lemon ginger madelines

black and white packaging design here and here
floral packaging parts one
two
some more black and white packaging design from graphic designer, ashley r. tipton
a coffee shop website
one last designer a series of black and white business cards
black and white branding with a pop of color.

lemon ginger madelines
1 1/2 sticks clarified butter
3 lemon ginger teabags
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon peel
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
You will need a madeline pan for this recipe. I prefer not to use the non-stick type, as this is more authentic, but do what you can.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, place teabags in butter and steep for 20 minutes and allow butter to cool. Heat eggs and sugar atop a double broiler until lukewarm; stir constantly. Remove from heat and beat until thick but light and creamy. When cool, sift and gradually add the flour, melted butter, brandy, vanilla, lemon peel, then juice.
Grease and flour a madeline pan, bake for about 8-10 minutes. Cool on a rack, shell side up.



Read more...

Olga's Cup + Saucer

This last weekend I got the opportunity to go to brunch at a place here in Providence that has been on my list for a while, but I just hadn't gotten to yet. I was really excited to go here, and the excitement grew when we pulled up and I found that Olga's Cup + Saucer was as cute as I hoped it would be. It was a gorgeous day outside and we had a bench table outside on Olga's spacious patio that has beautiful little gardens along with trees providing some needed shaded for when it gets warmer. I first discovered Olga's while reading Edible Rhody, which is a small publication put out each season about the food scene in Rhode Island. I read Edible Seattle while at home, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Rhode Island also had an "Edible" magazine. I picked up the Fall issue a while ago and saw an advertisement for Olga's a continued my research. I later found them at the Providence/Pawtucket farmers' markets, and I knew I had to visit the cafe.


They serve New Harvest Coffee at Olga's which is by far my favorite coffee in Providence, although hard for me to get to sometimes. From the Saturday and Sunday brunch menu, we got the following things with no complaints from any of us: sourdough waffles, huevos rancheros, french toast, omelette (mushroom, cheddar, bacon), and the mayan chicken salad sandwich. The inside of Olga's is cafe seating along with their bakery where you can purchase baked goods and coffee. They have a great selection of cakes, cookies, breads, rolls, pastries, tarts, and anything else you could possibly want.

Olga's Cup + Saucer
103 Point St
Providence, RI 02903
401.831.6666


Read more...

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade

For my design class, we were recently assigned a project to do an animation. At first, I was at a bit of a loss. My teacher showed us several examples of techniques we could use; many of them involved hand-drawing several hundred minutely varied frames. I tried to think how I could make this project something I was actually interested in, as many assignments during the foundation year at RISD are meant to be more skill-building and less interesting. However, I found a way to make this project one of my favorite things I've done this year because I got to combine my passions with my schoolwork. I actually did a little too much and have been assigned a second video to complete for two weeks from now, when this video was supposed to be due, but I finished far too early. It felt so great to be back to doing some food styling and photography. Even though this wasn't baking, I was back in the kitchen and it felt comfortable. Next year I will have all my supplies with along with a full kitchen, so expect a lot more posts next year. I know Pâtisserie Natalie has changed a lot over the years, but I think it will get back to some of its roots quite soon, which I'm excited about. But without further ado, here is my first ever recipe video, done in stop-motion animation. I had a blast making it and plan on making more in the future, along with perhaps some traditional videos. I look forward to exploring this new media, as well as getting back to some photography. I've missed it so much this year. Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade

1 cup fresh lemon juice (6-8 lemons)
1 12-ounce package frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 1-liter bottle sparkling water, chilled
Ice cubes
Fresh raspberries

Grate lemon peel and juice lemons.
Combine frozen raspberries, sugar, and 1/2 cup water in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and berries thaw. Increase heat and boil 3 minutes. Strain raspberry mixture into bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids in strainer. Mix lemon peel into raspberry syrup in bowl. Chill until cold.
Stir raspberry syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling water in large pitcher to blend. Fill 6 glasses with ice cubes. Pour raspberry lemonade into glasses. Add fresh raspberries to each glass, if desired. Garnish with lemon slices and serve.
please view the video in fullscreen and HD if possible








Read more...

