Hoppy Monday, friends! I hope you had a nice weekend. I’m currently nursing a chocolate/Peep hangover and trying to get back into the swing of things when all I really want to do is take a nap inside my Easter basket. My family came to visit for Easter weekend (which just so happened to be my mom’s birthday this year, hence the bunny birthday cake) – yesterday we did brunch at my apartment and then took a trip to Walden Pond and Concord for the afternoon. We even found the Easter bunny!
This past weekend Mike and I took a walk down to the Charles River to check out Cornell sailors in the Boston Dinghy Cup. Mike was on the sailing team when we went to Cornell so you BETTER believe he was pumped up to watch his former teammates compete. There was lots of talk of jibbing (jabbing? gybing?) and windshifts and tacking, but mostly I just paid attention to GORGEOUS (early blooming!) flowers and cheered on my alma mater!
Last week my dad had to come to Boston for work, so my mom tagged along and we got to spend the week together! I loved having her here to do and appreciate all the touristy things I tend to take for granted in this beautiful city I call home. Obviously I had to show her all my favorite cupcake joints, which resulted in a mini cupcake taste-test and a potential NEW FAVORITE CUPCAKE. Can it be???
The cupcake crew: Snickerdoodle, Blueberry Buttermilk Pancake and Carrot Cake from Sweet, Boston Cream Pie from Curly Cakes, and Chocolate Peanut Butter from Mike’s Pastry (below).
We thought the cake from Sweet was a little dry, but their frosting continues to BLOW my mind in its deliciousness. We were unimpressed with the Boston Cream Pie from Curly Cakes, mostly because it was missing the cream filling? Isn’t that sort of key?
But the totally unexpected winner? Chocolate peanut butter from Mike’s Pastry! Though I love their cannolis, WHO KNEW Mike’s Pastry had unbelievable cupcakes?? Their peanut butter buttercream is perfection and even managed to rival my favorite buttercream, and the chocolate cupcake is stuffed with a huge blob of STRAIGHT PEANUT BUTTER. Gen.ius. If you haven’t tried Mike’s Pastry for cupcakes yet, it’s a must!!
I almost forgot Wildlife Wednesday this week!! So glad I remembered before the day was done…phew.
I realize I’ve already shown you pictures from my Christmas tree cutting-down adventures with my family, but I had to share my Boston Christmas tree as well!
Yesterday I met my friends Alix & Brian for brunch and we decided to finally try Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge.
Um…why the heck did I wait so long to go there?? This place is made for me.
It’s pretty much exactly what I imagine Alice in Wonderland’s house to look like, if Alice was a chef who knew how to make every kind of delicious brunch food and loved having her peeps over for afternoon tea. Not only does it have the cutest, most whimsical decor, but the food is the bomb dot com as well.
Take a peek at the bread basket:
Teeny tiny cinnamon rolls, mini apple muffins, pecan crumb cake, and cheese & herb scones. MINE.
I ordered the Monte Cristo sandwich. This was a testament to the true yumminess factor of Upstairs’ food, because I do NOT usually eat sunnyside up eggs. Yick.
Oops, guess I do now. Demolished the entire thing in seven bites.
Love, love, loved this place. Can’t wait to go back for afternoon tea or maybe just to move in. Wonder if Alice needs a roomie…?
I am sort of kiiind of having a love affair with Sweet Cupcakes in Boston. They undeniably have the BEST frosting in town, potentially ever, and I.am.obsessed. What other bakery offers “frosting shots” on their menu? Genius. Frosting of the gods. Get in my belly NOW.
So the other day I’m at Sweet with the girl I babysit, because my summer job is hard, and we are eating five different cupcakes and then going back to get seconds and I am peeing my pants for the 80th time about how good the frosting is…and the Frosting Gods intervene. Our convo went something like this:
Frosting Gods: You should find out the frosting recipe so you can recreate it at home and eat chocolate buttercream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Me: No way. That recipe is TOP SECRET.
Frosting Gods: How do you know? Just aaaaask.
Me: Because it tastes like it is made of actual clouds from heaven. That’s how I know.
Frosting Gods: Just aaaaaaaask. Maybe they’ll give you a hint!
[note: the "Frosting Gods" may or may not be my alter ego.]
So I ask. And what do the wonderful people at Sweet hand me????
This.
Just the frosting and cupcake bible.** No big.
OBVI I ran home and immediately made chocolate cupcakes with two different buttercreams: chocolate and cookies ‘n cream.
And do you know what? The frosting was spot-on-perfect. I will even share a recipe with you as long as you promise to go out and buy the cookbook to get the cupcake recipe to pair it with 
Or just come visit me and I will feed you. I will probs be making these cupcakes daily until I decide to give up my apartment and just live inside Sweet.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (adapted from The Sweet Little Book of Cupcakes)
Ingredients
*Make sure you use good, fresh shortening. I used Crisco I’d had for awhile the first time, and I could totally taste the shortening in the buttercream. I used an organic shortening from Whole Foods the second time around and it worked perfectly!
Directions
**I apologize for all the religious references. It really is that good.
My sister Emily came to visit me in Boston last week – here are some of our adventures!
Red velvet cupcakes at Sweet
Beautiful flowers and strawberries at the Harvard Square farmer’s market. And octopus. Which we ate. It wasn’t so bad as long as I didn’t think about it..
Boston skyline from the red line
We did some necessary baking: red velvet brownies and tie-dye cupcakes.
And finally, dinner at Top of the Hub. Awesome views of Boston!!
You guys know I kinda LOVE Paris – right? And outdoor cafés? And above all…food?
So you can probably guess how I would feel about a place that combines all three.
Hello, Tatte Pâtisserie and Café. Pleasure to meet you.
I should probably tell you the story behind my love affair with this newly-discovered gem. About a month ago Mike and I walked into the “new” bakery down the street and excitedly asked when they had opened. Turns out.. it was four years ago. I’ve just been too busy habitually walking down the opposite side of the street for the past 10 months to notice. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Anyway, we showed up right at closing time and I’ve been meaning to go back every since. This Sunday we finally did, and then I died and went to food heaven and proclaimed that I may never eat anyplace else ever again. Ever. Again. I might even devote a new blog to trying each and every item on their menu. Kind of like Julie and Julia except I’ll end up way more poor.
They make homemade animal crackers, for goodness sake!
Mike and I shared a turkey sandwich for dinner: turkey, muenster, avocado, mustard, spinach, and dried cranberries pressed into a panini on BRIOCHE. DO YOU HEAR ME???? Brioche.
It was served on this AH-dor-able striped tray. Must have.
I really can’t explain how hard it was to choose a dessert from all the delicious treats they had to offer. I stood in the middle of the café and spun in circles mumbling a mixture of “too many choices”, “yum” and drooling until Mike finally took over and made the executive decision to go with a giant slice of pistachio pie. With a side of mint lemonade which was obviously the most refreshing and original lemonade I’ve ever tried.
Now my stomach is rumbling. If you need me, I’ll be the girl sitting here:
wolfing down tartes and whispering “ooh la la”.
MA peeps- how crazy has the weather been today??? Though Boston lucked out (so far) and hasn’t gotten the worst of the storm (shout out to Springfield – thinking of you!) we did have a pretty crazy sunset. Here’s the view from my apartment:
