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Our first stop is right where we are standing: the Little Cupcake Bakeshop. Anny tells us it was started in 2005 by four brothers who grew up in Brooklyn and who use as much local produce as they can.

Our "taster" here is one of their fabulous Brooklyn Blackout cupcakes: a re-creation of a cake popular in the mid-1900s, it's a moist, gooey, delicious mix of chocolate cake and the sweetest ganache.

Anny leads us and the 12 other tour participants, all American, around the corner and across Mott St to the second stop, Emporio.

We file through the door of this Italian restaurant, past a dark timber wine bar to a glass-roofed courtyard. Distressed timber tables and chairs fill the space and the view is of the fire escapes and backs of the surrounding brick apartment buildings.

Our attention, however, is focused on the pizza oven in the wall and the man throwing the dough.

Anny details the history of the area as we watch the dough being rolled out, covered with prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket, and slid into the oven beside the glowing coals. Five minutes later, we're eating, and my note for that experience states simply "excellent".

Source: NEWS.com.au

by Terese

This gourmet Confectionery Cake is made from a traditional Norwegian recipe, and is probably served in Sweden as well since IKEA sells their own version of the same cake. In Norway, it goes by several different names, though “Suksesskake” (Success Cake) and “Konfektkake” (Confectionery Cake) are the two names I am the most familiar with. It is typically served during Christmas, weddings, on the Norwegian Independence Day (May 17th), or other special occasions. The base, made mostly from ground almonds, is chewy and dense with somewhat of a crunch to it, and not soft and fluffy like other cakes. Really, it is more like a dessert bar than a cake, but cake is still what Norwegians call this heavenly dessert. It is completely gluten free, unless there are traces in the vanilla sugar or other ingredients that I’m not aware of. This dessert is topped with a most delicious butter frosting, which is bright yellow and very flavorful from the egg yolks that it contains. (Don’t let the yellow color trick you; there is no lemon or citrus flavoring added.) If you are looking for something extra, something exclusive, a dessert different from ordinary cakes and desserts, this is it! You won’t have to worry about whether someone else brought the same thing to the party when you bring this wonderful cake!...

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by Peter Minakis

It’s good to see so many clicking and looking for Lent-friendly dishes – just a few days ago this site experienced the largest spike it traffic EVER. Thank you! A quick look at the links to all of my Lent-friendly dishes and you’ll see that the sweet side of Lent is a little lean – few recipes and my goal this year is to pad that part of the list.

This recipe come from my mom’s good friend Helen who was kind enough to send a piece of cake for me to try and I almost immediately contacted her and asked for the recipe.  The concern with many egg-free cakes is that the cake may be dense, that horrid taste of baking soda is unmistakable and perhaps the cake is dry. This Lenten Cake defies all those prejudices with the use of olive oil for moistness, ground almonds giving some lift and neutralizing any baking soda after taste and the amount of sugar in here is moderate with dried fruits rounding out the sweet aspect.

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