Crazy for Cupcakes - By Carla Soriano

Gigi's Cupcakes

Crazy for Cupcakes

Written & Photographed by:  Carla Soriano

They’re sweet. They’re small. They’re expensive. They come topped with colorful sprinkles, pieces of fruit, candies, assorted nuts, and slivers of chocolate, among other things. They’re a little tricky to eat. They are a little big phenomenon called cupcakes.

While they’ve been in existence since the 18th century, the cupcake industry in the U.S. took off in 1996, with the opening of Magnolia Bakery in New York’s  bustling Greenwich Village.  The neighborhood bakery quickly made a name for itself with its mini vanilla cakes topped with pink-hued vanilla buttercream icing. So much so, that in 1999 the owners published a cupcake recipe book entitled The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes from New York’s Sweetest Bakery.

 

 

Shortly thereafter (beginning in 2005), the bakery made appearances in quintessential American TV shows Saturday Night Live and Sex in the City. In 2006, Magnolia Bakery appeared in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. 

Hubbell & Hudson

Shortly thereafter (beginning in 2005), the bakery made appearances in quintessential American TV shows Saturday Night Live and Sex in the City. In 2006, Magnolia Bakery appeared in the movie The Devil Wears Prada.

In the summer of 2010, cupcakes were further cast into the spotlight via wildly popular reality television shows Cupcake Wars and DC Cupcakes . The celebrity queen of crafts and domesticity, Martha Stewart , also put out a cupcake cookbook in that same year.

Pop culture may have instigated cupcakes’ rise in popularity but the sweet delicacies’ continued acclaim is most likely due to the fact that they’re highly likeable – and not just because they’re delicious. 

To begin with, cupcakes’ small size makes them easy to eat – whether it’s on the go, at a party, or on the living room couch. There’s no fuss to eating them. Simply remove the disposable paper cup it comes in, take a couple of bites and voila! They’re gone, and you’re pleased and you’re done. Isn’t convenience king?

Frost Bake Shoppe

Another one of cupcakes’ strong suits is that they’re apt for eating by one person just the same as they’re apt for feeding 100 people. If only one person is involved, the diner can choose the flavor of their liking without feeling obligated to ask the opinion of his or her dining companions in order to please everyone. And if there’s a group of 100 planning to eat cupcakes, everyone can pick their favorite flavor. Plus, no one will have to share, nothing will have to be sliced, and the resulting mess will be relatively small. The same cannot be said for other popular desserts like cakes and pies.

Speaking of flavors, the extremely wide variety of flavors that cupcakes come in is almost uncanny. If you’ve thought of a cool flavor combination, chances are it already exists. From syrup filled cupcakes to edible flower-topped cupcakes to booze-infused cupcakes, the possibilities are pretty much endless. Definitely another factor that adds to their likeability.



 Last but not least, aren’t cupcakes oh-so-cute? If mere looks could take people to heaven, cupcakes would be the biggest culprit of sending people to heaven. Their colors, toppings, and intricate decorations are enough to consider cupcakes works of art. This is precisely why any occasion that includes cupcakes is instantly turned into a festive occasion.

 

The Cupcakery

With so many reasons to love cupcakes, one thing is for sure: the cupcake craze is here to stay!



Are you crazy for cupcakes?
Here are some local spots where you can get your fix:

The Cupcakery
Market Street-The Woodlands
9595 Six Pines Drive, Suite 960
The Woodlands, Texas 77380
281.298.2889
www.thecupcakery.com


Frost Bake Shoppe 
6777 Woodlands Pkwy #304
The Woodlands, TX 77382
281.298.7474
25 Waterway Ave #150
The Woodlands, TX 77380
281.298.7375
www.frostbakeshoppe.com


Gigi’s Cupcakes
4747 Research Forest Dr. #150
The Woodlands, TX 77382
281.651.5637
www.gigiscupcakesusa.com 

 Hubbell &Hudson Market
The Woodlands Waterway
24 Waterway Ave. #125
The Woodlands, Texas 77380
281.203.5600
www.hubbellandhudson.com

Out of This World Cakes &Cupcakes
4711 Louetta Rd. #101
Spring, TX 77388
281.719.8871
www.outofthisworldcakes.com

Treat
126 Vintage Park Blvd.
Houston, TX 77070
281.251.0016
www.treat-cupcakes.com






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I've Got A Secret - Mom's Secret Chef!

Mom’s Secret Chef

Article by:  Wendy Lee-Anderson

Mom’s Secret Chef is run by a brother and sister team of Julia and Eric Ward.  They have been running the operation for six years. Opening Mom’s Secret Chef happened purely by chance.  The business was originally owned by someone else and Julia had stopped by and learned that they were going to close down or sell.  She spoke to her brother and they both agreed this was a great opportunity and decided to go for it. 

Julia started her career during the dot.com craze.  She lived and worked in the San Jose, CA area.  She planned many corporate events for the company she worked for and after the dot.com crash she relocated to Washington, DC where she ran several dessert stores.  Her cookies and homemade desserts were a huge hit.  Eric also has a background in the dot.com  business but then followed his passion to cooking.  He prepares most of the entrees while Julia focuses on the desserts. 

