Before we moved to the States three and a half years ago, I had assumed that every North American owned two things:  A donut maker (human) and a waffle maker  (contraption). So, I speedily stocked our  kitchen with a waffle iron, which has since been used almost every weekend – when we’re not having pancakes.  On the donut front, it tickles me how often I find the inspiration for that policeman-eating-donuts stereotype right here in New Jersey.  Click here for a tried-and-tested donut recipe.

For those unfamiliar with the technical aspects, waffle and pancake batter are almost identical, with the one for the former being thicker. The waffles is believed to have originated from Belgium in the Middle Ages, and was originally a thin, crisp wafer cooked on an iron. Versions of them are found also in Germany, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Scandinavia, with the modern American sky-high hip-padding waffles having evolved from those introduced here by Dutch pilgrims in the 1600s.

I make several versions of wholewheat and oat waffles, often with fruit in the batter. We had these lovely banana waffles this snowy morning and the aroma they left in the kitchen was delightful. All you need is an abundance of overripe bananas, plenty of snow that you can’t be bothered to shovel (preferably outside the house), and a hungry brood.

For more breakfast recipes, apparently I’ve provided 19 of them right here

• eggs, 2, and 1 extra yolk
• milk, 1 cup
• bananas, 3 large overripe ones, mashed at the last minute
• oatmeal, 1 cup
• wholegrain flour, 1 cup
• salt, pinch of
• vanilla essence, 2 tsp
• baking soda, 3/4 tsp

1. Preheat your waffle iron. I keep mine at a moderate heat (somewhere in the middle of the range)
2. Mix the liquids first with a handheld mixer
3. Add everything else in and whizz to a creamy togetherness
4. Scoop into waffle iron and wait till it pings
5. Serve immediately. The ones above were served with fresh, whipped cream, blueberries and maple syrup.

It’s time to reenact the Miracle of the Oil in the Temple again, by lighting the Hanukkah candles. And (the best part, surely), we get to eat fried food for eight days running, with impunity.

Well, thighs and hips may be impugned, but with the obligatory New Year diet round the corner, the sacrifice is small, necessary, and metabolism willing, easily reversed.

As an annual Baum Family tradition, I come up with a new recipe each year for latkes, the potato pancakes that are commonly consumed during this holiday. Last year’s new experiment comprised of sweet potato with chopped rosemary and sautéed shallots – see the recipe further below. It was deelish!

This year, it’ll be the family’s favorite cilantro and ginger ones, which can never make way for any newcomers (I would never hear the end of it. Who knew kids and guests alike love latkes with fresh chili in them?!). Half a grated zucchini added to this recipe may not make a difference to the taste of the latkes, but will certainly help the conscience. See the recipe below.

Having trouble with the batter? Here are some tips for overcoming them.

And making a special guess appearance this year, will be and apple and sweet potato fritters (see photo), to be dunked in lemon-flavored whipped marscapone (left over from making tiramisu recently). Simply grate a Fuji or other firm and crunchy apple, and half a large sweet potato; in a separate bowl, whisk an egg with a teaspoon of agave nectar, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp of cornmeal and 1 tbsp of cornflour. Mix wet ingredients with the grated, form into patties and fry in oil,  at moderate (and not high) heat, till golden brown on each side. Eat at once.

If you enjoy your fried goodies stuffed with sweet fruit (i.e. jam or jelly), click here for some pretty donuts that will delight all.

May the year ahead be bright, and surround you with the good things – health, family and friends, with the odd fried goodie thrown in. Happy Hanukkah!

