Red velvet beet cake from Iconica

Red velvet beet cake from IconicaAs I told the Iconica folks, red velvet is not a favorite flavor of mine; I hoped the beet would make it more interesting. I wouldn’t have been able to pick it out, but the texture was not only moist but particularly sturdy – not chewy, yet resistant to the tooth in a pleasurable way. I wished the frosting had been a little more assertive on the lemon front. The cake itself had the classic “I don’t know what this tastes like but vaguely cocoa?” of red velvet cake, which is why I don’t much like it. Not a winner, but at least the beet meant it wasn’t soaked in red food coloring.

  • Compared to a platonic version – 4/5? (hard to say)
  • Originality: 4/5
  • Value for money: 3.5/5 ($4.50 before tip)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 4.5/5, grating beets being an especially big nope
  • 9 minutes to eat, 12 to write

Frozen Yogurt Virtual 5K race report – 8/16/2020

I miss races. I miss the camaraderie. I miss the excitement and crowds of the start, the spreading out of the first mile until you start to identify your race “peers,” the spectators whether a scattered few or walls of support, the alternation of exhaustion and adrenaline at the finish. I miss gasping in relief when I come to a stop, cooling down and cheering on the people who finish after, chatting with new acquaintances, milling around where the results are posted. I really really miss the food, which is one of my main criteria for choosing races.

I “ran” the Girls on the Run virtual 5K in June, but it was a race I’d never done in person and the terms were pretty loosey-goosey so I didn’t really treat it like a race, just part of my Sunday long run (love the medal, though!) This one I took seriously – I ran it on the course as I remembered it (took a slightly alternate route, it turns out), and tried to pace myself exactly as I would for a real race, with 50-60% effort for the first few miles ramping up to all-out at the finish. 32:08, about right – I am definitely slowing a bit as I age. Last year I finished in 31:19. Very little to report since I was solo… the weather was overcast and not too hot, so that was nice, and the streets were empty because it was early. A distanced yoga class was taking place on the lawn in Childs Park, which looked like fun, and I saw a few other runners. I was proud of myself for staying mostly as focused as I would during a real race, so it was a decent experience – and of course it supports a good cause – but like many other pandemic-year substitutes, it’s a pale imitation of the real thing. Alas, I forgot they had suggested taking a selfie at the finish which they’d include in a livestream on 8/23 – oh well. I will very much enjoy the frozen yogurt when the coupon comes – I hope it will be GoBerry as usual!

edited to add: A big difference I forgot to mention with running now, of course, is the mask… although I often pull it down if there’s nobody around, I ran this whole race fully masked up to see how it went. It would have been fine except for how damp it gets (this is a two-layer handmade cotton mask – I tried running in a neoprene one and it was unbearable, but haven’t tried a standard medical mask). By the end the mask was actually wet and sticking to my face as I panted during the sprint. If I ever had to be masked for a long race, like a marathon or half-marathon, I’d bring several to swap out.

Southern hummingbird cake from Iconica

Southern Hummingbird Cake from IconicaOooh, a new cake variety – new at Iconica that I can recall, and totally new to me as I’d never heard of it before. Iconica’s description: “3 layer; crushed pineapple, banana, pecan cake; cream cheese custard; browned butter buttercream,” and their promo email explained “the pineapple creates a moist crumb but doesn’t feature as a taste in the cake, itself.” Indeed, the flavor was predominantly banana. I like fresh bananas but I tend to avoid them in ice cream or baked goods. It’s an instinctive aversion which doesn’t make much sense because I usually enjoy the flavor once I’m eating it, and this was the epitome of that intense banana flavor – interestingly, not only the pineapple but also the pecans blended in, contributing to the texture alone. As always, perfect proportions, great slice integrity, and delicious (lovely to look at too – the photo didn’t come out very well).