Mom’s Secret Chef is the answer for the nightly question  "What's for Dinner?" Their menu changes weekly so you can serve  a wide variety of dishes with the ease of just heating them up.  No messy kitchen, no dirty pots and pans. Best sellers include King Ranch Chicken, Creamy Chicken Enchiladas, Meatloaf,  beefy Cheese Macaroni  and Chicken Pot Pies Need a yummy dessert to finish off a great  meal, they have you covered; from homemade brownies, to cake pops to cakes. pies and cobbler.  The prices of the entrees average to about $4 - $6 per person. 

Mom’s Secret Chef is an excellent solution for work at home moms, stay at home moms with busy schedules, empty nesters and people that are homebound.  They have many customers that  come and pick up food for families that just had a baby, friend or family that have an illness or death, and people recovering from surgery.  It is a great gift to help out a busy family, new mom, or family member that can’t get out or cook.

When asked if they plan on expanding they said they made the decision to expand their business by adding delivery on Wednesdays.  They offer a special meal for the delivery but feel free to add on extra entrees to stock up your freezer for quick meals for when you are on the go.   They also do deliveries to businesses with orders of 20 large entrees or more.

Mom’s Secret Chef uses the freshest of ingredients.    They shop from local area markets and merchants and only use fresh produce. They only purchase as needed so they have very little waste.  They can cater for small to large gatherings, company picnics, weddings and graduation and birthday parties. They ask that you call to discuss your event and minimums may apply.

Mom’s Secret Chef

5135 FM 1488 Rd.
Magnolia, TX 77354

Hours:
Monday-Thursday  10AM - 6PM
Friday  10AM - 3PM
Saturday   By Appointment
Sunday  Closed

Phone:  281-259-0040

Website:  http://www.momssecretchef.com

Facebook:  http://on.fb.me/K40Oc7

Patsy's In Tomball

Taste Magazine's Lunch with Taste Group had lunch at Patsy's in Tomball today.  Here are some pictures of our group and a re-run of the article on Patsy's from our April issue on Pizza. 

Photo Courtesy of Woodlands Eats who was in attendance at our luncheon.

Patsy’s Authentic Wood Fired Pizza in Tomball

Article submitted by: Nick B. Rama from http://diningoutwithnickhouston.com

Photography by: John Wade Photography

Patsy’s began as a 1940’s mechanic shop/service station that has since been turned in to a quaint restaurant serving an eclectic menu of sandwiches, pasta, salads, homemade soups and coffee, along with southern comfort food and made-from-scratch desserts. 

Breakfast is served from 8am-11am and lunch is served 11am- 4:30pm; currently there is no dinner service.  The true star of Patsy’s is their wood-fired Pizza, fire baked with oak wood in a brick oven imported from Milan, Italy.  Patsy’s pizza is the best kept secret in Tomball, TX.  

Patsy’s got it’s start as a place called “South Texas Coffee”, serving coffee, biscotti, cold sandwiches and desserts. 

Named after the original owner, Patsy. She eventually sold it to the current owners, her son and daughter-in-law Curtis & Tracey Morris, about 3 years ago.  Their sons Curtis Jr. & Chris, daughter Rene and Curtis’s Mother Patsy all contribute to making the restaurant a success.  Curtis Sr., who has been in the restaurant business for over 20 years, handles the operations.  We can’t forget the two stellar waitresses, Amanda & Allison, who definitely add to Patsy’s charm.

I had a chance to sit down with Tracey and ask her some questions about Patsy’s:

-What inspired you to add Wood Fired Pizzas to the menu?  We thought it would offer more of a variety to our customers and, down the road, give us the possibility of having future menu items cooked or finished off in the oven.

-Why did you choose to get a wood fired pizza oven imported in from Milan?  My husband was in the restaurant industry for many years and he knew the owner of Antoine’s, who did a great deal of import/export.  We wanted this oven because of the quality and the fact that this oven is totally wood fired. We did not want a gas start oven because that changes the flavor of the pizza. Wood gives the pizza a better, more authentic taste.  We also use a five-cheese blend on our pizza (two kinds of Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan and Romano).  My son Curtis created our recipe for the pizza dough, which is made from scratch daily, and our house-made sauce uses a blend of fresh herbs and the highest quality tomatoes. 

-What are your and the staff’s favorite pizzas?  BBQ Chicken with Jalapenos is Rene’s, Allison’s & mine.  Curtis, Jr. loves the Mediterranean Veggie (with Chicken added), Amanda’s is the Pesto Chicken and my husband’s favorite is the Meat (with Jalapenos added). 

-Besides Pizza, if you had to eat one food everyday on the Patsy’s menu, what would it be and why?  Fish Tacos, because they come two ways, grilled or fried, and would be light enough to eat daily. 

-What are the most popular menu items at Patsy’s?  Besides the wood fired pizzas, the Fiesta Tilapia, Pesto Shrimp Pasta and our homemade Tomato Basil Soup, which is featured daily. That soup has a huge following with our regular customers.  The Buffalo Calamari is a popular appetizer here.  Also, our pies are a bit hit for dessert.