The Walrus and the Carpenter - Seattle

Spring break could not have come sooner. I was really aching to come home, and while I was only there for a second, it was much needed and I got to see some friends and eat some great food. I'm now in Los Angeles and will have some new pictures and posts coming soon. While at home, I was really hoping to get to The Walrus and the Carpenter, one of Seattle's best restaurants that I just for hadn't been to for some reason. Located in Ballard, it's off of Market, in the more industrial part of the neighborhood, getting into the marina. The restaurant is truly centered around fish, starting with its location. We entered the restaurant through a long, dark hallway like ship's passageway to be greeted by a warm, bustling restaurant that was full to the brim. There will always be a wait and they do not take reservations. But it's completely worth it, just saying. Right next door is The Dutch Bike Co., which is a local Seattle bike shop that imports European city bicycles, but is also a coffee shop. Bikes + coffee = WIN. They also rent bikes for you out-of-towners.Everything at The Walrus and the Carpenter was truly delicious. The crab bisque, fresh chevre, smoked trout with lentils were my favorite things I tried, but the oysters were raved about also. This is serisously one of the best restaurants in Seattle, and not something downtown that's going to be everyone's list. Wild Ginger is a well known one that I really think has lost it. The last few times I've been there I did not think it was good at all. Go to Walrus over Ginger, for sure.

Read more...

Chicago Part Three

I've had a great time here in Chicago. I'm heading back to Providence to start my second semester at RISD. I definitely needed the break of winter session and seeing some friends before diving back into the RISD bubble. Chicago is a great city with tons of places to go & delicious places to eat. This post is a list of some of my favorites that I went to during my week stay here. They're all over the city, from downtown to up north, and the west side, as well. One of my favorite things about being in a city is just walking and exploring. Getting the feel for a new, or not so new, place. I've been coming to Chicago since I was very young, but I get to see new sides of it every time I come here. I hope anyone who gets the chance to visit this great city will visit some of these places I mention below and let me know how you like them. I have some stores, restaurants, and cafes. If you click the name, it will bring you to the website of the place.
Posh
Posh is fabulous store in River North that carries household items and gift items with a vintage influence and themed areas of the store such as, vintage America, vintage France, etc. I wish I could come back and decorate my first apartment with just items from this store because the owners have impeccable taste.

Haberdash
Haberdash is a men's store with several locations in the Chicago area. The stylish guys that run this store have very carefully selected clothing items, accessories, shoes, & apothecary items for guys (and girls!) that are follow the minimalist trends. I stumbled into one of their stores in River North that was having a moving sale a got a great knit scarf from Theory, so if you're in the area, I would check that sale out as soon as possible. It is a men's store only, but that's never stopped me before (seriously, they have great shoes.)

Greer
Greer is a stationary, card, and gift shop in Old Town that has been noted as one of Oprah's favorite shops. But more importantly, it's one of mine. I bought a great fountain pen there and a birthday card for my friend who I was visiting in Chicago. The people who work there are terribly nice and the store is as beautiful as could be. Don't buy Hallmark, guys.

Stitch
Stitch has furniture, gifts, bags, you name it. Just a sort of well-curated shop, it has beautiful sofas to gorgeous leather wallets and soft scarves. A great place to find a present for someone you really really like, or probably just yourself.