Baum Family’s Favorite Cilantro-Ginger Latkes With Chili

• potatoes, 3 large
• shallots, 3 medium
• green chili, one, chopped finely
• ginger, 1 tsp, grated
• cumin seeds, 1 1/2 tsp, toasted
• cilantro, 1 handful, chopped finely
• eggs, 2, beaten
• plain flour, 2 tbsp
• cornmeal, 1 tbsp
• salt, to taste
• pepper, a few grinds of

1. Peel the potatoes, grate them and soak in very cold water
2. Drain and keep aside to dry out
3. Peel the onions and chop or mince in a food processor
4. Saute the onions, garlic, ginger, chili and cumin, till fragrant. Keep aside
5. Combine flour, potato, onion mixture, eggs, salt, pepper and flour
6. Preheat a large pan of canola oil (filling about 1/3 of the pan)
7. Drop the potato mixture by tablespoonfuls into the oil, over medium heat
8. Cook the cakes about 3 minutes a side, or till golden brown
9. Remove with slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper to soak up excess oil
10. Serve immediately with sour cream or apple sauce. Or Thai chilli sauce if you like going against the grain!

For the sweet potato latkes:

• sweet potato, 1 large one, grated
• potatoes, 1 large, grated
• shallot, 1, large, chopped finely
• rosemary, 1 generous tsp, chopped finely
• egg, 1
• flour, 1 tbsp
• cornmeal, 1 tbsp

1. Saute the shallot till fragrant and caramelized
2. Mix all the ingredients together and season generously
3. Fry as per the latkes above and serve with applesauce

Here’s the story I wrote about Anthony’s Cheesecake when it opened last year.

I talked to him as the cafe celebrated its first anniversary recently, and here’s what he said:

How has the past year worked out for you?

It’s been better than we expected. When you come to Washington St and you see the redevelopment under way, it’s not the most attractive block right now, but we have hopes of a beautiful street with lots of people shopping and dining when it is all done.  We’ve made many friends and customers who come back on a regular basis which is very important in our business. Since we have opened, a yoga studio and hair salon/spa have joined us in this row, and we hope this trend of new stores continues.

What’s changed menu-wise from a year ago?

When we met last year, we thought we would be opening a dessert and coffee spot where customers can relax to enjoy some of our sweet treats. But as soon as we opened, customers were asking for breakfast and lunch. Since (business partner) Phil and I never planned on serving either, we decided why not offer a small breakfast menu.

We started with breakfast sandwiches and expanded to french toast, fresh made breakfast burritos, belgian waffles, quinoa(which has been a big hit) and other breakfast fare. We decided lunch had to be a little different from other places, and we try to offer something for everyone–italian, mexican, vegetarian, gluten free and many other homemade selections from homemade lasagna bolognese to pierogies and grilled portabella quesadillas to roasted vegetable quinoa.

Click on the link below for a slideshow of Anthony’s Cheesecakes goodies: http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=107931

How are you making your presence known, with your cafe tucked away neatly in Bloomfield?

We now have our website where our customers can sign up to receive our specials sent to them daily. I am also taking advantage of social media by taking pictures regularly of our food and talking about them on Twitter and Facebook. The response has been huge.

So, the location’s working out?

It’s a good location for now. In a few years when redevelopment is done–I believe it will be a great move that we came here.  I have lived in Bloomfield for over 20 years and we opened our first store by Bloomfield high school, so we have made so many friends here. We did look at several places in Montclair and found the rents to be very high.

Who make up your clientele?

Mainly business people who come for breakfast before getting on the train and also many who work in the area who come here for lunch. Many of our customers are from the college or yoga students taking classes upstairs and from the salon next door. A friend  said the traffic here has picked up a lot since we opened and other new businesses have opened.

Are you getting visitors from outside of the town?

A lot of our customers are also from Glen Ridge and Montclair. I always ask them how they heard about us and it’s word of mouth –  the best source of advertising and we appreciate everyone for doing so.

If you could start over, what would you do differently?

If we could do anything different here it would be to expand our dining area. There are many times during lunch that we have customers who want to dine in but there is no seating available to them. When we close our cafe for private parties we can only host 25 people. I also wish we had room for an area where we can sell our packaged sauces and homemade entrees to go.

What are your three most popular dishes?

