The little (buttery) things

Alright, so if any of you know anything about me by now, you know that I love butter. Looooove butter. Especially brown butter. That stuff is legit. In a sauce with sage and caramelized shallots, served over butternut squash (coincidence? I think not) ravioli... in homemade butter pecan ice cream... and, most relevantly to this post, in the ultimate aphrodisiac of a dessert:

Brown butter pound cake. Oh, be still my heart! I swear, if a guy ever served me a slice of this stuff on a date (ideally, accompanied by a pint of Brown's brown ale), I would take it as a proposal and marry him on the spot.


Okay... that is a bit of an exaggeration. But for reals. This cake is good.

I wanted to share this recipe with my food science class for our final lab... and wow. The way the smell of it filled the air as the butter was cooking, the ridiculously seductive smokiness but not quite to the point of burning... it was like the air was somehow saturated with breathable toffee-butter-cookies. That, my friends, is the Maillard reaction at its best.

Anyways, I've known for a while that it's weird that I'm a nutrition major (or half one), because I loooove food. It's not that I don't care about nutrients, but really, I eat food cause it is food. And food is good. It makes me happy. And, it just so happens that the food I like is usually jam-packed with good nutrients and stuff like that - yay.

However, I'll tell you exactly what this cake is jam-packed with... delicious butter. (I made it with organic sugar and a blend of flours including a good portion of whole grain, but that's beside the point!) And I practically had to hold my classmates hostage to get them to take some home with them! :'( Nutritionism is ruining us.

I'm on a tangent kick tonight, so speaking of jam...

Blackberry, to be exact, warmed up with a little red wine to make a simple sauce. It's dark and rich enough to stand up to the kick in the face that the brown butter imparts (I know, you don't usually think of butter as kicking... but that just means you need to try this cake), but the acidity and the tannic qualities of the berries and wine together cut through the sweet, smooth, complex butteryness - AND YET - it does not impart any bitterness because the tannins are balanced perfectly by the butter. It's synergy... beautiful, sweet, bold yet subtle synergy.

Yes, I'm gushing... forgive me.

Anyhoo, the moral of this story is that I took most of the pound cake home and ate it at least once a day for almost a week.

All by me onesie.

Awwww, yeah. ^_^

Hey, a girl's gotta enjoy what she does, right? Anyways, if your mouth is now watering, pick up the phone and call/text me to place an order. Or email. I do that too.
If your mouth isn't watering... you have problems and you need help. But know that I still love you.

<3

Going mobile, as it were...

Testing! This is me, posting an entry from my Droid (first time I'm trying this... just downloaded the app).

How's everybody doing?? :-)

Some of my recent activities

Top to bottom: Berry Spiced (a blackberry cheesecake with hints of ginger and cinnamon); Snappy Strawberry-Lemon (lemon cheesecake topped with ginger-marinated strawberries); and the classic Blackberry Bouquet (lavender-infused blackberry cheesecake with a blackberry-red wine sauce)

As for what's next, I have a few awesome gigs lined up for the fall (yeah, of course people don't like to order cheesecake during the summer, but as soon as school starts back up, BAM!); including a wedding shower, a WEDDING (0_0), and some family reunions and other get-togethers. Exciting!

Yes, it may be somewhat unusual...

Okay, so I had this idea for a cucumber-green tea cheesecake. And I thought it sounded pretty nifty. But everyone I asked was all like, "BLEH THAT SOUNDS SO GROSS", so I was thinking I may have been a little too enthusiastic about my idea without thinking about its appeal to the market en masse...

So here are some variations of the aforementioned cheesecake. Vote for your favorite by way of comments, I guess?

~ Cucumber Green Tea (sweetened, most likely, with agave)
~ Cucumber Mint
~ Lemony Green Tea (maybe with honey?)
~ Cucumber... Melon? (would that taste too much like body wash for people? lol)

Anyhooz, these are just some options I've been thinking over. Let me know your feelings!

SUCCESS!!

