Interview with Sweet & Simple's Michelle Jaffee (Defining the best in baked goods from family roots.)

I was introduced to Sweet & Simple's brownies at the NYC Bake Sale in April (you can still donate here!) Abby Dodge delivered a box full of huge brownies, both original and with raspberry swirl. Needless to say chocolate itself is a hot item so everything chocolatey was the first to go. But the Sweet & Simple brownies stuck out due to packaging, size, and that delicious look you get on your face seeing a glorious orb of chocolate brownie goodness in your midst! I was glad I snagged some before they completely flew out of the Bake Sale booth!

Michelle Jaffee is the mind and heart behind Sweet & Simple and I very happy that she was excited to do an interview for my site. I'd like to thank Michelle again for her generous donation to the NYC Food Bloggers Bake Sale and helping us secure thousands to aid in the No Kid Hungry campaign and also for creating such delicious goods that really remind one of home. And many thanks to Michelle and Melani Lust of Melani Lust Photography for providing these great photos!

Michelle Jaffee (Photo courtesy of Melani Lust Photography)

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It seems that when starting a new baking business beginning on the internet may be a good point of origin and then branching out from there. Was that your intention when you began Sweet & Simple? Currently your goods are available online and in stores in Connecticut. Do you foresee having a storefront in the near future?

Actually, I thought I would start with farmers’ markets, but I had great, early success with wholesale and never looked back. The online site came over a year later and now I am looking for a small retail space. It has been a very organic process. If I had to do it over, I would have started with both an online site and a blog. I did the best I could, no excuses, but if I had to recommend a plan to another food entrepreneur, I would definitely encourage him/her to have a strong online presence from day one.

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Sweet & Simple offers brownies and cookies for order via the Online Store. However, on the Sweet & Simple blog you discuss (and post photos) of various desserts and savory items you make. Are there plans to sell more offerings like blondies, breads, and/or cupcakes?

I started with a much bigger product line/menu and pared it down for the wholesale line. As I grow the online business, and when I have my own retail space, I will be adding menu items back. Blondies are one of my favs (butter and lots of brown sugar, what’s not to love?) and quick breads, muffins and cupcakes are some of my favorite things to bake and will be available as well.

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I love the design of the Sweet & Simple website. The brown background and daisy in the logo really create a feeling of Sweet & Simple items being made especially for you from someone’s home, and not mass produced. How did you come up with the design, tagline (“baked with love”), and overall branding?

The logo was created with the help of my good friend, Anne Spencer. I had exhausted so many names in search for one that was not being used by another bakery and “sweet and simple” really just describes so well my style of baking, what I love to bake and the ingredients I use. I originally considered a mixing bowl as part of my logo, but when I saw it, I wasn’t “feeling it.” The daisy was my suggestion, the ultimate sweet and simple flower, and the fluttering heart was Anne’s. It was a true collaboration. Most people who bake really do “bake with love,” and it’s true of me as well. I’ve had so many women approach me in person and say, “That’s what I always say about my baking!” I connect with people through food, and when I cook and bake it is always done with love. This is my dream job.

I never thought about Sweet & Simple as a brand until other people started recognizing the logo and saying, “Hey, I saw your cookies at such-and-such-place.” The logo is really an extension of me, I’m proud of it, it still makes me smile, and I get a kick out of seeing it around town and online. I have very consistent use of the logo online and in print. Part of the “branding” is a modern-vintage feel. So, I have incorporated gingham over the last year as well. For the blog, I’ve been using more and more of my own vintage linens and simple kitchen items. Instead of going out and buying “props,” I just use what I have at home. What’s to me funny is that I am enjoying taking the pictures so much more now that I stopped over thinking the process.

And, speaking of pictures, one of my goals is to improve my photography. Attempting to take decent pictures for a blog is a humbling experience. I’ve had mixed results, but people have been supportive and I appreciate that.