Great question!  Our lasagna bolognese with meatballs, our pulled pork sliders, our chicken and waffle sandwich with bacon and honey roasted peaches, and mixed green salad with balsamic glazed figs & strawberries with goat cheese and candied pecans. Oops, did you say 3?

What’s your personal favorite?

I’m an Italian food lover and really enjoy our lasagna bolognese with meatballs. For dessert, I have to say the caramel cheesecake with candied walnuts and sea salt crystals is my favorite.

Anthony’s Cheesecake

71 Washington St, Bloomfield NJ. 973 415 8885

In the midst of the most blistering summer week in recent memory on the eastern seaboard, residents gave Brick Lane, Montclair’s new and most eagerly awaited Indian restaurant, a fervent welcome.

For locals frustrated with inconsistent meals at Baristaville’s other Indian restaurant, it’s been a long wait for this offshoot of two successful New York-based restaurants which take their inspiration from East London’s Brick Lane, a landing area in decades past for Irish, Jewish and Bengali immigrants, on which many curry houses are now located.

From an expected opening in March, the months had dragged on, followed by a worrying interim period more recently when the letters spelling out the restaurant’s name disappeared off its planned Valley Road location.

Happily, Brick Lane opened its doors to local residents on July 15, and I went along with the family on Friday, heatwave notwithstanding.

It was a mark of our eagerness that despite a half-hour wait for a table reserved in advance, our patience didn’t wilt, although our hair and clothes did on that sweltering 100F evening. The smart, walnut-floored restaurant with pretty, repurposed colander light fixtures was filled to capacity, with three other parties waiting, by 7:00pm.

For entertainment, I conducted impromptu exit interviews with patrons who had eaten, and found a recurring theme (and an encouraging one for a first timer) – the food and service were pronounced fabulous (several were already repeat visitors within that first week; it was one woman’s third visit), but they added gently that the waiting time could be improved.

Once we were seated, it didn’t take long before the food started arriving, and our exhausted servers, attempting to cope and placate customers as power cuts disrupted the brand-new air-conditioning system on that hot day, were most polite and attentive.

The kids were intent on naan and chapati, two Indian breads which were the perfect vehicle with which to mop up dhal makhani (a sweet and spicy black lentil dish). Well-versed in Indian restaurant dining, they also ordered a mango lassi each, before checking if it even was on the menu. That traditional Indian yoghurt drink comes sweet, salty, savory (with added ginger and chillies) or blended with fruit such as mango, the final option being the perfect, sweet riposte to fiery curries.

We also had Chicken Khurma, a creamy, mildly spiced, slightly sweet curry, and Chicken Dhansak, a bit heatier and thickened with lentils. Lamb kofta patties (which resembled grilled burgers) were beautifully spiced, flecked with mint and served on a bed of caramelized onions. Every dish was tasty and freshly made, and the breads warm and perfect accompaniments.

Needless to say, there were plenty of leftovers to take home, which, as with many spiced dishes, tasted even better the next day.

My kids and I visited again the following week to try out the $10 lunch specials. Each special comes with a yellow dhal, naan bread, rice, a beautiful mustard seed and lentil-flecked sauteed cabbage (just like my Gran used to make!) and your main course of choice.

We shared a lamb kurma, which was tasty and very tender, and a fish bhuna, fiery red and deelish. Our favorite was the lamb samosa that we started with, pepped up with herbs and aromatic spices and wrapped in a fresh-made pastry (drool). The specials were rounded off with a mini rice pudding, studded with raisins and nuts. Mmm. I’d say one lunch special and a couple of appetizers could suffice for two lunching ladies who’re watching their waistlines!

Verdict: Excellent. Definitely worth visiting.

Other dishes to try: For starters, try the lassuni gobi, a cauliflower dish in a tomato and garlic sauce; tandoori snapper is a whole snapper baked in the tandoor, great for two people. Boti rolls are like a wrap, with fillings of tofu, chicken, lamb or prawns, which may be shared between three people. Stuffed calamari has been described as “to die for,” octopus stuffed with seafood such as scallops, clams and oyster, and cooked in a tandoor. Other breads to sample would be the garlic naan, the bharatha (a flaky bread), and Peshwari naan (a sweet version with raisins and coconut), another great partner of spicy curries.