Hi everybody! I know, long time no see... I'm sure I missed you more than you missed me. ;-)

I've taken a bit of time off lately to regroup and do a little bit of relaxing (I know, shocking)... but now I'm back, and I just say, I have officially taken beer-infused baking to a whole new level. This lovely brown butter Bundt cake I made last night (picture to follow when I get home) has a deep, buttery, almost smoky flavor thanks to a generous dose of a BEEEEAUTIFUL Whiskey Porter (from Brown's Brewery right here in Troy), as well as some dark organic brown sugar. Mmmmm... sinfully delicious - and whole grain! Wow! It's like, the best of every possible world... except it DOES still have calories. Sorry, we haven't discovered absolute perfection on earth yet. But this is darn close!

Anyways, everyone have a fabulous day! <3

Developments

Hi everybody!

As some of you may know, my life has pretty much been consumed by the All Over Albany Startup Grant competition for the past couple weeks. Now that it's over, I'm starting to work on the business again... and I really mean, work ON the business.

I'm always reading books on business; best practices when it comes to planning, managing, running, doing the books, etc. I'm on one particularly practical, useful book right now, and it's helping me to develop a clear vision of where Co-Original Creations is headed - AND figure out the steps I need to take to get it there.

In the meantime, I am still in need of funding... so I'm putting this out there: if any of you who read this hear about any more small business grants/competitions/anything else of the sort that you think I'd benefit from, please - let me know. I'll be doing my homework too, so it may be something I've already heard about and started to work on... but tell me anyway! There could always be something I missed.

I've also started to plan alternative routes to get my goods known. Next week I will be making appointments (by any means possible - begging, pleading, crying...) with the chefs at Brown's Taproom, as well as the Ilium Cafe and possibly one or 2 other local places (and requests or suggestions are appreciated as well!!!) to see if I might be able to sell them on the idea of trying out my desserts on their menus. Yes, there will be samples. No, I will not tell you exactly when I'm going. ;-)

This was a great learning experience for me, and I believe both myself and the business have benefited. I started out 2011 with high hopes, and I will continue to work hard through the rest of the year so they may be realized.

That said - check this out!! Another combo garage-bake sale! No, we're not baking in the garage...

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=214000551957115

Have a great weekend, kids!

<3

VOTE FOR MEEEEE!!! :-D

http://alloveralbany.com/startups/cooriginal-creations

Cooriginal Creations

Who:

Beverly Carrubba

Project:
Kitchen space rental for a start-up cheesecake business

Nevermind the typos, kids... my original submissions were flawless. ;-) Vote and vote some more!!

<3

Benefit Garage/Bake Sale last Saturday!

Jessy enjoying a Chocolate Stout cupcake!

Muffins, cupcakes and lemonade...

Gracie playing her violin for us

 All in all, a lovely day. I got a tan too!

Random thoughts

A Night in Havana... possibly some of the yummiest cheesecake bars ever.

Also, technology seems to be flipping me off today.

Does anyone know of an herbal extract that makes one less prone to procrastination? Cause yeah... I'm doing that. A lot. In fact, I'm doing it right now. >_<

Leader-member exchange theory is kind of interesting... but it's nothing I needed to buy a textbook for. Speaking of which, where IS my textbook?

Does this link work? It's an article on how much the US economy is based on people buying stuff they really don't need. Yay, microeconomics!

The goods.

Okay kids, here's the official list so far... there will be some new items coming soon, so stay tuned!

Super-Specialty Cheesecakes

A Night in Havana - $28

The Antioxidant Supreme - $30

Blackberry Bouquet - $28

Mi Amoretto - $28

Vanilla, Spice and Everything Nice - $28

Red Rooibos, Red Rooibos - $30

Love from Lebanon - $30

Kiss from an Irish Gentleman - $30

Li’l Miss Pistachio - $32

Dr. Rea’s Favorite Candy Bar - $32

The Chaiwalla - $30

(You can also sponsor the development of your own dream cheesecake flavor! 