Core ingredients! (Photo courtesy of Melani Lust Photography)

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Sweet & Simple also has videos on YouTube. There’s a video discussing the origins of Sweet & Simple and also about social media and having been in the Get On The Shelf contest for Walmart. Are there more videos set to be made about baking or about the business side of Sweet & Simple? Will there be a web series?

I am SO ready to do a series of online videos, but running the actual business takes up so much time I haven’t had the extra hours, or made the time, to get that project off the ground. As I’ve said, I love being in the kitchen and talking about cooking and baking and I see videos as a natural extension of what I am already doing.

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Your trademark is “baked with love” and it seems that your family inspired you. In one video you show off your grandmother’s recipe box and an apron your mom made. Having tasted your brownies they are definitely made with care. Do you think baking with care and love are synonymous in a way so that the end result is an overall pleasant eating experience for the consumer?

When love and care go into any project the results are going to be outstanding, how could they not? Whether it’s refinishing furniture, restoring a car, planting a garden or baking a cake – love and care are the keys to success! And, yes, I guess you could say that love and caring are synonymous. I love to bake and I care enough to source the best ingredients possible – I don’t want anything from Sweet & Simple to be different than what I would serve to my family and friends. Sweet & Simple is as an extension of my home kitchen where I am carrying on the traditions passed to me from my mother and grandmother.

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Sweet & Simple has a strong online presence. You can find & connect with Michelle Jaffee via these social media sites:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweetandSimpleFans

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Michelle_Jaffee

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/michellejaffee/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SweetandSimpleBakery/videos

Sweet & Simple Blog: http://mysweetandsimpleblog.blogspot.com

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Thanks again to Michelle for this interview and for being so considerate in donating goods not only for NYC Bake Sale but for CancerCare Girls Night Out earlier this year. I know we all appreciate your great desserts and generosity! 

Reduced-Sugar/Sugar-Free Baking Month (with Truvia)

As previously noted May became reduced-sugar/sugar-free baking month in my household. The goal was to make at least four recipes using Truvia (an all natural sweetener containing Stevia leaf extract) and note differences (if any) in taste, texture, and overall quality of the dessert made. I was able to fulfill my goal of at least four recipes courtesy of Truvia's website as well as a couple from Marisa Churchill's new cookbook Sweet & Skinny. And I'm happy to say that the results for each item varied.

The Recipes:

• Reduced-Sugar Brownies
• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
• Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Berries (Marisa Churchill recipe)
• Papaya Mint Popsicles (Marisa Churchill recipe)

The Results

First up was the fudgy brownies. I decided to try a recipe with some sugar and some Truvia. It was simple enough to make and when licking the remaining dough from the bowl I was pleased with the chocolatey taste. The texture of the batter was not grainy and was akin to that of any brownie you may have made from scratch or via a box mixture. Something else that is notable is the recipe calls for canola oil rather than vegetable. As per my IACPNYC Culinary Expo post remember that canola oil is being touted as one of the better oils to use for baking/cooking.

Not only had the calorie count been cut down on individual portions of brownies but there was no after taste and the texture was there, though I may have overmixed so the brownie was not as dense as it could have been. Bringing these in to my co-workers resulted in a heap of approval. One of the managers said she thought it had a nice "nutty" flavor to it. Admittedly I hesitated telling my co-workers what the secret ingredient was because I wanted to attain honest feedback on what they thought without being swayed by hearing what was in it. When I did inform people there was Truvia mixed in with the sugar no one seemed to notice and everyone felt a bit better about eating the brownies that were reduced in sugar and fat.

Next, I made carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I've made carrot cake cupcakes before but they tasted more like muffins than cake. So I was eager to try my hand at it again. I ran out of Truvia as I was making the cream cheese icing so the icing was half Truvia, half confectioner's sugar. And since I'm not a fan of raisins in baked goods and wanted the carrot cake to be eaten by all, I cut out the walnuts and raisins the recipe called for.