  • Compared to a platonic version – another holotype! – 5/5
  • Originality: 4/5
  • Value for money: 4.5/5 ($4.50 before tip)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 4/5
  • 12 minutes to eat, 22 to write

Chocolate chunk scone from Hungry Ghost

Hungry Ghost scone Hungry Ghost makes my favorite scones, hands-down, but it doesn’t open until 10am these days and when I was working a regular schedule, I would seldom get there before they sold out. Got this one at 10:30 and had it for lunch/dessert – a new flavor for me, not quite as delicious as their rosemary/walnut/currant combos but a classic and plenty satisfying. I love the traditional triangle shape because the toasty points are my favorite bit, and Hungry Ghost always bakes to a lovely dark shade – my mother describes undercooked baked goods as “floppy,” and I join her in abhorring them (although sometimes I can redeem a limp cookie or biscuit in the oven). The texture is also perfect, breaking into craggy chunks without falling apart, moist but still with good tooth, and the cubes of chocolate were a good size.

  • Compared to a platonic chocolate chip scone – 4.5/5
  • Originality: 2/5
  • Value for money: 5/5 ($3 before tip)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 3/5
  • 14 minutes to eat, 15 minutes to write – that’s more like it!!!

Pistachio cardamom cake from Iconica

Pistachio cardamom cake from IconicaIconica has five different regular cake flavors, of which I’ve already had four, so this completes the set – and I think it’s my favorite! It’s gorgeous to look at, lovely gold layers with warm brown frosting decorated with whole nuts and rose petals, and it smells wonderful. I bought it early in the day to make sure they didn’t run out but didn’t eat it until later, so I kept sniffing it (I do call myself a “cakesniffer,” which I got from the A Series of Unfortunate Events books but define more descriptively than pejoratively). I’m not very familiar with cardamom outside of Indian cuisine and wouldn’t have guessed its presence, but it might contribute to the almost lemony fragrance (Wikipedia describes it as “intensely aromatic, resinous”). This is part of the challenge I’ve given myself – if I were only eating I’d call it delicious and move on, but trying to figure out why it’s delicious is interesting. As cake it hit every mark: very moist but kept its integrity under the fork, clearly-delineated layers with the creamy texture of the frosting complementing the softly-grainy crumb dominated by ground pistachio, complex flavors, not too sweet, just the right amount of frosting, the perfect serving size.

  • Compared to a platonic pistachio cake – this is my holotype since I’ve never had any kind before! 5/5
  • Originality: 4/5
  • Value for money: 5/5 ($4 before tip)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 4.5/5
  • 13 minutes to eat, 40(!) minutes to write

Coconut cake pastry from Roost

My goodness, what a ridiculous and ridiculously-delicious little Smurf house (actually proportioned more like a Moomin house – the image is forshortened)! The Roost is a cooperative so I’m extra-happy to support them now they’ve re-opened. I’ve been on the search for ideal cake for a few years—Iconica holds the current title—and had tried Roost’s coconut cake near the beginning of my quest, when it was a classic slice form factor, yummy but a little too sweet and with way too much frosting. This small tower gets the proportions much much better. There’s sour cream in the frosting, which balances the sugar, keeps the texture smooth, not grainy,  and allows enough stickiness to prevent the toasted coconut from falling off without adhering to the fork too much. The cake itself is fine – decently moist, unassertive crumb, a little bland but a good carrier. The marshmallow top adds fluff and a just-right bitterness from the browning. The whole thing held together surprisingly well – I ate half and have another half to enjoy!

  • Compared to platonic coconut cake: 4.5/5
  • Originality: 3/5
  • Value for money: 4/5 ($5.50 before tax for 2 big servings)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 4.5/5
  • 12 minutes to eat, 22 to write (lots of links)

French toast from Iconica

French toast from IconicaIconica‘s full description is “FRENCH TOAST w/ MAPLE + VANILLA CREME ANGLAISE:  Sourdough toast with egg, milk + grapefruit zest custard; sweet maple syrup + vanilla bean cream, nectarines, blueberries.” It was gorgeous to look at, absolutely delicious, and very substantial, with three thick slices of sourdough. I devoured it all and licked up the little bit of extra creme anglaise! I couldn’t taste the grapefruit zest specifically but the flavor profile had a lot going on. The toast was properly cooked with a crusty top and bottom, moist but not soggy in the middle. For truly platonic French toast I’d expect it to be a little bit eggier and soft enough to cut with a fork, but this variant lets the chewiness of the sourdough assert itself. The blueberries and nectarines were perfectly ripe, the creme anglaise was just sweet enough and the exact consistency for pouring over without dripping off, and the proportions of each element were right. A high point of my Sunday!

