly I or just... in general).
12. Add tea, sugar, and milk in whatever ratio you want. You should add the milk first if the tea is still hot.
13. Drink "bubble tea cake"-flavoured bubble tea (using straw to suck up the tapioca and cake)!

Possibly Helpful Notes:
The cake is unlike normal sponge cake, brownies, or normal bakery cake products. It is super chewy, EXTREMELY pliable (see image below - the cake bounces back to its original shape even after denting it with my spoon), gooey, and sort of gluten-y. It's a little like steamed cake, actually. Of course, you can substitute your own cake recipe for my recipe. However, the problem with using, say, a Victoria Sandwich cakewith tapioca pearls is that the pearls may sink to the bottom of the pan, and leave craters on the cake surface. Also, a bunch of butter cake recipes don't even need liquids. A muffin or quick-bread recipe may fare better.

I actually wanted to use 100% whole wheat flour for this recipe, but I was lugging some 10 pounds of food and drink back from Chinatown and Trader Joe's on one shoulder and one hand, and carrying an extra 5 pounds of flour for 30 minutes would've been quite unbearable. I don't know for sure scientifically, but I think that whole wheat flour would've made a thicker batter (more...fibre; more gelatinous? Cellulose maintains cell structure), and would've helped the tapioca pearls stay in the batter. I threw in some wheat germ for that and the sorta health reason. I am really glad that the pearls were well-distributed! Perhaps using 100% white flour would still render this result; I will try again once all this cake has been eaten. Note the dents in the bottom and tops, though.

I used way too much baking soda in my batter, and not enough sugar. Again, this was a "well-educated guess" recipe. I may actually just use 0.5 tsp of baking soda next time, and see whether I get the same amount of rise. However, to mask the baking soda taste (although SP can't taste it), you can just use Assembly method II and smother it with sugar, tea, and milk.

To obtain loose leaf tea, tapioca pearls, and bubble tea straws, go to Chinatown! :) I got my straw at Mayflower bakery after buying a delicious snowball (red bean paste inside rice mochi thing that has the texture of an Invisibility cloak, that promptly got squashed on the way back). I also didn't have much counter space. The green parts of the kitchen are all occupied areas. :(

I am extremely satisfied to be the first (at least, I think/hope I am) to document on the internet the incorporation of tapioca pearls into a baked cake.