Outsider Tart. - Baked in America: the generous art of brownies, cupcakes, whoopies, muffins and more

RECIPE NOTES:

We Americans have an odd way of doing things. When it comes to measuring ingredients we use cups. To make these recipes attainable for all, we provide equivalents to suit preference or technique as well as the basis for converting other recipes. Ingredient quantities throughout are listed as such:

Imperial/Metric/American measured in Ounces/Grams/Cups

American recipes measure butter like so:

1 cup of butter = 8 ounces = 16 tablespoons = 2 sticks

Weve tested and edited a number of times so it is entirely possible something slipped through the cracks. For that we apologize in advance. If need be, please feel free to contact us with any questions/problems and well be happy to help:

Check out our website for a huge range of ingredients that we can ship direct to your door to help you get started: www.outsidertart.com

C O NT EN TS

Potayto, Potahto
(some important info before you get started)

List of Recipes

FOREWORD

Rachel Allen

In the summer of 2008, while filming for my Bake series, I travelled around Ireland and the UK visiting lots of different chefs and bakers who were all doing something quite unique, and often extraordinary, with their baking. On one of the days, the crew and I invaded the home of David and David to see what all the fuss was about over these two guys with the same name they had been causing quite a stir at local farmers markets with their authentic American treats. Within five minutes of entering their gorgeous home I had a warming cup of coffee in one hand and a sweet fudgy chocolate brownie in the other.

We cooked, filmed and ate all day and, fortunately for me, we had to reshoot my sampling of their scones and cupcakes a few times over. I left that day certain they were going to go on to do more great things. I couldnt wait for their caf to open and knew a beautiful book would inevitably follow.

The Davids do nothing by half. Their style is not just generous but full on. If something is to be gooey then it must seriously ooze goo. If chocolates involved then only a huge hit of chocolate intensity will do. I love that style of baking, with no flavours diluted or half-fat options. This is uncompromising cooking and the results are fantastic. Each recipe has a twist but is grounded in serious American baking.

The Davids have established their caf, Outsider Tart, as one of the best places in the UK for authentically indulgent baking. Theyve drawn people from far and wide to their beautiful shop to taste their famous whoopie pies, cupcakes, cookies and more. Now theyve given us their secrets in this book full of fabulous recipes that are innovative, impressive and uncompromisingly decadent. Many of the recipes in this book should come with a warning I urge you to try the Snickers brownies and the Blackout cake. No, I urge you to try them all.

About the Book

When it comes to baking, Americans clearly know a thing or two. Be it gooey chocolate brownies, muffins bursting with berries or whoopie pies oozing sweet buttercream, many teatime (or whenever time) favorites hail from across the pond.

Davids Muniz and Lesniak own the delicious American bakery, Outsider Tart, in London. Devoted to all things butter and sugar, they are single-handedly leading a revolution: the revival of humble home-baked treats.

Baked in America celebrates deliciousness with irresistible, authentic American recipes meant to inspire your own creative juices. The Davids message is simple: relax, have fun, learn a trick or two and youll emerge from the oven triumphant. So roll up your sleeves, dont be intimidated and get to it. Does it get any better? Indeed it does.

About the Authors

David Muniz and David Lesniak own and run the delicious American bakery, Outsider Tart, in Chiswick, West London. A couple of professional guys, they moved from the United States to live and work in the UK to discover that good, wholesome, homemade cupcakes, sweet pies and fresh tarts were hard to come by. Their culinary enterprise is devoted to all things sweet and yummy.

INTRODUCTION

A FEW WORDS FROM DAVID NO. 1

Two American Davids decide to move to London and open a cake shop. Blimey. What on earth for? We often ask ourselves the very same question. David No. 1 is older and wiser. Having grown up in New Jersey just outside of New York City, his primary education was a bit more evolved than that of David No. 2 (henceforth referred to as OD, for Other David) whose education in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, caused him to believe Grease is a country. It is a widely known fact that Mississippis educational system ranks among the lowest in the 50 states. For that reason, David No. 1 will be your author. But dont be fooled; OD is really the brains behind the organization, having been a successful serial entrepreneur his entire adult life. David No. 1, (aka the tall, good-looking one) comes from an architectural background. No. 1 makes things look pretty. No. 2 pays for it. Dearly.

Several years after we met in 2002, OD had an opportunity to run a radio station in London. Not knowing a thing about radio, he figured it would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance and we agreed it would be a personal adventure for us both. So in October 2005 we set sail for London. Literally. Fact is we have two large dogs, Mabel and Otis, who are littermates and have never been separated from each other, let alone us. Otis was born with a heart condition that has required a few surgeries and medications along the way. As a result, he is unable to be sedated, pretty much ruling out any flights across the ocean. So on to the ship we went. After 6 long days of staring at nothing but water (M&O had a lovely top-deck perch at the back of the boat), we settled in the Richmond area of London.

While still in New York, we had toyed with the idea of one day opening a bakeshop. No clear plans but we dabbled with a name and even some logos. We were both self-employed at the time and, it seemed, professionally fulfilled. Daydreaming had its benefits but we never felt the need to pursue it further. Upon arriving in London, OD was attempting to ensconce himself in his new job. To date, I had known nothing but residential design, architecture and construction and wasnt sure if that was the path on which to continue. In the States we were both weekend warriors in the kitchen. We never cooked or baked during the week: too many restaurants, too much take-out, too much delivery. But we enjoyed the hunt for equipment, ingredients and the perfect whatever it was we were making and weekends proved ideal for that. Upon our arrival on UK soil, we continued our culinary quests.

Fortunately for us, Richmond has a lovely farmers market overlooking the Thames, a picture-perfect London setting if ever there was one. Most weekends we would head to the market, buy up all sorts of produce then walk home to enjoy it. Eventually we came to learn of all the farmers markets throughout London and we expanded our circle to include them. We journeyed. We shopped. We cooked and baked. We ate.

Conscious of our ever-expanding waistlines, we then started to send the fruits of our labors into ODs office each week. After a month or so of this, we took note of our overly positive feedback and things started to gel. Because the office staff was large and diverse we thought we had a fairly reliable focus group at our fingertips. We started thinking why not have a go at selling our goodies at the farmers market? How difficult could it be? Given some of the things we sampled at the markets ourselves it seemed we would, at the very least, be moderately successful. To date, no one had spat out what we offered up (or so they said) and we gained enough confidence to think this newly formed thought just might work. And so we set out to establish a market pitch in, where else, Richmond. And before we knew it, OUTSIDER TART was born. Never really trained, certainly not local and sassy when we want to be, we opted to do what we knew best and spread some American frosting as far as it would go, convinced we should offer up nothing but the best baking from American kitchens far and wide. Did we have grand plans for turning a hobby into a vocation?