  • Compared to platonic French toast: 4.5/5
  • Originality: 3.5/5
  • Value for money: 4/5 ($9.50 before tip)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 4/5
  • 13 minutes to eat, 16 minutes to write

Iced lemon loaf cake from Starbucks

A new experiment, possibly short-lived: as a writing exercise that doubles as a savoring and observation challenge, I’m going to try describing my food treats. I’ve been indulging in these far more frequently during the pandemic, not only to add enjoyment to my day (I’m missing museums and races…) but also to support local businesses – this is a weird start because I had Starbucks stars that are expiring and it wasn’t a purchase.

Starbucks iced lemon loaf cakeNot bad for industrial-scale baking – after the chain shook up their food years ago, this was the one thing I still found palatable. Nice appearance – I like a hefty slice – and a pleasant lemon sugar aroma. The texture is a little too soft, with a dense fine crumb that turns pasty when chewed. It’s properly moist and the icing has enough bracing citrus to balance out the sweetness, applied at just the right thickness. Overall the lemon profile is decent but there’s not enough butter or other interesting notes so it’s somewhat bland. The crust, my favorite part of a pound cake, looks nicely browned but doesn’t have much flavor.

  • Compared to a platonic poundcake: 3.5/5
  • Originality: 1/5
  • Value for money: would be 4/5 if I had to pay ($3.30 but free with stars, otherwise I wouldn’t pick a chain product when there are so many great indie options in Northampton)
  • Effort factor (1 = could make in my sleep; 5 = no way would I ever make this for myself): 2/5
  • 10 minutes to eat, 20 minutes to write

Frozen Yogurt 5K race report – 8/27/2017

The cute yard signs for this race were everywhere, it’s super close (<5mn walking distance), and free GoBerry; I had a hard time finding previous year’s results, but when I dug them up it did seem like enough people ran it that I wouldn’t be dead last. The only other right-next-door race I’ve run is the Hot Chocolate 5K, but now that I’m realizing how much extra fun they are because Jonathan can walk me there, I’m also registering for the Splash of Color 5K. I will want to keep an eye on how much I spend on race fees, though. They do support charities but apparently it’s not that efficient of a fundraiser (Hot Chocolate must be an exception because they get participants on board so full-tilt… they raise a huge amount of money for Safe Passage).

The Courthouse lawn at the intersection of King and Main was full of runners, lots of cute dogs (there was a cool dog treat van), and a good DJ—“Papa’s Got a Brand-New Bag” was playing as we approached. I got my bib and bag (granola bar, coupon for the GoBerry and other coupons), we checked out the finish line on Gothic Street, and I warmed up. The field was small enough (~150, not sure if that includes walkers) that there was no starting mat and they tried to get us to bunch up so that gun time and net time would be as close as possible.

The course was a very nice simple loop, up Main to Elm, around Childs Park, down Prospect to Trumbull to finish on Gothic. I started out fairly fast for the slight uphill (laughed inside when I heard someone complain about “this hill!”, thinking about the Bridge of Flowers), with 10:32 on my watch at the first mile. I had told Jonathan that I’d be happy if I broke 32:00, so that seemed decent. The second mile I tried to keep steady, and then turn up the speed slightly. I had given blood on Tuesday, and was still noticing the effect during a hike to the Horse Caves the day before, so I didn’t feel like I had as much “in the tank” as usual. Still, I was passing some people during the third mile and doing OK. I turned onto Gothic Street and it felt shorter than I expected–then I saw the clock at the finish line and it was still at 30. Jonathan cheered me on, although in my typical finish-line zone I missed him waving his hat and shouting that I would break 31! 30:40, which I’m super super happy about. That’s definitely a 5K PR for my 50s and I’m motivated now to cobble them together.

We cheered some finishers and then headed for GoBerry, which had opened early for the runners. I got raspberry with pecans on top and it was absolutely delicious! I like how RaceWire texts both the time and the finish photo (unflattering, alas). Looks like I was 4th in 50-59!