BHLDN
BHLDN is the new Anthropologie wedding store that has dresses, shoes, & decorations. The dresses were nice, but I was there for the decorations, and they were everything I'd hoped for. BHLDN has had a great online store for a while, but I was happy to see that their stylists had done an excellent job with BHLDN ("beholden"), as they do with the visual display in anthropologie and free people. free people is my favorite store and anthropolgie is my favorite store to go in and look at for visual display.
Grahamwich
Grahamwich is a gourmet sandwich shop in River North, directly next to Posh and a Haberdash location. Also featuring great sides such a truffle, parmesan, and black pepper popcorn and homemade vanilla bean soda. There's not much seating, so during the summer, it would be great to take to a park for a picnic. But we found seats relatively quickly and enjoyed our tasty sandwiches.
Newberry Library
I went to the Newberry Library to look at some artists book, but I ended up getting a great behind-the scenes tour about the Newberry Library's entire print and book collection. They have books back from Babylonian tablets to new artists books and prints beings catalogued today. I got to see a range from the ancient to modern, as well as hear the inside scoop about the book world from an expert. It was an opportunity that I was not expecting that furthered my excitement to major in graphic design.
Quimbly's Bookstore
Quimbly's is a zine and bookstore carrying hundreds of handmade zines and other books, mostly about graphic arts and comics. A bit of a find, if you ask me. Having just taken a class in bookmaking, I was happy to know that there were supporters of media such as these.
The Publican
The Publican is an outstanding restaurant featuring shared plates of meat and seafood in a highly-designed pub with closed-in booths and (also) shared tables. I noticed a trend of shared tables in Chicago, which is sort of looked at as an undesirable thing to Seattlites, who prefer to be sectioned off from strangers. But I suppose we will have to get used to it as it's becoming more and more popular. The Publican was definitely the most memorable meal of the trip.
Art Institute of Chicago
I don't have a whole to say about the Art Institute other than if you haven't been: go. They have some of the best art in the world. I was lucky to get to see the Irving Collection of Drawings and Prints which was one of my favorite exhibitions I've seen in a long time. I really amazing collection of pieces. I spent most of my time in the Modern Wing, the newest part of the museum.
Intelligentsia Coffee
Anyone who knows me knows that I love coffee--a lot. I was pleased to find that Chicago was a coffee city, which, unfortunately, Providence is not. As long as one coffee shop knows what it's doing, soon others will follow because they will realize what they are doing wrong. Fortunately, Intelligentsia is one of the Coffee shops that knows what they are doing. I went here several times for my morning latte. And sometimes for my afternoon coffee. And sometimes for my afternoon afternoon coffee. Many coffee shops advertise that they serve Intellgentsia coffee, and while none will serve it as well as they do in an Intelligentsia cafe itself, that's always a good sign. Another good local coffee is Ipsento. I never got to the Ipsento cafe, but I bought some for my chemex back at school and drank some at the Dose Market and it was great. I love my Stumptown, but I always like to try a local roaster.
The Girl & The Goat
The Girl & The Goat was a last minute restaruant choice. My mom and I went here and ate at the bar, as it is one of Chicago's most well known restaurants at the moment. It definitely lived up to its name. Everything we ate was delicious and slightly unusual in some way. Butternut squash ravioli with almost a thai curry sauce and hedgehog mushrooms was a memorable dish. Highly recommended, and a reservation is required if you want a table.

Milk & Honey Cafe
A great cafe serving breakfast until noon and espresso drinks (yay). Has a cozy vibe with a fire place and is family friendly, but also totally acceptable for something like a business meeting. Had great food and super cute business cards, which is always important!




Read more...

Apple Pear Galette with Vanilla Sides

While apples and pears are considered more fall-like, we get pretty decent apples and pears all year long. I've never met anyone who didn't love something like apple crisp. While this doesn't have the "crisp" part, the dough does bake like a tart and is slightly crunchy, but more flaky. I made the vanilla ice cream because you simply can't have a dessert like this without it. The two are a pair and cannot be separated.
I made the custards for my aunt's friend, whose father is recovering from a surgery. The only thing he can eat is soft food like puddings and custards. They just wanted vanilla for now, but maybe more flavors in the future.



For the galette dough:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water
[eggwash+sanding sugar]

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter; pulse until coarse meal forms. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out dough on a floured work surface 1/2" thick. Cut into 8" diameter circles and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Place 1/3 of a cup of the filling in the center of the circle and fold up edges in one direction. Place a 1/2" cube of butter on the filling. Using a pastry brush, paint the sides of the galette with an eggwash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes depending on your oven.

For the filling:

3 crisp apples
3 crisp pears
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablesooon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Slice apples and pears thinly. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.



For the vanilla bean ice cream:

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean; halved, seeds removed

Whisk ingredients together until sugar is dissolved. Place in refrigerator to let vanilla seeds infuse into the cream, for 1 hour. Place in ice cream machine and churn for the amount of time given by manufacturer. Remove from machine and place in air-tight container overnight to harden.

For the vanilla bean custard:

2 cups whole milk
1 cup half and half
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1-inch piece vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
4 large eggs
3 large egg yolks

Combine milk, half and half and sugar in saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk mixture; add bean. Bring to simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Cover and steep 30 minutes.
Strain mixture into medium bowl; cool to lukewarm. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk milk mixture into eggs. Chill until cold.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk custard; pour into caramel-coated dish. Place in large baking pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of dish. Cover pan completely with foil, sealing at edges. Bake until center 3 inches of custard moves only slightly when dish is shaken, about 1 hour. Remove from oven; let stand covered 10 minutes. Remove from water; chill overnight.
Read more...