-Since baking is your forte, what is your signature dessert at Patsy’s? My Coconut Cream Pie. It is hard to keep it in the case and we often sell out.  Also, the Fudge Covered Brownie.  All our pies and dessert are made from scratch. 

-What would you want to tell somebody about Patsy’s if they have never been here?  This is a place where people feel comfortable; the customers are an extension of our family.  We love when our customers give us feedback. Our business is all done by word of mouth, and we have never done any advertising.  Also, that we have an open kitchen so we obviously have nothing to hide. 

-I have had your coffee; what sets yours apart from the national chains?  Curtis Jr. buys our beans green and roasts them in house at least every two days so as to keep them fresh.  He drives to the Port to pick up the coffee that is shipped directly from the farmers.  We use different blends and varieties, but only the best beans are used.  Our coffee isn’t meant to compete with the national chains, but we offer the best gourmet coffee at a comparable price to our patrons.

-What do you and your husband have planned for Patsy’s future?  We are eventually going to build out toward the street.  Currently we can seat about 30-32 people, but after expanding we will be able to seat 90+.   We also want to have a coffee and wine bar wine and add some more signature dishes only we can make for our patrons to the menu.  We will keep the original building and garage doors from the service station, because, amazingly, we still have customers that worked or were patrons of the original shop from the 40’s.

 
-5 Words that describes Patsy’s?  Quality, Family Atmosphere, Southern Charm, Hometown & Eclectic

Patsy’s American Grill

425 W Main St

Tomball, TX 77375

(281) 290-9664

Hours:

Mon-Fri   8am- 4:30pm

Saturday   8am- 4:00pm

Sunday Closed

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patsys-American-Grill/189467941119235

More Desserts from our June Issue - Today from Pallotta's Italian Grill

The Best Dessert in The Woodlands and Surrounding Areas

Article written by:  Nick Rama http://diningoutwithnickhouston.com

The Dominic’s Mud, available only at Pallotta’s Italian Grill, is a dessert that is an ice cream, cookie and candy bar junkies dream.  This dessert will satisfy your sweet tooth and make your taste buds say “Wow!” This dessert is probably illegal in 50 States, so I am glad to live in the great State of Texas where I can get this over the top frozen creation.  I actually think long time Pallotta’s customers would riot in the streets of Oak Ridge if they ever decided to take it off the menu and I would lead the rebellion.  I am surprised somebody has not written and dedicated a song to the Dominc’s Muds.

Here is what Phil Nicosia Owner of Pallotta’s had to say about this sinful dessert.

Describe what is in the Dominic’s Muds?

4 layers of Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream, with chunks of Butterfinger candy bar in between each layer, hot fudge and hot peanut butter drizzled throughout each layer and on top, with a Nutter Butter and Oreo Cookie crust.

How in the world did this creation of this decadent dessert come to life?

Story goes that Dominic, George Pallotta's youngest son, would go in their home kitchen at night and make a bowl of ice cream with cut up Butterfingers, crumbled Nutter Butters, hot fudge, and peanut butter.   George liked his creation so much that he created the Dominic's Muds.

I heard the Dominic’s Muds has a very intense process to make, will you explain the process?

It starts with thirty-Six gallons of ice cream, which comes from a specialty ice cream vendor.  We open hundreds of individual packages of Nutter Butter cookies and grind them down to a fine texture, we then grind down over 50 LBS of Oreo cookies.  Next we unwrap and hand cut over 300 individual bars (over 8 cases) of Butterfinger candy bars to varied small pieces. Melt down large quantities of hot fudge and peanut butter, just to create our masterpiece!

This dessert has a strong following; I know a couple that comes to Pallotta’s every year on their anniversary just to eat it.  How long has it been on your menu and how long does it take to prepare?

For almost 18 years, the Dominic's Muds has been sold as our signature dessert.  We make 12 large containers at a time, which produces 180 portions.  It takes 3 people over 4 hours to make these 12 containers.  We make Muds typically every month.  That's a lot of muds!

I noticed that you now offer different sizes of the Muds, and I am glad you do, the original portion was just too much for date night.  What are the new portions and how much are they?

We now offer Dominic's Muds for 2 in a half size and have also offered Dominic's Muds as a mini treat on caterings and banquets. 

The Original Dominic's Muds...$10.99 (feeds 4-5 people)

Dominic's Muds for 2...$6.59 (feeds 2-3 people)

Mini Muds...$2.50 (offered for caterings and banquets)

How would you describe Dominic’s Muds in 5 words?

Insanely delicious, indulgent, untouchable, rewarding, satisfying, comforting, impressive, enough to share, worthwhile, chocolaty, peanut buttery, happy belly, homemade, unique, nothing like it, exciting, that damn good...5 words are just not enough to describe it!!! 

Pallotta’s Italian Grill


LOCATION:

27606 I-45 North -  
Conroe TX 77385

(across the freeway from The Woodlands Mall in the Woodridge shopping center)

281.364.9555

HOURS:

Sunday 10:57 am to 9:03 pm


Monday-Saturday 10:57am to 10:03pm

WEBSITE :

http://www.pallottasitaliangrill.com