Click over to my review on Baristanet to read my interview of Ritesh Patel, Brick Lane’s Montclair-based communications guru.

And check out Brick Lane’s Facebook page here.

(Photos in slideshow include recycled-colander lighting fixtures at Brick Lane, mango lassi, naan bread, chicken dhansak, lamb patties, lamb samosas, yellow dhal, mini rice puddings and Karthik Kumar, Brick Lane Montclair’s chef-owner.)

Brick Lane
540 Valley Road
Montclair, NJ 07042
Sun-Thurs 12 noon to 11:00pm,
Fri-Sat, 12 noon to 1:00am

By few, I mean five six (but who’s counting). It’s been a while since this family’s had a youngest who’s just 3, so I thought it might be fun to liveblog (sort of) the occasion.

12:30  Rachael drops off daughters Arabella, 5 and Angelina, 3, with nappy bag, potty seat, Mouse and Bunny, kisses them goodbye and heads to the City.

12:31  Angelina says “We going to have fun!” and “Where is Theo?” (9 year old’s at school)

12:36  Arabella plays the piano and asks Rafi, 11, to play for her. We have a chat and talk about things we’ll do today – play, read, go for a walk and then to the playground, paint, bounce on the trampoline, possibly bake, and of course, at some point soon, a nap for Angelina and ‘quiet time’ for the rest of us. She agrees with this idea quite cheerfully.

12:38 I ask Rafi to change out of his long-sleeved smart shirt which he wore to the graduation ceremony and he gives the typical tweenage response, “No!” I widen my eyes and mutter under my breath, “Show them a good example please!” Off he goes, trying not to smile.

12:40  The girls potter around with my deck plants while Rafi and I have a quick bite (girls have had lunch)

12:44  We’re all in the  kitchen (pottering didn’t last long) and Arabella asks if the peanut butter is a “vitamin.” (There were other vitamin jars on the counter). No, it’s pb, I tell her.

“I’m not allergic,” she says. Rafi says he’s allergic to nickel and I explain it’s a kind of metal. Angelina (AGE THREE!) immediately says, “Is he allergic to the refrigerator?” Jaw drops. “Clever girl! The fridge is made of metal but no, Rafi is not allergic to it. But he can’t wear some kinds of watches.”

12:50 Angelina polishes off a bowl of blueberries.

12:53  We all go upstairs to the Kids Library and pick up the Spot series of books that I will take to my grave with me. We read Where’s Spot, Spot on the Farm, Spot’s Colours, Spot says Goodnight.

Then , we follow with Snowman – a picture book with no text – this takes quite a while to read with plenty of questions, some reinforcements of good behavior, and rather a lot of warnings ladled out by me for a young kid’s book. “This is just a story!” “Good boy for asking his mom if he can go outside.” “It’s dangerous to go near fire.” “Never let a strange snowman in your house or your bedroom!” “The snowman shouldn’t be stealing the father’s clothes.”  Arabella is fascinated by this book and wants to take it downstairs.

1:15  After showing Angelina the bed options – Bernadette’s big bed or the Blue Bed in the Kid’s Library – she picks the Green Bed (Rafi’s).

1:25 We get her Bunny and prop up the sides of the bed with long pillows, and she’s tucked in without another word. Whoa. Too good to be true probably. She’ll be up in two minutes?

1:37  Rafi and Arabella are watching cartoons, I’m postdating this ‘liveblog’ and Angelina appears to be asleep!

1:50  Just checked again and Angelina’s definitely asleep. Wow! How long do 3 year olds sleep for, I can’t remember?

2:00 to 3:10  Where did the time go? Theo’s come home. Angelina’s still in bed (photos to prove it). Arabella and we have been reading, watching cartoons, drawing and colouring. And I’ve dug up our loose eyeballs, feathers, buttons and craft books for more fun (well, we can’t go out while Angelina’s asleep! When will the child wake up?) Arabella has a yen for peanut butter and I make her half a PB sarnie, which she has with juice.

