Have you ever wondered why Boston Cream Pie is called a pie when it is, in fact, a cake? Me too. Guess we’ll never know. I’m just kidding. I did the Googling on your behalf and found that back when the Boston Cream Pie was the new dessert on the block, bakers baked both cakes and pies in the same pans. The common bakeware led bakers to use the terms “cake” and “pie” interchangeably. And that’s how you get the Boston Cream Pie, which is most certainly not a pie. When and why we decided to differentiate between pies and cakes, I don’t know – that would’ve required a rather more extensive Google search. Instead, I’ve decided to make this pie/cake business more complicated by turning the pie/cake in question into a macaron. In my defense, these Boston Cream Macarons are, in fact, macarons. Progress?
When you’re a child, Valentine’s Day is simple. Get a card for everyone in your class and it’s smooth sailing. If you want to up the anti, tape a mini chocolate heart to each Valentine and you’re golden. But somewhere along the way, this non-holiday holiday gets a lot more complicated. Around Jr. High the cinnamon heart eating contests give way to tears, embarrassment, and general bewilderment. But why? How can a violently pink holiday have so much sway over our health and well-being? It’s kind of bullsh*t, right? So, by way of half-hearted protest, the only thing I’m doing this Valentine’s Day is giving you these Victoria Sponge Cupcakes. I made them appropriately cute but that is all. I’m no longer engaging in this farce.
Do you ever find yourself in a ‘break everything’ jag? No, I’m not referring to an over-the-top post break-up “Girl Smash!” mode or the super cute I-still-think-I’m-fourteen-style tantrum. I’m talking about those stretches when everything you touch seems to break. You get a saucer from the cupboard, it winds up on the floor. You pick up the apparently overloaded basket you used to store magazines, the handle unravels in your hand. You leave your favourite hat in a cab. And, to add insult to injury, you break your favourite bottle opener and your beer is trapped forever…Not really, where’s there’s a will there’s a way. When this type of bad luck hits you there really is only one answer: potatoes, the ultimate comfort food. And what should you do with said potatoes? Make this Aged Cheddar Potato Soup with Sautéed Apples.