The texture and smell of the cake was great and I'm sure this was due to the canola oil and buttermilk within the batter. You can even see in the picture how moist the cake was and did in fact taste like cake. However, there was an after taste. Not unpleasant, and not lingering, but it was distinct. If you have had sweetener alternatives that contain aspartame or sucralose you may be familiar with or expect an after taste and those particular ones mentioned tend to have a lingering effect. However, tastebuds can adapt. And again, when mixing Truvia with sugar the sugar outweighed the Truvia and the cream cheese icing (made with reduced-fat cream cheese) had no traces of an after taste.

When bringing these in to co-workers response was varied. Again, I didn't reveal until after that this dessert was made with Truvia. One co-worker specifically asked if there was Stevia in the cake. I was shocked. He said he had worked with some who made desserts with alternative ingredients and Stevia was one of them. "It has a very distinct taste," he said. My manager was not a fan of the cake and noted the after taste was something he couldn't put his finger on at first. Others noticed the after taste and didn't mind or didn't notice at all because the texture and smell was so good. One person even said she really enjoyed the cream cheese icing.

My last two recipes came around at the right time due to increasing humidity in New York City last week.

I made the buttermilk panna cotta and papaya popsicles side-by-side so that I could chill and freeze them respectively before tasting later this past weekend. Both were super simple to make, literally taking just a few minutes each. The bulk of time utilized for these recipes is in the wait for them to become solidified.

For the popsicles I traded some ingredients, using mangoes instead of papaya. (That was a preference call). I also abstained from using mint leaves as I am not a fan.

Like the brownie recipe an additional natural sweetener was added to the mixture, agave! Mixing this with lime juice and orange juice then placing it in ice cub trays I placed Saran Wrap over the cubes and then left to freezer in my industrial strength Fridgidaire.

I ate these on a humid Memorial Day and I must say these were tasty! A new fave, go-to treat for me! I didn't get any after taste from this and perhaps it was the mixture of all the fruits and natural ingredients that Truvia mixes well with. On a hot and humid day I enjoyed cube after cube after cube! It was like a smoothie in cube form with my favorite fruits! I think the agave was a great addition here because I didn't feel indulgent yet it was just sweet enough for me. (Thanks, Marisa!) Make this your summer treat, people!

For the buttermilk panna cotta I used blackberries (I enjoy them and they were on sale) and refrained from purchasing vanilla bean to add to Truvia and sprinkling on top. I wanted to taste as much of the panna cotta on its own as possible.

Only a few packets of Truvia are called for in this recipe but the taste was there. Not unpleasant and not too imposing on the overall recipe that I couldn't enjoy it. The texture was perfect for panna cotta. I have had dessert touted as "panna cotta" when in fact it was yogurt with fruit in it. Panna Cotta is a solid custard, kind of like flan but not as sweet. Even tart berries like blackberries add a nice counter sweetness to the custard. The panna cotta is sweet in a tangy way because of the buttermilk used in it. It tasted pure and no frills which a good custard should be. I'd make this again for sure and perhaps add maple syrup and blueberries on top or even agave and see how that meld of flavors is.

The Conclusion

Let me preface by saying that these opinions are my own and ones gathered from co-workers/friends who also tried the desserts I made with Truvia. Overall, I would use Truvia in my baking, particularly for reduced-sugar goods or anything that is fruit heavy. The taste tends to meld better with more natural ingredients rather than on its own in pastries and I think the added advantage that it's not a wholly chemical compound, the after taste (if there is any) isn't unpleasant or lingering, and the health aspect make it a valuable sugar alternative.

I'd like to thank Kristi Kleila with RF Binder for providing me a sample of Truvia spoonable to use in this baking endeavor and also thank Marisa Churchill for writing Sweet & Skinny and promoting healthier baking. 

Interview with Culture NY co-founder Jenny Ammirati (A homegrown business bringing delicious yogurt year-round)

At this year's Village Voice Choice Eats festival in the Flat Iron District, Culture: An American Yogurt Company was present offering tastes of one of their signature yogurts as well as cookie yogurt sandwiches and other cool items perfect for a venue heating up with lots of attendees and spicy fare.

