I left my heart in San Francisco's Miette Patisserie

Smack down, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Ferry Building in the city of hippies and scenesters, is a bakery resembling what i would think a french Little Bo Peep's kitchen would look like. 

Miette Patisserie has pastel walls covered with candy, glowing cases filled with cupcakes, and jars filled with luscious macarons. With two San Francisco locations and one Oakland store, Miette is pretty much available to the feed the mouths of the entire Bay Area. And amen for that! This amazing little bakery has made it to my "Top 5 Bakeries to Devour" list! HOLLLAAAA!

I got a Rose Geranium Macaron that felt as though you bit into a rose with crunchy and airy petles with a  soft silky filling. This macaron had such a realistic flavor that it had you wondering if it was picked from a garden. 

Finally, I fell in love as fast as you can say cupcake. Miette's Old Fashion Cupcake is super moist chocolate cake topped with a ooey gooey marshmallow icing, that is, literally, to die for. I also got a vanilla cupcake that had a fresh refreshing strawberry buttercream, that tasted more amazing than a glass of water the morning after a hard night of drinking. I went back a second time, as said before, this place is simply amazing, and got a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake was  perfectly soft and had a perfect addition of crunchy currants and walnuts, and the Cream Cheese frosting, well, who can go wrong with a kick ass cream cheese frosting. 

The only reason I am happy I don't live in the Bay anymore is I would be a hefty 300lbs living near a Miette Patisserie. I don't care if you live 30 minutes or 5 hours from the Bay, get in your car and drive to San Francisco immediately. Thanks Miette, for making my tastebuds smile like a kiddos first day ever at Disneyland.

Republic of Cake

Just over the hill from Oakland, California lives Republic of Cake, a small cupcake bakery, in downtown Orinda. Republic of Cake offers a ever changing menu that offers your traditional cupcakes, a gluten free option, as well as savory cupcakes, such as a French Onion Soup Cupcake!! 

Greeted by a man of a few words, I let his grumpy attitude slide and ordered 3 cupcakes.   

The first cupcake I stuffed into my mouth was a Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake that was a chocolate cake with a kick of spicy hotness, topped with a cream cheese frosting drizzled in caramel. At first bite a wave of moist chocolate cake filled my mouth, when suddenly I was slammed in the taste buds with a warm spicy hint of flavor. The cream cheese frosting complimented the warming taste of spice perfectly and the drizzle of caramel added a nice little extra flavor. 

The next cupcake was a Snickerdoodle cupcake, a vanilla buttercream topped cinnamon flavored vanilla cake sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. "Blah" is the only word to describe this cupcake. There was nothing intense or exciting about the cake or the buttercream, at all! With such an easy flavor to make into a killer cupcake, I have no clue how they f*(#ed this one up. 

The last cupcake was a Lavender Meyer Lemon cupcake. The lavender cake was filled with a lemon curd topped with a honey cream cheese frosting. The cake had a light and refreshing lavender flavor, but the lemon filling ruined this whole cupcake for me. The lemon curd tasted like wet dog; my gag reflex was making me react like a cat coughing up a huge snarled hair ball.  The cream cheese frosting lacked the honey flavor, to the point I forgot it was suppose to even contain honey.

The cupcakes just did not do anything to make me want to go back for more. The only decent one was the Mexican Hot Chocolate, while the other 2 had me trying to get rid of them as fast as fast as I possibly could; but no one would take them. One thing I extremely admired about this bakery, is when you order "Sam's Very Messy Chocolate Cupcake", the R.O.C donates a percentage to a different charity that changes ever month. So not only did you get to indulge in a chocolate cupcake, but the month I was there, you also donated to help education in Africa (a big plus for my family, as my mother does work with a orphanage in Tanzania. ) So, high five to you Republic Of Cake!

2 Theatre Square, Suite 151 . Orinda, CA 94563

American Cupcake

Where can you find a place that is pure white, while still looking like a rainbow? Or a place that is filled with Bubble Gum, Cotton Candy and Booze? Why, American Cupcake in the one and only San Francisco of course!! 

This funky little restaurant/bakery might possibly have the raddest decoration, and nicest girls working there of any bakery I have been too. The rainbow balls hanging from the ceiling make you feel like you are surrounded by bubbles filled with Glinda the good witch. The menu had my mouth drooling like Augustus Gloop in Willy Wanka's factory; cupcakes, candy cocktails, beer, and even regular entrees like salads and corn-dogs. 

The first cupcake I devoured was a bright pink Bubble Gum Cupcake topped with two gumballs (which were BOTH stolen from my older sister). Remember being a kid at Baskin Robbins and getting a crunchy cone topped with slowly melting bubble gum ice-cream? Well, American Cupcake, has taken that delightful treat and turned it into a cupcake! The flavor sparked my tastebuds and sent me head-spinning into my childhood in one bite; i swear, the frosting was EXACTLY like the ice-cream. This glorious ice cream was on top of a vanilla cupcake that was pretty good, a bit to thick and had a well...gummy texture, for my liking. But who cares, the frosting flavor made up for it in a New York minute. 