Ask me for details.)

But Hey, They're Special Too!

Plain - $27

Lemon and Rosemary - $27

Lavender & Vanilla Bean - $27

Mint Chocolate Chip - $27

Almond & Raspberry - $27

Maple Walnut - $30

Fudge Swirl - $28

Cookies and Crème - $28

Marbled Pumpkin - $28

Butter Pecan - $32

Mini (4”) cheesecakes also available-- $8.00 each or 4 for $30!

Cakes, Bundts... and Baseballs?*

Cinnamon Coffee Cake (Bundt) - $12

With Nuts - $15

Maple Walnut Coffee Cake (Bundt) - $15

Chocolate Stout Cake (Bundt) - $17

Brown Ale & Butterscotch Cake (Bundt) - $17

*prices recently adjusted for inflation

Layer Cakes are available as well and come with your choice of topping:

Buttercreme: Vanilla, Salted Caramel or Chocolate;

Cream Cheese Frosting: Vanilla, Cinnamon, or Chocolate;

Fruit: Raspberry, Blueberry or Blackberry;

Homemade butterscotch, chocolate ganache, or anything else* you can dream up available upon request. (Prices vary by cake shape and number of layers… and various other stuff.)

*No elephants, pandas or the like, please... they're endangered.

 

Cookies (by the dozen!)

Spiced Red Wine Cookies - $7

Tiny Chocolate Chip - $4

With Nuts - $5

Lemon-Rosemary Slices (fantastic with tea!) - $6

Mini Molasses - $4

Homemade Oreos (ask about flavors!) - $6

Pistachio Shortbreads - $6

Maple Walnut/Pecan - $6

Red, White and Mac-Nutty - $6

Cashew Butter - $8

Atonement Cookies - $7

Italian Cookie Sampler/Holiday Platters available!

Prices and cookies vary; contact me for more info.

Brownies, Blondies…& a Redhead?

Fudgetastic Brownies (w/ organic Fair Trade cocoa)(doz) - $12

Spicy Kahlua Brownies (doz) - $20

Sexy Blondes (two toppings) - $20

Watt’s Whiskey Blondies - $20

Dessert Breads

Sweet Potato Zucchini Bread - $10

With nuts - $12

Perfect Pumpkin Bread - $10

Blueberry Buckle (pan) - $12

With nuts - $15

Mom's Gingerbread (pan) - $13

Spiced Apple/Pear Sauce Cake - $10

Brown Butter Pound Cake - $12.50

Pies for Everybody!

Fresh Fruit Pie (seasonal, ask me) - $25

Somethin' Special Pecan Pie - $20

Sweet Potato or Pumpkin - $20

Banana, Coconut, Vanilla, or Chocolate Cream Pie - $22

Twisty Cone Cream Pie (vanilla + chocolate, or create your own!) - $25

Te-Key-la Lime Pie - $25

Cranberry-Walnut Pie - $25

 Feel free to email me any questions, comments, and special requests you may have.

Food for thought.

http://littlepinkbook.com/little-pink-book/life/9-to-5-myth

If any of you reading this are women who have aspirations to either move up in your current job/industry or maybe begin something of your own, littlepinkbook.com is an AMAZING resource. Bookmark it. Sign up for the newsletter. Write little journal entries about the articles you find that inspire you and make you feel like you CAN actually do that thing you really want to do but are just kind of storing away because you don't really believe in yourself that much. It's interesting what changes you can make by just playing the economist for a second and saying, "Okay, so let's assume that I'm doing this/that I am the kind of person who could actually pull this off."

Changing the way you think is just a first step in changing the way you live. Try it.

A Well-Deserved Shout Out to Famous Lunch!!