Culture has been voted by the Village Voice as one of the 10 Best Frozen Treats, by TimeOut NY as one of the 100 Best Dishes in 2011, and was an Elle Decor staff pick of Where to Eat.

After tasting and hearing about the hype I approached co-founder Jenny Ammirati about doing an interview. (She and her husband Gino make the yogurt and started Culture together.) She was extremely gracious about doing one and in the midst was delayed by the birth of a new child! But she was also kind enough to get back to me soon after such a big life event! So I cannot say how much I appreciate her answering some of my questions about how Culture started and her and Gino's inspiration for what has become a growing treat.

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One of the consistencies I have found in interviewing and reading interviews of local bakers is that they didn’t always know they wanted to pursue business in the food industry. Often times it’s kind of an epiphany. You had a career in finance before going to culinary school and starting Culture. Do you feel like finding what you want to do after being in a career you didn't enjoy is a way to get closer to your ideal job? Or do you think perhaps this discovery can occur by chance? 

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of baking with my mom and my sister.  When I was growing up, as often as we could, my sister and I would bake recipes from her Holly Hobby cookbook. (She is still one of the best bakers I know.) When I was eight years old I remember telling my mom that when I grow up I wanted to be a chef. Somehow something changed along the way, after college, I pursued a career in finance and worked in the field for ten years but in my heart I always wanted to work with food. For years I would take part-time jobs in the food industry because it is what I loved doing. Deciding to go to culinary school was really the “Ah ha” moment for me. It is when I felt like pursuing a culinary career changed from a dream to a commitment. It took a long time to get here but I am happy that I am finally doing what I love.

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Culture NY has gotten a lot of great press as one of the Best Frozen Treats in New York City in TimeOut NY, Village Voice, and New York Magazine. And what’s been noted is the all-natural/organic ingredients, the fact that everything is made on-site from scratch, and great taste combinations available to customers. Was one of your and your partner Gino’s main criteria for Culture making sure that ingredients came from local sources as well as being natural with no artificial sweeteners or additives?

When we began to make our strained yogurt at home we did a lot of testing and tasting of products on the market. We realized that there are a lot of additives, thickening agents, and artificial flavors & sweeteners in most of the products on the market. In general we prefer to avoid anything artificial in the food that we eat and after our taste testing it became clear that we prefer the taste of yogurt without additives. It became a mission for us to be able to make a great tasting yogurt without these additives. Our yogurt starts with great milk from Hudson Valley Fresh (a cooperative of New York state dairy farms producing some of the highest quality and best milk that you can get); we add our special blend of cultures and nothing more to create our yogurt. We take our fresh yogurt and add real fruit or spices to make our frozen yogurt.

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Something else that’s been noted about Culture’s yogurt is that it tastes like yogurt and not an ice cream substitution like some of the mass marketed yogurt many may purchase in stores. You base your frozen yogurt off of the Greek-style yogurt. Were you concerned that perhaps people’s taste buds may be averse to the more natural taste in that perhaps they’d become accustomed to the sweetened version?

We make our frozen yogurt from our fresh Greek Style yogurt that we manufacture in our store at 331 5th Avenue. We sell both Greek Style and our frozen yogurt in the store. When we decided to sell our yogurt it was because my husband and I thought that we had a great tasting product that we loved to eat. When we made it at home we could not get enough of it (we still can’t) and we were confident that people would like it as much as we do. Yogurt has been steadily gaining popularity in the US since the 80’s and because our frozen yogurt is made from our Greek yogurt our frozen yogurt has the same health benefits as our fresh yogurt including calcium, potassium, high-quality protein and live probiotic cultures. In short, we were not worried about it not tasting like ice cream because it’s cold, creamy, and tastes great to us.

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Several years ago there was a boom of yogurt chains within the city popping up in Manhattan and extending to the outer boroughs. And in general yogurts found in stores have been pushed as great healthy alternatives in snacking. Gelato shops and smoothie locations have also gotten bigger year after year, particularly with young adults and college students. When you started Culture did you realize that you were picking up on this boom and therefore trying to redefine it?