Next up was the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake topped with a small peanut butter cup (which also was stolen by my sister!!) Im not going to compare it to a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup because that would be rude. This was on par with REAL peanut butter cups, not some hershey's crap. The smooth fluffy frosting tasted like real peanuts on top of a rich chocolate cake that both, flavor and texture, worked perfectly. 

American Cupcake's frosting flavors are so unique and fun that you could put it on a sea urchin and it would still taste fantastic. Although, the frosting flavors are what makes me love this place, I doubt I would care for a traditional vanilla/chocolate combo cupcake. We even took home 4 to share with the fam, which now that I think of it, I have never done before. If you live in the bay, a girls night/birthday/bachelorette party would be amazing at this fun and happy bakery! 

American Cupcake

1919 Union Street

San Francisco CA 94123

You want one? Well thankfully they are on EVERY CORNER!

This little gift was waiting in my inbox...a review on Starbucks peanut butter petite from my Old Man aka. Pop aka. Dad aka. Mike Botto

"A delicious SWEET treat. The cake was very moist and flavorful. The frosting very sweet peanut butter. Too sweet for me actually. The piece of peanut butter cup was unnecessary but great for the presentation. The price was worth every penny.  Had a free coupon! Also it went well with my bold coffee. Which was not free. A petite blonde (girl) will only get you in trouble and debt, next time try a Starbucks petite.

See you next time!"

HAHAHAHAHAHA, such a dork, love you
Ps. Dad...work on complete sentances haha

Brecks's Clint's Bakery and Coffee

Watch the movie Dumb and Dumber, and while Harry and Lloyd are driving their tiny scooter in what they say is the town of Aspen, is actually Main Street in Breckenridge Colorado. That street that is filled with jewelry stores, restaurants, shops and also is the home of Clint's Bakery and Coffee. Clint's is a two level shop that serves food, like bagels and sandwiches (and for all you vegans, they have vegan cream cheese, butter, and veggie sausage! AMEN!). After stuffing our faces, we headed to the main level to grab some coffee and dessert. Being Easter and all, of course I had to get a Chocolate Cream Cheese cupcake that was dressed up like the easter bunny. 

This made from scratch chocolate and cream cheese cupcake was fantastic. The chocolate cake was perfectly moist and was slammed with an amazing chocolate aroma. It was topped with rich thick and fluffy cream cheese frosting that was decorated with a candy face and marshmallow ears. (Im not a fan at all of marshmallows, so this didn't rock my fancy, but hell, it was easter). Not the cutest decoration, but atleast they tried!

So far, this place has the best cupcakes I have had in Breckenridge. And the fact that their breakfast bagel sandwiches rule, and they are vegan friendly, has me counting down the days till the mountain opens again, and i can go indulge once again. 

Black Rice Pudding

Go to any restaurant in Bali, and I bet you'll find Black Rice Pudding tempting you from most every dessert menu. Black Rice Pudding is a bit like if mushy oatmeal made a baby with a shot of Malibu Rum. I tried this black & white dessert at ocean front Ombak Cafe. 

If you cant make it down to Indonesia, here is a little recipe for a Black Rice Pudding...

Mix together, 1/2 cup of black glutinous rice (I used Forbidden Rice), 1/3 cup of white glutinous rice, 

1 or 2 pandan leaves (Try finding at an Asian Market) and 3 cups of water, and simmer for about 30 minutes. 

Bring 1/4 cup of palm sugar (or white sugar or preferred sweetener), and 1/4 cup of water to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes until syrup-like. 

After rice is cooked, add to rice bowl and continue to simmer till liquid has evaporated. 

Cool slightly, and then pour 1 cup of  coconut cream/milk over rice. I like to add fresh slices of banana or other delicious fruit for some extra "spark"/nutrition. 

One Love <3

Ubud's Daily Deli

Pat and I scootered down a dark windy road, filled with "George of the Jungle Vines" in Ubud, Bali in search of dinner one rainy night. We came across a small market place on the side of the road that had many restaurants and stores. Pat, in desperate need of a cheese burger, went to a small shop called the "Daily Deli" and instantly had me come in to try their cupcakes. We got two cupcakes, that were more like muffins in that they had no frosting piled on top of them; a chocolate with a couple almonds on top and a vanilla one with a drizzle of glaze. 

(They had some display cupcakes that had some frosting, but i guess you don't get the sugary topping on them unless they are special ordered). 

The cupcakes were pretty good, even though they had no frosting. They tasted almost more like muffins in that they were not as sweet as the typical cupcakes us American are use too, but they definitely satisfied our taste-buds. The texture was spot on and the flavors were very delicious. The girls working at the deli were super helpful and spoke very good English, which allowed us to have some extremely interesting and very informational conversations with them for awhile after we were done devouring our meals. This little deli was a great place to stumble upon, and allowed us to eat some food that did not consist of rice...finally and amen!