Lemon Lemon Lemon

I can't get enough lemon lately; I don't know if it's the heat or scurvy. For a brunch at the house yesterday morning I made both lemon poppy seed muffins and lemon ginger muffins simply because I couldn't decide between the two. Both sounded so good and so...lemony. (If you have the same quandary, go with the lemon ginger. They were outstanding.)

For my lemon fix earlier in the week, I treated our household to a box of lemon cookies from Connie's Cookies. They were soft, cakey, and perfectly frosted with a delicious lemon frosting that added a little of that perfect sugary crispness to the top of the cookie. The lemon cookie is their cookie of the month, but you can't go wrong with their frosted sugar cookies if lemon isn't available.

Connie's Cookies
9224 Metcalf Ave in OP
913*649*6700

Wally's Pastry Shop

(I'm still working on a novel-length post about our trip, but before you think I've left Noodletown to the tumbleweeds, here's a timely post about Birthday cakes!!)

Some little boy turned one this month! And of course there has to be cake. Not just one cake, made with love by his Nana and sprinkled with blueberries (his favorite fruit) but two cakes. The second being from Wally's Pastry Shop, my new favorite spot to buy cakes.

Wally Uhl is a certified master pastry chef who makes beautiful, moist and delicious cakes and more in his little shop on North Oak. The Uhl's have been in business 46 years, 38 in the same location, and stepping inside the shop feels and smells exactly like walking in to your Grandmother's house. The Grandma who loved you unconditionally, thought you were a genius, and had a big spot on her lap just for you. It feels warm inside Wally's, and Mrs. Uhl will make you feel welcome if you'd like to stay and have a pastry at the tiny table inside the shop. (There is a sign behind the counter that says "It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice.")

Our cake was a white quarter sheet cake (all the sheet cakes are double-layered with a thick layer of light and buttery buttercream inside), which fed about 25 people. I wasn't specific about the decorations on the top of the cake and was delighted by what I picked up - lettering in delicious chocolate with pretty blue candy flowers. It felt old-fashioned and tasted even better than I expected. From the mess on his face, I think the boy loved it too.

Wally's Pastry Shop
3855 North Oak Trafficway
816*452*7535

Dolce Baking Co.

It isn't too late to bring home a special treat for Valentine's Day.

Last week I popped in to the Dolce Baking Company in the Prairie Village Shops and emerged with a big stupid grin on my face and a box filled with coconut macaroons. I claim to be indifferent to coconut, but lately nothing tastes better to me than this delicious cookie, and the macaroons I brought home from Dolce were the best I've had.

The case was filled with so many other delicious treats...I've had a moist and subtle orange almond cupcake there, with a fat swirl of cream cheese frosting that was really and truly good. I've also had the misfortune of choosing a s'mores brownie which looked good, but was strangely without flavor. The baklava was a hit with some of my fellow customers, and you can't go wrong with chocolate dipped strawberries. They have gorgeous cakes and creamy chocolate mousse, but if they have the macaroons, don't even think twice about picking up a few. They were moist and chewy and slightly crisp on top, with a perfect layer of chocolate on the bottom which brought it all together. Perfect sweets for your sweet.

Dolce Baking Company
6974 Mission Rd in the Prairie Village Shops
913*236*4411

Ninfa's

I talked about Ninfa's Tortillas and Taqueria on Walt Bodine, and you can read the article I wrote about their delicious tortillas for Present Magazine here.

Let them eat cake

For some reason, I just had it in my head that our friend Ross needed a birthday cake with his own picture on it. I take a lot of pictures of our friends and it was inevitable that I'd have a good, funny, non-embarassing (or really embarassing) photo to use for the top of a cake. There was the hilarity factor to consider, but also the edibility factor. What would we feel comfortable actually cutting into and eating. (I knew it would be creepy having him cut into his own face to serve up slices of cake, but I figured he was man enough to do that.)