At some point my husband started eating a lot of Greek style yogurt and decided to make it at home. At the same time I started making toppings to go with the yogurt and spinning it into frozen yogurt with our little ice cream maker. When we decided to open Culture we had been making yogurt at home for some time and we had something that tasted fantastic and we were willing to take a gamble and see if other people agreed with us. Frozen desserts have always held a special place in my heart so the decision to open Culture seemed natural. The fact that it coincided with this boom was more of an accident then anything else.

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Culture offers a limited number of offerings in yogurt flavors but a bevy of toppings, one of the most notable and lauded is the maple syrup and blueberries, is this so that customers can enjoy the purity of yogurt with a varied style atop it or is it because you want to limit the amount of yogurts made not wanting to fall into the trap of doing seasonal items. 

We want our customers to be able to enjoy our yogurt on its own or use the toppings to create any flavor combination they may desire. We offer our fresh plain Greek Style yogurt, in fat-free, low-fat, and organic whole milk plus we offer flavored varieties of the fat-free and low-fat Greek Style yogurt. In addition, we have four frozen yogurt options at a time.   We always offer plain, one standard flavor like strawberry or banana, one “lab” flavor that is experimental or a flavor that may not appeal to everyone like strawberry basil, and one whole milk certified organic frozen yogurt option. We try to be seasonal with the flavors when we can be, for example, we offer apple and pumpkin in the fall and we get the apples from our local farmers market. Culture’s own signature toppings like Key Lime Pie and Vermont Maple are available all year around but we also offer two seasonal topping s at a time. This allows us to be creative and take advantage of what is seasonal and local. Raspberry Dream, a combination of a homemade raspberry custard, fresh raspberry sauce, chocolate cookie crumbs and shaved white chocolate and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, house made strawberry rhubarb compote served with a cobbler topping, just arrived for spring!

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The key lime pie, as well as the yogurt sandwich cookies, was wonderful offerings at Village Voice’s Choice Eats this year, especially once the heat of many attendees started to build in the armory. It was a good palate cleanser, coolant from the spicy dishes, and an all-around tasty dessert treat post savory goods. Do you think that there are certain flavors that may not be suitable in yogurt form?

One of the perks of making everything from scratch is that you are free to experiment with as many flavor combinations as you want to. We have tried a pretty wide variety. Chocolate is the one that comes to mind that can be a challenge because chocolate is bitter and yogurt is tart so it can take some trial and error to find the right balance but it is not impossible. Personally I usually prefer the more subtle and fruity combinations but variety is the spice of life!

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Admittedly New York City had a pretty tame winter this past year. But is Culture creating more yogurt-based goods to offset the potential for slower business in the colder months? 

We like to stay yogurt centric with our creations because that is what we do best. Our yogurt parfait, made from our fresh Greek Style yogurt, is popular all year-round and our yogurt muffins have developed a fan base of their own. Wash down a house made blueberry yogurt muffin with a drinkable yogurt and you are good to go any time of year. If you are a fan of our frozen yogurt, in the winter we offer special toppings like brownie Sunday supreme which goes great with a cup of our homemade hot chocolate in the colder months.

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Besides Facebook, Twitter, and www.cultureny.com are the other social media sites you use to gain more updates on Culture, where you’ll be and what you’re offering?

Right now we primarily use Facebook, Twitter (@cultureny), and our website as our social media outlets. So follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or visit our website.

Thanks so much Jenny for doing the interview! Wishing you, Gino, and your new baby a great year and Culture continued success! 

Sugar-Free (Reduced Sugar) Baking Month Commences!

Last August was gluten-free baking month in my household and so May will be sugar-free (reduced sugar) baking month! So I have said it, so it shall be done. What initiated this train of thinking was the IACP Culinary/Cookbook Expo I went to last month where I saw a great range of cookbooks and authors. One such author was Marisa Churchill whose book Sweet & Skinny focuses on making sugar-free desserts. Many of her recipes use Truvia brand natural sweetener. Upon receipt of a sample of this sweetener I figured it'd be a great test to try and make sugar-free/reduced sugar desserts.

