Umami Mart

As you know, I love to bake, and I am especially fond of cakes. I do it all–classic cakes, crazy cakes, Japanese cakes, chocolate cakes, wedding cakes (trauma). I love to come up with crazy combinations, that I try to master after tweaking the recipe over and over. Over the years, I’ve posted many of […]

After getting canned without reason, the day after her maternity leave was up, Paula Cinini was not sure what to do; she had always worked as a journalist. To find some solace in this devastating situation, and cope with her mother’s passing, Paula dug up her mother’s old, partly-burned, worn recipe book and began baking. […]

As you may all know, I’m half-Japanese and half-Sri Lankan, so anything to do with either country sparks an immediate interest. So when I began hearing rumours about a new Japanese cake shop and tea salon springing up in trendy Primrose Hill in north London last year, my ears perked up. My sister and I […]

I know this piece of cake doesn’t look so hot, but to be fair, it’s been through a lot. Last weekend I was at a house party in Williamsburg. It was still Passover, so I was having wine instead of beer, cheese with no crackers and trying not to look at the cookies. I’d been […]

Lyons used to operate teahouses all over England in the early 20th century, only to begin shutting them down in the 1980s. To my eternal regret, I arrived in England too late to visit them. These teahouses turn up in all sorts of novels, especially before, during and after the war. In a bleak social […]

When my mother visits anywhere, we need a tub of yogurt and fresh pineapples. No matter where she goes, she MUST eat these two things every day, for her health. BM, mainly.. I bought an expensive large tub of Fage ($10!!), and she hated it. It was too thick for her. When sons try to […]

By Yamahomo Originally posted on March 23, 2009 PREFACE Wedding Cake Perfection – Trial 1 Wedding Cake Perfection – Trials 2 & 3 Wedding Cake Perfection – Trial 4 Wedding Cake Perfection – Final Trial The day came, and went. The reception was wonderful, the couple looked very cute as you can see, food was […]

PREQUEL The Good: Ode to Jean-George’s Chocolate Molten Cake The Bad: Domino’s Lava Crunch Crapcakes Despite the occasional subpar specimen (Domino, I’m looking at you), my love of warm chocolate cake continues to run deep. So deep, in fact, that up until yesterday, I’d made a promise to myself that consumption of these cakes would remain […]

Isn’t she darling? Fujiya is a very old bakery/sweetshop chain in Japan– my dad always tells me that as a child, it was a super special treat to ever get a cake from Fujiya. This was the very last thing I ate in Japan, in Narita airport. Au revoir, Tokyo!

Remember my post about making a Japanese cheesecake? It’s a simple recipe, but very difficult to retain the fluffiness because of all the egg whites. Although it rises high during baking, but it shrinks down like an old person once you take it out of the oven. It’s like taking Viagra before baking: it performs […]