Anyhow - if I get his permission (Thanks, Ross!!), I'll post a photo, but even without it is important that you know that the Hen House in Merriam (at I-35 & Johnson Drive) did an amazing job with the cake. The photo turned out beautifully, but most importantly, the cake (a 1/4 white sheet cake) was absolutely delicious. The frosting wasn't too sweet and the cake was moist, fluffy, and flavorful. Good stuff.

Fervere

fervere
Originally uploaded by noodletown.

We had a very food-centered Saturday, starting at the Bluebird for breafast and ending at Tarantino's for calzones. Those places all by themselves are entries for another day, because today I'm enjoying the cheese slipper we bought at Fervere.
It's not greasy like other cheese breads, and it isn't overwhelmingly cheesy - instead it's like the perfect marriage of cheese and bread - soft, chewy and slightly salty. I've brought home the orchard bread, fat with dried fruits, and the polenta bread, which had the best texture, but you can go and try for yourself all the available varieties from the generously cut samples on the counter. There's even olive oil for dipping.

Fervere
1702 Summit
Thursdays & Fridays, open 11 to 7 (or until sell out)
Saturdays, open 9:30 to 7 (or until sell out)

Boulevard Bakery

For someone who claims to not be all that wild about cake, I sure have been eating a lot of it lately. Today's cake, in cup form, is brought to you by the good people of Boulevard Bakery, who make a mean cupcake and some pretty awesome cookies as well.
I love patronizing local bakeries. It's easy just to pick up all the baked goods you need at the grocery store, what with the excellent Farm to Market bread and all the completely good-enough cake bakeries at our local supermarkets, but there's something satisfying about walking in to a bakery where they're bringing the stuff out of the back, freshly iced and glazed and warm.
Also, Boulevard Bakery makes just about any shaped cookie you could want. Maybe you'd like a cookie shaped like a frog, a rocket, or Harry Potter?? The list is endless...

Boulevard Bakery
2815 Independence Ave.
816*483*7172

The Upper Crust

It's my birthday weekend, so we've been doing things that I love, like sleeping in, flying kites, and going to Pryde's in Westport to spend my gift certificate from the in-laws. We typically go to Pryde's twice a year at the very least, to cash in gift certificates and wander around, drinking coffee and trying to figure out which gadgets we've been so selflessly doing without for the past six months. We don't make lists or organize our trips there at all - there's lots of indecision, discovery, oohing and aahing. Pryde's is, undoubtedly, one of my favorite places in the city.

The only way Pryde's could've gotten better: fresh pie.

On Fridays and Saturdays from 10 to 6 in the lower level, stop in at the Upper Crust, where the smell of fresh pie will make you feel like you've just stumbled upon a very special secret. Pat and Jan, mother and daughter, make fresh pies (mini $6, full size $15), quiche, apple dumplings, and, on the day we visited, frosted banana cookies.

I'm a sucker for anything Strawberry Rhubarb, so we took home a mini for the two of us. It tasted as good as it looks. The crust was sprinkled with sugar and held its own against the tart filling. It was flaky and good.

The Upper Crust
lower level of Pryde's Old Westport
115 Westport Rd.
816*561*4990

BabyCakes

Nothing is quite as tasty as a cupcake - you don't even have to be a cake person to love them. In the great debate of cake vs. pie, I come out firmly on the side of pie simply because of the utter deliciousness that is a perfect pie crust. Flaky, buttery pie crust trumps a soft cake in my house any day of the week.
But pies, even in miniature form, never quite touch the preciousness - the adorability - of the cupcake. BabyCakes, in the River Market, makes just that - precious cupcakes. Even better is that these little cakes, which you almost don't want to eat, are absolutely delicious. We had a lemon cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting, and a strawberry with strawberry buttercream, each for $1.50, and couldn't decide which was our favorite.
Their selection is subject to change, but on the day we went they also had red velvet cupcakes as well as carrot. I'm going back just to try the caramel with the Dulce de Leche icing.

BabyCakes
108 E. Missouri Avenue in the City Market
816*841*1048
open: Tuesday - Saturday from 10am to sell out