Welcome to the Tasty-Ugly Bakery!

I love to bake, and I hate my job.... well, hate is a strong word, but the prospect of working my job doesn't power me out of bed in the morning. So I have little fantasies about what my dream job would be, and the other day I came up with my latest dream: to bake delicious cakes, cookies, cupcakes and brownies. I have also recently added cheesecake to my oeuvre. I can't make pie-crust worth a damn, and other flaky things like croissants, while tasty, also terrify me. There is also no way - in the near future, at least - to have enough coin to get this bakery actually manifested and, most importantly, profitable. So I figured I could have a virtual bakery... I'll post some of my favorite recipes here, with photos, and make you all drool hard enough that you will all simultaneously wish this bakery into being. Then I can mail you the deliciousness!

About the name: I realize there could be some unsavory connotations about the phrase "tasty ugly". So it's important to keep that third word BAKERY firmly attached, like with royal icing, to Tasty-Ugly. I am not a talented cake decorator - those cupcakes in Martha Stewart and Cooks Country and all of those fine cooking magazines give me nightmares to try and recreate. Does anyone remember the garden cake that Martha had one time on her cover? With the precious marzipan vegetables and cookie-crumb dirt and fencing and piped grass? Yeah, you won't be finding that at the Tasty-Ugly Bakery. My real garden doesn't look like that. Besides, beautiful cakes - wedding cakes, bakery cakes, etc - rarely taste good. And if you're going to blow your calories on something, please make sure it's made with such delicious things as butter, white flour, sugar, and real eggs. This is a "sometimes" snack-blog, not an all-the-time snack-blog. I'm going to make cakes that might sag a little, or look a bit roughed-up, but I can damn-well guarantee you they will taste SCRUMPTIOUS.

Besides, someday if this thing ever does become real, telling your friends you'll "meet them at the Tasty-Ugly" sounds pretty cool. And if I can get enough recipes on here, maybe it could become a cookbook or something. I'll have to tweak recipes to make them my own, but that's not a problem, I love to bake and share my treats, and I welcome you!

So please close your eyes, push the virtual bakery door open, and let the smells of freshly baked cakes and cookies assault your senses. There are twinges of vanilla and ribbons of chocolate scenting the air, it's comfortable and warm inside, there's always a fresh pot of coffee on, so help yourself. Find a table in the window, with the strenghtening springtime sun warming it up, and leave your bags there. Come up to the counter, and choose from a wide selection of cupcakes, brownies and cookies to treat yourself now, or pick a cake for dessert tonight after your dinner party. It's not low fat, it's not low calorie, but you will enjoy every bite.

I look forward to seeing you again soon. I'll be posting a recipe per week or so, along with pictures and commentary on what worked and what didn't. Thanks for coming by!