Bumblebee Cake

One of my favorite places in the world is San Francisco. More specifically, the Ferry Terminal Building. Home to Miette Pâtisserie, Schaffen Berger chocolate, and other independent organic farmers. It's basically a foodie heaven. Miette Pâtisserie is my all-time favorite place to get a sweet. It combines beautiful designs with really delicious flavors. One of their cakes I've always thought looked super moist and tasty was their Bumblebee cake- A buttery vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. Not an unusual cake, but this one is just so pretty and classically scrumptious. A friend of mine has a birthday tomorrow, so I thought I'd make this cake, which he mentioned he loved the flavors of.

I'm not thrilled with the photos I took, mainly because I had to shoot them at night. I didn't finish the cake until then, and I won't be home when it next gets light. However, an exciting update: I just ordered my Canon Rebel Xsi and 50mm/1.8 lens. I am so excited I can barely contain myself. The new camera will take my photos to the next level, so don't be shocked! :)

For the buttercake:
Adapted from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8" cake pan bottoms and line with parchment. Grease parchment and flour. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until combined and creamy (about 2 minutes). Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended into the batter. Add the vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes. ON low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture ad mixing just until the flour is incorporates and the batter looked smooth. Fill the cake pans equally and shake to smooth top. Bake for about 30 minutes, depending on your oven. [Having a convection oven really helps in this case.] When the cake tops are dark-golden brown and a tester comes out clean, remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. After at least 2 hours, you can slice the domed tops of the cakes off, and split the layers.


I am a believer that the best buttercream has very little powdered sugar. It should be soft, and not ridiculously sweet. I get compliments about my frosting all the time about how it doesn't give people a head-rush from all the sugar and isn't stiff as a brick.

For the chocolate buttercream:

3 sticks unsalted butter; soft
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat butter in electric mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder in small increments as slowly as possible [if you start the mixer too high, your frosting will end up on your kitchen walls]. Increase the speed after it looks like your frosting won't fly everywhere.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

Combine equal weights of chopped chocolate and heavy cream. Heat cream in a small saucepan to a simmer. Pour over chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let it sit and cover the chocolate for 2 minutes, then stir.
Wait until the chocolate is room temperature before you pour it over your iced cake. Don't put it in the fridge or it will form a crust on the surface.
Read more...

Mixed Berry Shortcakes

Wow. Busy weekend. Barely a moment to sit down, but always time to bake. I decided on mixed berry shortcakes because I actually have never made any kind of shortcake before. I've had it plenty of times, just never made it. I used one of my favorite books, Tartine. The pictures are just gorgeous and the recipes are to die for. I went with mixed berry (strawberry, blueberry & raspberry) because I'm fortunate to live in the Pacific Northwest, where there is an abundance of berry farms so close by.
It actually snowed this morning, which was odd. I want spring to come and I'm hoping by making spring/summer-friendly desserts, it will come just that much sooner.

For the shortcake:
From Tartine

2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

100g unsalted butter; very cold

1 cup heavy cream; very cold

~2 tablespoons sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter a baking sheet. To make biscuit, sift flour and baking powder together into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and salt, whisk together. Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter over dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into dry ingredients. You want to end up with a coarse mixture with pea-sized lumps of butter visible. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in cream. Gently mix the dough together with your hands, but don't overmix. It should look a bit shaggy at this point. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and pat into a smooth ball. Dust the top with flour and roll out gently until 1 inch thick [or thinner, they tend to about double in height]. Using a cutter of your choice, cut out as many of that shape as possible. Gather the scraps, reroll them, and cut out additional shapes. Place the circles on the prepared sheet pan and brush the tops with the cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the biscuits until tops are golden, 8-12 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before use. Split lengthwise to serve.

For the berries:

3 cups of washed berries of your choice

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 vanilla beat split and scraped

Cuts sliced berries thinly if needed. Toss with sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Let it sit for 5 minutes at room temperature. Take a sharp knife and cut the mixture. It should look like a compote almost. Place in the refrigerator, 15 minutes before use let sit at room temperature.

Read more...