So I walked into the library at Sage just now, and look what caught my eye:

Yay!!! This place (Famous Lunch, on Congress St. between 4th and 5th streets) is one of my top 3 in Troy, and the only place I will eat out for breakfast. Scotty rocks the grill all morning long and always makes my scrambled eggs and homefries absolutely perfect. The article talks about how the business has changed very little since its opening (in 1932!) minus the change in decor in 1949. And NO ONE can beat the prices (which haven't changed much either) for the quality. Extremely good food, simple, a community staple.

The Metroland article can be found here.

Go Scotty!

I finally gave in...

... and succumbed to the lure of the cupcake. Here are the results.

The pink is colored with acai berry. Pretty fun project, I must say... and the customer who ordered them declared after trying one that it was "the BEST chocolate cupcake I've ever tasted!"

Epic.

Just wanted to say

I slightly altered the recipe for my Butter Pecan cheesecake on a whim...


... oh baby. I've still got it. ^_^

That said, I will be launching some new flavors this summer; stay tuned for Fried Plantains, Tiramisu, and something yummy involving margaritas. Some exciting new developments are happening too; more info soon to come.

A quick recap

Wow, how time does fly...

Hey everybody, I'm back from a hectic month. Boy, can school get crazy! Not only that, but moving, work and a veeery productive/profitable Valentine's Day sure add to the crazy-mix. The big hits this year were Babycakes... the adorable little heart-shaped wonder that is a layer of your favorite cake on the bottom (I started with my all-natural Auburn Velvet cake (due to the absence of an obscenely large dose of artificial red food coloring, this creation came out a more sultry, dark red-brown color... not unlike the color of my hair at the present, actually). Observe...

And here's a variation... instead of the Velvet, these have the uber-popular Chocolate Stout cake as their base...

As last week was Spring Break, I took a couple days off and visited my city of inspiration (Boston), where CoOriginal Creations was born. I frolicked around the city, ate at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, and my good friend (and co-founder of COC), Beth, and I tried out a new idea for a bar. Think creamy, like Key Lime pie; instead of lime, the creaminess is reminiscent of fresh, tangy raspberries, sweet apricots, with a hint of almond. The crust is a crunchy, crumbly, buttery, whole-grain shortbread.

In a word? YUM.

I will admit, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting... but it was darn good. Below is a picture of how it started out (I'd wanted to get a good detail shot of the whole thing, but Beth had already snuck a piece...

... and this is what it looked like about 5 minutes later, when I'd gotten over my indignation and taken a piece too.

The crumbly stuff on top was awesome. It was just a mixture of brown sugar, chopped almonds and something else, but it was lovely. It added just a bit of a different texture, and Beth and I both love variety of texture when it comes to food.

Here are a few more pictures from my trip...

My favorite fresh veg spring rolls in the entire world!

Looking east on Boylston St. from Copley Square. Please note - there are no effects on this... the sky is just beautiful.

 

Copley is one of my most favorite places to be in the city. It was too chilly to sit on the library steps for hours, but in the late spring/summer, that's exactly what I would be doing here.

Aaaaand, last but certainly not least... the beautiful skyline. *sigh*

I see blue, sunny skies outside!!! Go enjoy the day kids!

Let it snow...

So kids, I've brought some corn for popping... and in fact, I've popped it, seasoned it, and packed it up!

Lately I've been thinking about how, even though I'm pretty good at packing healthy lunches for school, I almost never include snacks. Therefore, once the lunch is gone and I get hungry again, I'm stuck buying little things for myself that have an insane unit price. I hate that. So, one day, I decided that I was going to buy popcorn from the Co-op and have some fun with it.

As it turns out, experimenting with different popcorn flavors is quite addicting.

The first few batches were pretty average... butter or olive oil with some spices: chili powder, garlic, oregano/basil, cinnamon/nutmeg, etc... then I started experimenting with sweet-and-savory combos (my favorite thing ever). For a new favorite, I popped the corn, made some homemade caramel sauce, and added some chopped pecans.

OMG. Delicious. Now, I'm definitely not saying that my love for cheesecake is waning... but every once in a while, a girl needs to branch out a bit, and try something new. This is one of my ways of branching.

