Hey - thanks for the comments in about parking - although people are arguing for less parking and less drivers. But I don’t think that the Metro system is one of the best in the world. It closes early, it’s slow, it’s not the safest in the world, and it doesn’t get you everywhere. I have to go to National Harbor today. Metro doesn’t go there and if I did a combo of walk, train, and bus, it’ll take three to four times as long in one direction. And hardly anyone takes metro there anyway.
I understand the argument for less drivers, it would be great to have less pollution from drivers, but driving is a fact of life of course and putting the cars someplace is something urban planners have to contend with if they want to support local business. No storefront that I know of in any community can survive without driving customers.

Try out these cookies I made at home last night. Scrumptious!

A mixer isn’t necessary, but it helps if you have one.

Honestly I didn’t measure so the quantities might be a little off, but they should work out as very chewy and buttery white chocolate-cranberry cookies…

1 ½ cups brown sugar (light or dark) loosely packed

½ cup white sugar

Mix well in a deep bowl.

3 ounces unsalted butter (3/4 of a stick), melted

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir in—it should be damp to wet.

1 egg (size “large” or “extra large”)

1 yolk (size “large” or “extra large”)

Stir in. Dough should be quite wet and sloshy.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Pre-mix in a bowl and stir in. Dough should clump up and be only slightly tacky.

¾ cup dried cranberries

½ cup white chocolate, chopped off a block into pea sized pieces

¼ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Stir or fold in until totally combined. If it’s a little too dry flick in a tablespoon or two of softened butter and beat in (that’s what I had to do).

Scoop onto a baking sheet lined with a nonstick baking paper or foil.

Bake for 13-15 minutes at 325°F. Remove and cool for about a minute and then get busy with munchin’ on ‘em.

Enjoy!

Most of the spring was spent completing the recipes, copy and pics for my second cookbook, United Cakes of America-recipes for every state. I’m super excited about it and very much look forward to it’s release.

The recipes are from all over the US, dedicating at least one recipe that uses ingredients from a specific state or is too popular in the state’s history or culture to go by unmentioned. I reworked a lot of traditional recipes and created a few new ones–all with an eye toward keeping it simple. Most are really easy and a few venture into the more difficult territory, but that couldn’t be avoided. It’s kind of the perfect book for me since I’m a US history geek and love to cook!

Not sure on the publish date, but it should be late fall and I’ll post it as soon as I know which should be soon.

Thanks for all of your interest and have fun in the kitchen.  - WB

jeepers…been forever, again. I know. I’m not ur average blogger. Always too long in between. But I’ve got a moment and here are a few updates….

First off we’re taking a bit of a break from our normal routine with the cucpakes. All the regular ones are still being made, but you’ll also find at each bakery new/different/oddball designs or flavors, or a mix & match of things we’ve done before. They’ll look cuter, they’ll have candy or crunchy stuff on them, they’ll be whatever the baker and cupcake toppers are inspired to make right then and there. It’s our own summer break from the regular style. Come check out the “freestyle” cupcakes dished up, now through late August!

CakeLove has introduced Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. In late April we will make Red Velvet layered cakes available, too.

We’re doing this in recognition of the high demand for red velvet from our customers. It’s requested very frequently. We want our customers to know that we appreciate your feedback and work hard to satisfy what you’re looking for.

So what’s the big deal? Why the notice?

Well, baking red velvet cake requires artificial red dye and cake flour, a real double whammy considering our philosophy about cakes. We strive to be a resource for our community and proudly bake from scratch with all natural ingredients. We believe that cakes with natural ingredients taste better and are better for you. We’ve kept artificial ingredients out of the bakery since we opened in 2002.

In developing our recipe we tried to go all natural with floral dyes and vegetable extracts from beets and red corn, but none of them worked.  The only way to hit bull’s eye is with a dose of artificial red food dye. On top of that, the color and texture get lost unless cake flour is in the batter. It’s bleached to make it pale and neutral for dying.

We encourage everyone to learn as much as possible about the food you eat by researching your dietary habits and the composition of the ingredients that go into whatever you eat. The internet is the best place to start.

Red velvet is a departure from our norm, but we’re embracing change for this specific product only. It’s baked from scratch, on site, with all of the care and love you’d expect from CakeLove.

Thank you for your continued support over the past 7 years

—Warren Brown

Happy to say that I was kinda close to the concert stage yesterday. I went with my wife Pam and some friends of hers via metro (not a bad ride) and then we walked from GW university to 17th and Connstitution. We didn’t get in, like about 500,000 others, which wasn’t so bad, but the crowd was so massive it was pretty easy to have a panic attack if you don’t like crowds! It was a lot of fun being part of history and supporting our incoming president. Hail to the Chief!

Just wanted you to know that we’re suspending production of any peanut butter related cookies, buttercream or cakes until the USDA recall is lifted. I doubt anything is wrong with what we use and no one has reported any problems, but we’re complying with the suspension of using peanut related stuff in the products until we get the green light. So… no Cynthia’s sin, Peanut butter Downfall, peanut butter cookies or peanut butter cucpakes (which are amazing!). until further notice We’ll let you know. 

Thanks!

Since so many people leave dodge over the holiday we closed for the week between Christmas and New Years at Love Café.

But we’re all back in town and here to serve you! With all of the holidays and the Inauguration we do have some changing hours, so we appreciate your patience in reviewing when we’ll be open to serve you!

We’ll be open longer hours for the Inauguration/MLK holiday weekend.

Friday                 January 16                        11am-10pm

Saturday             January 17                        10am-10pm

Sunday              January 18                        10am-9pm

Monday             January 19                        9am-9pm

Tuesday             January 20                        7am-10pm

Wednesday        January 21                        9am- 9pm

And we’re bringing back the egg-bagel sandwiches for you on the weekends!

Here’s a question–on weekends we used to offer a fritatta for breakfast that people liked and then it seemed like it lost popularity. When we took it off the menu, people asked for it. So we’re scratchin’ our heads and wondering, whether to put it back on. What do you think? Please let us know. 

Thanks for posting the request to accommodate US Post office boxes so CakeLove can be sent to the troops or anyone else without a street address. We’ll look into revising that. But we also have to get into international shipping. of course all the major carriers do that, but it’s just a back-end detail we have to upgrade into…We’ll post the availability when it’s ready–hopefully soon!

I’m not a professional blogger as I’m sure you can tell. I can’t even figure out how to respond to a comment.

So anyway, this is an response to an earlier post…just wanna respond. If you come in and we’re assembling cake or topping cupcakes, we’ll be happy to top one for you. And the cupcakes aren’t made 3 days in advance–that’s pushing reality. We’re baking same day and have squeezed production to the limit like a fresh orange in this economy. 

The European style buttercreams are what CakeLove is all about. They take the lead and have priority.We answer to the cake and it’s needs. Refrigeration comes with the package. 

Sorry it doesn’t jibe with the instantaneous thing, but thanks for understanding. - WB