Sunday, May 29, 2011

Well, hello there (and a green tea cake)

Strawberries!

It's been a while since I've posted with any regularity, I know. But I'm still here! And look--I'm embarking on a new project this summer, windowsill gardening. For some weird reason I woke up at the ungodly hour of 7 this morning (on a Sunday! on a long weekend! Sheesh) and rather than try to go back to bed, I got up, did yoga (!), took a shower, and went to the farmer's market a few blocks away just as it was opening. Believe me, that is far more productive than most of my weekends. And it was kind of nice, there was hardly anyone out yet so I could chat with some of the folks running the stands, which is how I got talked into getting this awesome strawberry plant. Look it ALREADY HAS STRAWBERRIES. I'm going to repot it into a bigger container and hopefully I'll have yummy strawberries to snack on this summer. I also picked up a geranium and had previously bought a lavender plant...we'll see who's still alive by the end of summer.

Cake split

But wait, that wasn't the end of my productive spate--I came home to drop off my goods, and went back out for a long walk through the park, then read for a while in the sun (Game of Thrones, if you're interested--I'm loving both the book and the series. That Jon Snow is a cutie.) and when I came back, I made cake! Green tea cake, to be exact, using the last of my stash of good matcha (must get more). I l-o-v-e how this cake turned out and would be happy to eat it by itself, maybe with some iced green tea.

Filling

But I wanted something a little fancier, and filled the cake with some whipped cream and some diced alphonso mangoes (this combination being inspired by my new favorite bubble tea flavor, mango green tea). By the way, I have not eaten nearly as many mangoes this year as I did last year, but I'm getting an early start on the watermelon!

Frosted

And here's my cute little frosted cake. It's just whipped cream, because it is way too hot to be eating buttercream. Also, I'm not really that big a buttercream fan.

Sliced!

And here it is sliced, and about to be eaten! It's not the prettiest cake I've ever made, but I'm very happy with how it tastes. And now I can officially say that I'm done celebrating my birthday (even though it was 2 weeks ago) because it's not a birthday without cake!

Which isn't to say we didn't celebrate it at all, of course--Pyota took me out for a very fancy dinner to Del Posto, where I did not take any photos (and it would have been too dark even if I didn't feel self-conscious) but the food was really good. I especially loved the pansotti and the spaghetti with crab--and the gazpacho! It was quite a trip having such formal service (I lost track of how many people served our table) and although I wouldn't want to make a habit of it, once in a while is nice.

And actually, it is Pyota's birthday tomorrow--we will have to have a delayed celebration in June, but in the meantime, happy birthday :) I promise a bigger sandwich.

6 comments:

Bentobird said...

Loved this post! What a great city Sunday. Divine little cake...

Those strawberries look so cute and quirky...nothing beats the variety one finds at the farmer's market...mine had squash blossoms, baby kale and outrageous raspberries this weekend!

Hope you are enjoying the three day weekend, its getting really HOT here already, sheesh!

tofugirl said...

I really like the local farmer's market--it's so much smaller than the one at Union Square, but it's also less crowded, which is great. Ooh, squash blossoms! haven't seen any of those yet, this year...and no real fruit yet, except for last fall's apples. Maybe in a couple of weeks :) It's hot here too, but I'm guessing it's hotter and more humid by you, so I hope you're staying cool! Enjoy your weekend :)

Deborah said...

That cake looks pretty spectacular to me! Is there a recipe for it? I will dig around your site to find it!

tofugirl said...

Hi Deborah! I haven't put one up yet, out of sheer laziness :) But it's Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake recipe, with no lemon zest, a bit of vanilla, and about a tablespoon of green tea powder.

Laura said...

Mmm...I just had some mangoes for the first time this year! They are finally in season and ready to be eaten! I actually made some Mango, Tomato, Avocado Salsa the other day for a spanish project and it turned out SO good! I forgot how much I missed summer foods! : )

tofugirl said...

Laura, I know exactly how you feel! Our local strawberries are starting to come into season too, it's really exciting, hehe. So much delicious fruit now :)