(By the way, speaking of branching... vegan Boysenberry-Green Tea cheesecake and gluten-free Velvet cake! Yummy!)

Irony...

So tomorrow is Groundhog Day, and Mr. Phil is going to be telling us (in theory, anyway) how much winter we have left...

... and at the same time, we in the Northeast (and, I've heard, just about everywhere else too) will be getting walloped what Mr. Weatherman is calling the most epic snowstorm yet this winter.

Perfect day to curl up at home with some tea and cookies and laugh at superstition.

Cookies I recommend:

• Molasses Cookies - excellent with Celestial Seasonings' Gingerbread Spice tea... if it's still available. If not, pretty much any chai will do quite nicely.
• Lemon-Rosemary Slices - go beautifully with Earl Grey, green tea with lemon, or a tangy rooibos.
• Snowballs - not only for the incredibly appropriate name, but also because they'll go with just about any tea... though a deep, flavorful black tea blend is best.
• Atonement Cookies - nice to add just a little kick to that hot chocolate... mmmmm.

Oh well, anyhoo... enjoy the snow, everybody! School's off, so I'll be taking orders all day. ;-)

Above freezing!

Wow... the last few days have been a ride, eh? What was interesting was how not only did it snow for almost a week solid, but when it DID stop, the temperature was so low that none of it melted... which meant that the next time it snowed, it was just more on top of all the existing snow. Crazy.

In case anyone out there hasn't watched the State of the Union, you can read it here, or watch it here. Be informed about what's going on in your country, because it WILL affect you - whether tomorrow, a few months from now, or even years from now.

Muffin-tops

I think Americans are funny. Yes, I include myself in that statement, obviously... despite my Sicilian descent, my family has been American since my grandparents settled in New York almost 100 years ago.

Anyhoo... I was about to write about something completely different when I happened to turn an eye toward the TV (right now I'm in the commuter lounge at Sage), and I caught a commercial for a weight-loss product composed of concentrated green tea (probably among other things). The commercial began with a shot of a woman's midsection, and a voice saying "Hey you! Your muffin-top is showing!"

I cracked up.

I couldn't help it! It's such a ridiculous phenomenon, but so common. I wonder what urbandictionary.com has to say about muffin-tops...

*5 minutes later*

"Muffin-Top is a word used to describe the strange and bizarre waist scrunching effect that results when females wear tight fitting, low-rise/hip-hugger pants along with small-sized, navel exposing, mid-riff tops.

Though, the effect is more extreme with heavier females, all females, with the exception of anorexic models, can fall victim to the muffin-top disaster. The reason for this, is that the design of low-rise/hip-hugger pants, originally popular during the late 60’s and early-to-mid 70’s, defies the natural shape and contours of the average females’ body; forcing the skin and fat around her waist, back and upper buttocks to spill out over her pants and through her tiny crop-top, causing a muffin-top effect.

Originally, the idea behind low-rise pants and mid-riff tops, which made their first reappearance during the mid-to-late 90’s, was to produce clothing that would make a woman’s torso appear longer, and possibly thinner, than it actually was. Normally, men’s pants are designed with lower waists, because of their naturally longer torsos, narrower hips and smaller pelvises. In order to recreate this “longer, thinner torso” appearance for women, clothing manufacturers adopted shorter-waist, men’s trousers, modified the design for the female market, resulting in the catastrophe that the word, “muffin-top” currently describes. The muffin-top’s legacy, if anything, describes the disaster that can result when the fashion industry goes terribly wrong. The existence of muffin-tops is currently quite common, which is a testament to the fact that women will buy and wear anything, regardless of how vulgar and ridiculous it looks, as long as it is popular."

