Diversity Manifested in Deliciousness: Pride Cake at 3 Brothers Bakery

If you're 1) colorblind 2) live in a dark cave 3) both, you may not have noticed Houston is awash with rainbows this week for Pride Week (June 18-25) as well as Pride Month. As an ardent ally of the LGBT community, I am proud to live in a city that not only recognizes (most of the time, we're getting better) the rights of its diverse residents but also proudly celebrates its different communities. Kudos to 3 Brothers Bakery for joining in on the fun this year by offering rainbow petit fours, cake balls, and the pièce de résistance, a massive cake in which a thick layer of vanilla buttercream frosting encloses seven strata in colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and lavender.  

The pride treats are available throughout the month of June and the cake is available whole and by the slice ($9.95). “Our rainbow cake is a bright, fun way for Houstonians to show their LGBT pride,” said Bobby Jucker, bakery co-owner and fifth generation baker. “This is the first year the bakery is featuring rainbow goods and products during the month of June. It’s a tradition we’re excited and proud to start." Hear, hear, Bobby!

You can take a slice to go or saddle up to a table at one of 3 Brothers three locations.

In the name of research, I had to sample the pride cake, for unfortunately it has been my experience that food once perceived as innocuously colorful in the eye of the beholder turns garish when the taste fails to match up to the visual expectations. Not so at all with this cake, whose layers retained a lovely mild vanilla flavor despite the use of kosher vegetable dye. Furthermore, the buttery icing was judiciously distributed as to create the perfect proportional contrast of smooth sugary cream and moist cake. Such balance would easily facilitate consuming the whole wedge in one sitting. Not that I would know, of course.

THIS Saturday, June 17th: Pop-Up Bake Sale With Fluff Bake Bar and Southerleigh

Remember all those sad excuses for bake sales you were forced to patronize or participate in during elementary school?

This Saturday's pop-up bake sale co-hosted by Fluff Bake Bar and Southerleigh will be nothing like it. 

And, I promise, that's not fake news, 'cause here's the menu:

• Fried Chicken and Praline Crepes, SoCo steeped Pecan, Crystal Hot Butter Sweet and Sour Gooseberry Southern Style Hand Pie

• Fredericksburg Peach and Crystal Cookie, Smoked Gouda Shortbread

• Handheld Pineapple and Cornbread Pudding

• Puro SA Pan Dulce Breakfast Sandwich, Sausage and Egg, Jalapeño Pimento Beer Cheese 

THE DEETS:

When:  10am-(sell out), Saturday, June 17, 2017
*Arriving early is encouraged as quantities will be limited

Where:           
Fluff Bake Bar
314 Gray St.
Houston, TX 77002 

Countdown: Angel Fire Food & Wine Roundup

In fewer than three months, I plan to head to the idyllic forests of the San Moreno Valley in northern New Mexico for the food & wine festival at the Angel Fire Resort.

My festival itinerary includes spirits seminars, cooking demos focusing on regional specialties, and a Chuck Wagon breakfast. But given the hotel's location and other amenities, I might also have to work in some biking, hiking, and boating.

ON-GOING: Candidate Cookies At Three Brothers Bakery

If you, like me, are continually seeking solace in the form of booze and/or baked goods during the trainwreck that is the 2016 Presidential Campaign, go to 3 Brothers Bakery.  In addition to offering their regular menu comprising standouts such as the buttery hamantaschen, creative cupcakes (burger??), and lovely challah, the Bakery is once again offering an election special: sugar cookies adorned with the images of the Democratic and Republican candidates as well as "Gingy", 3 Brothers' write-in selection.

If you can't tell Trump to "eat it," you might as well eat him.

Lest you prematurely conclude that since, as in the case of this reporter (and anyone who doesn't think the leader of the free world should be a misogynist xenophobe), I'm With Her and therefore will certainly not be consuming a Trump cookie, consider the wisdom of the Addams Family credo:

Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc.*

(We gladly feast on those that would subdue us.)

I suggest picking up a dozen for your debate-viewing party.

*Yes, I know the Latin isn't perfect but neither are you so get over it.

Drool-Worthy Coffee and Baked Good Collaborations at Three Brothers Bakery

This past week Three Brothers Bakery invited me to try their new line of create-your-own coffee drinks, which they encourage patrons to pair with a complementary baked good. 

Now, lord knows I never need an excuse to eat cake or cookies, especially those produced by Three Brothers Bakery. Coffee, however, is tricky for Bridey, who only drank tea during all-nighters in college  (what she drank while not studying, ahem, is a different story) and didn't have her first cup of coffee until she was 30 years old. 

Stately Gingerbread Man and Luscious Hamantaschen.

Not only am I still fairly sensitive to caffeine, but I also find the typical bitter flavor of run-of-the-mill coffee not very palatable. However, two important factors enabled me to highly enjoy the various iterations of hot and cold coffee at Three Brothers.

First, the Bakery employs the equivalent of a coffee sommelier, Jack, a most impressive java autodidact who oversees the roasting process as well as carefully evaluates the sourcing of the beans. Thus, this ain't your office's lame-ass brew that you and your coworkers' refer to fondly as "Satan's bathwater."

Second, the addition of syrups. Never underestimate how much some liquid flavored sugar can enhance a caffeinated beverage and an accompanying baked treat.

And because some don't like it hot, there are lovely iced versions.

See, for example, the infusion of caramel in a hot cup of joe, which provides a sweet balance to the savory top notes of a buttery hamantaschen. Or, pair an iced coffee inflected with vanilla syrup to even out the pungent spice of one of Three Brothers' gingerbread men.

Mexican Wedding Cookie and Almond Stick

I also recommend matching the intense the marzipan flavor of a crunchy, chocolate-drizzled almond stick with a soothing cafe au lait laced with hazelnut for a most pleasant legume battle.

Permutations and combinations galore.

But don't rely on my creations. Invent your own and sample all those terrific items proffered by Three Brothers that I didn't mention...until now. #cinnamonrolls #icedcookies #poppyseedloaf #somuchmore