The goal for the month is to make at least four recipes using Truvia and reporting back on the taste, texture, and ease of baking with this product. If time permits there will be some side-by-side comparisons to these recipes with sugar. However, the main goal is to get a sense of what, if any, differences may abound when using an alternate and natural sweetener.

I will be making a couple recipes from Marisa's cookbook, but will also be making some from the recipes available on Truvia's website.

My first attempt will be these:

Fudgy Brownies (photo by Mary Brueske, courtesy Truvia's website)

I'll report back in June. Feel free to follow my Twitter feed for updates and pictures!

Happy baking!

NYC Bake Sale 2012 (The Great American Bake Sale)

On a sunny, yet chilly Saturday in Brooklyn, NY the Great American Bake Sale took place, part of Share Our Strength's mission of ending childhood hunger (No Kid Hungry) by 2015. Bloggers Without Borders joined in to make a call across the nation for food bloggers to organize and join in! The NYC chapter's bake sale was at Brooklyn Flea in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Even though the bake sale ended this past Saturday you can still donate to a great cause via the donation page on the NYC chapter's site.

Bakers, entrepreneurs, and all-around awesome people Lillian Huang and Ken Leung were this year's organizers and they did an amazing job! Seriously, organizing so much food, people, advertising, and such was really a show in great organization. It was smoothly run and the volunteers were super helpful and all on the same page in terms of raising money for a great cause.

There were numerous donations from local bakers and food bloggers that had us in a sweets wonderland! Chocolate double deckers from Abby Dodge, Baked's sweet & salty brownie, and Michelle Jaffe's (Sweet & Simple) brownies were huge sellers as were many sweet and salty items including Ken's chocolate peanut butter pretzel krispies and Jackie's salted chocolate caramel nut bars (both gluten filled and gluten free) that were ooey gooey messes of goodness. Tasting a sample one customer said "I want to buy what I just had in my mouth!" Liddabit Sweet's bourbon pecan cookie with caramel filling was a fast seller upon tasting. One vendor tasted it, ran back and said "What did I just eat? I must buy it!" All in all there was a cornucopia of amazing goods. There were vegan items, gluten-free, different shortbreads and macarons (both American and French), variations on rice krispy treats, pie, scones, almond croissants from Runner & Stone. We had steady sales throughout the day and got a huge surge of customers once 2 or 3 o'clock rolled around for a post-lunch treat!

Brooklyn Flea was a great venue. The staff incredibly helpful and other vendors supportive, the crowd amazing and generous! Being one of the few vendors selling boku sweets and in such extensiveness we got a lot of customers. With Smorgasburg being the site of mainly food vendors it was a good balance to be around those selling mainly savory items, as well as jewelry, patchwork, offering bike tune ups, selling furniture and art and tea and coffee (great compliments to scones and other sweets).

And it was great to see Ken, Lillian, and Jackie (a great saleswoman), as well as Angela (Mind Over Batter) and meet Meghan (Buttercream Blondi) and Emily & Karen (Mainly Gluten Free in NYC), and Elizabeth (Brooklyn Supper), Betty Ann (Asian in America) as well as many other foodies/food bloggers eager to help the cause and perhaps participate next year.

All in all via online donations and what was made at the bake sale we raised about $3,400 to surpass our $2,000 goal! Thanks a bunch to our sponsors Brooklyn Flea for providing us a booth for free, Joe's Crab Shack for the awesome t-shirts, Whole Foods Union Square for the bags, and Fondu for the banner and business cards! Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by the booth and purchased, who tasted, who volunteered, and who donated (especially all the great bakeries for contributing delicious goods) and spread the word! Please keep it up and help us raise more money! You can make online donations here. And when making a donation you can get in on one of many awesome raffles, which means more sweets! How can you resist?