Boy, what a stinging observation THAT is! Is it true? I like low-rider jeans well enough because I feel like my waist is a different size at any given time of day, but I hate short-cropped tops... I prefer my shirts to come down at least down as far as the butt-pockets on my jeans. I think that method is more effective in elongating/thinning the female torso, personally. Being of Mediterranean descent, I can tell you all that though we are not typically fat-- not even really overweight, due to our diets which are high in fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains-- we are short. Being short, and therefore having short torsos, even a size 4 or 6 waist looks... well, not quite slender, anyways. Being resourceful, however, we have come up with ways to compensate for this.

Food for thought, I guess. Now, obviously I am in no way tying this to diet; I think weight-loss supplements are ridiculous and do absolutely nothing to help the people who take them to develop sustainable, healthy habits with regard to food. Food should be enjoyed but not in excess, and desserts should not be given the opportunity to be seen as "forbidden fruit", because this makes them all the more appealing, and the individual more likely to over-consume.

What I'm saying, in essence, is eat your fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains... and then, once you have, treat yourself to a nice piece of cheesecake.

:-) The End!

Early morning surfing

Hello my beauties! It's a lovely, frigid morning in upstate NY, and I've been doing some browsing of the interweb... and LOOK what I found!

--> awesome article here! <--

Now, nutmeg is my favorite spice (closely followed by the chipotle chili, but that's not important right now), and I utilize fresh grated nutmeg in many of my treats. Guess I was onto something, huh? :-D

Have a super day!

Ahhh... a new year.

For those of you who have come to know me from Made With Love (out of which Co-Original Creations has, in essence, been born), you know how much I love experimenting with new and quirky flavor combinations... Lemon & Rosemary, Blackberry Bouquet (a lovely purple cheesecake bursting with fresh blackberry, accented by a hint of lavender), etc.

Well, this winter break has been no exception: a couple of weeks ago I tried another "flowery" cheesecake-- I call it Love from Lebanon, because it features Lebanese orange blossom essence, topped with a berry-wine reduction (syrup) made from a delicious local blueberry wine I obtained from the Troy Farmers' Market. Yes, it may sound a bit strange... but it is DELICIOUS. The orange blossom is a subtle, but intriguing, kiss of flavor that barely lingers; complemented very nicely by the sharp, fruity tang of the wine. Mmmmm...

Then, last week, I decided to do something new with tea. If anyone out there is not familiar with rooibos tea, you simply MUST try it; it's got a tang to it, but the flavor also has a distinctly "creamy" aspect to it... one that is absolutely phenomenal in cheesecake. I mean, this stuff rocks. I honestly don't know what else to say about it, except that you all must try it.

Aaaaaand that's it for me, everyone have a lovely weekend! :-D

Alright, here we go!

Welcome everybody!

My name is Beverly, and I loooooove to bake cheesecakes. Weird cheesecakes too, flavored with yummy, natural ingredients like organic essential oils, various teas, spices and herbal infusions, and crafted with creativity. I believe that cheesecake doesn't have to be a "guilty" pleasure, and I want to make all of you believers too!

That's not all: even though my cheesecake is my passion and my priority, I also love brownies! My brownies are the gooiest, fudgiest brownies you'll ever taste, and they're always made with unrefined, natural cane sugar and organic, fair-trade certified cocoa.

As for cookies, I give a new twist to some of the classics: chocolate chip of course, molasses (made with a generations-old family recipe) and not just peanut butter... try my almond or cashew butter cookies! Like some spice in your life? Try L'Ossa Morte-- a Sicilian cookie that's so clove-y, if you eat too many it'll make your mouth go numb! Homemade Oreos? You got it. Italian cookie platters for holiday parties or family get-togethers? No problem! I also love to learn new methods and recipes, so if there's a special product you'd like me to make, I'll take it on.

Got a delicious idea for a cheesecake I haven't done yet? You can sponsor it! You'll get a taste of each step in the cheesecake-development process (each tweak I make is approved by your taste buds), and you'll get the first complete finished product to share with your family and friends! (Or you could just keep it to yourself... but really, what fun is that??)

Keep your eyes here for more info to come, and email me for ordering info: cooriginalcreations@gmail.com