She’s drawn about six things, despite my offers of other activities. One is a self-portrait, with a fly, a person going to work, another fly, and a series of numbers. Another shows her Mouse, with twin girlfriend Mice – one tiny, the other bigger, both wearing green skirts.

3:30  OMG. Angelina’s STILL out for the count. Time to wake her up perhaps, in case she doesn’t sleep at night… yikes! That’d be the end of my short, so-far sterling babysitting career.

3:45  Uh huh, 15 minutes of gentle strokes later, the child’s awake, happy and eating half a PB sarnie (good thing they’re not allergic) with a cup of milk.

3:50  “I love my mommy,” Angelina announces happily in mid-bite. “I always fall ashleep.” (Sounds of Arabella and Theo taking turns at piano)

4:00 Girls are helping water all my patio plants (hooray!). Nearly fighting over this task but I’ve luckily found the second watering can.”I love my mommy,” Angelina says again. “I love her too,” I say. “You always come to our house. Will you, will you come again?” “Sure, honey, maybe next week!”

4:15 On the swing set. Scuffle has broken out between my boys unfortunately, so one is in a strop and has been sent indoors (am I a bad mummy for telling the gentle older child, “You can defend yourself” while mouthing the words “hit him back” while the enraged younger one is mauling his arm?) Rafi is pushing Angelina on the swing, Arabella’s swinging extremely well on her own. Strong as a gymnast, graceful as a dancer, and beautiful, “Abela” (Angelina’s pronunciation) is.

4:42 Angelina comes back in the house to finish her PB sandwich. Rafi lifts her onto the high chair. “You’re a big boy, Rafi,” Angelina tells him, eyes wide with unadorned admiration.

4:44 Girls have a banana each and run off to play the piano with Rafi. I start baking that cake so they’ll have a chance to have some before their mummy comes home. It’s in the oven in 15 minutes.

5:00 Arabella helps me finish cake preps and the girls want a go on the trampoline. “Carry me there,” says the lightweight one. I oblige (she’s too cute!)

5:28 We run in to escape rain. No sign of Rachael yet. How long before the girls decide this is not fun anymore?

5:35 Cake’s almost done. The girls adore Rafi and have gone to the basement with him. Phone rings and it’s Rachael.

5:36 OMG. Bad babysitter. Completely forgot Rach’s instructions to ‘put nappy on child before putting child down for nap.’ “Is Rafi’s bed soaked?” she asks. (OMG) She and Mark are stuck in NYC traffic.

5:45 I’ve run upstairs to check. Wipe brow! All is well because I had persuaded Angelina to ‘go potty’ before she napped. Yay!

6:00 Time to cook dinner. May be chicken burgers (homemade) for all. And chocolate cake. As it starts to rain, Rafi offers to watch the children downstairs so I can get cracking.

That was fun! Come back any time, A & A.

Lesson relearnt: It’s not possible to work while looking after kids below 7 years of age with no help!

PS. I took notes because the girls were saying cute things, and wrote this afterwards (hence the ‘sort of’ liveblog).

PPS. Yes, they did get to taste the cake!

When the main component of your meal also serves as plate and spoon, it had better be tasty. And Harrar, an Ethiopian restaurant on the shop-and-restaurant-lined Village Plaza of South Orange, has its traditional sourdough flatbread, known as injera, down to a fine art.

The teff-based flatbread (teff is a high-fiber, high-iron, tiny grain harvested from an annual grass native to the northeast African highlands), is similar in texture but not ingredients to the Southern Indian dosa, a pancake which also goes through a fermentation process, and a labor-intensive grinding preceding it.

Harrar’s injera was light, fluffy, and hit all the right notes in terms of flavor and piquancy. Indeed, it’s quite simple to know if the batter isn’t quite right, for a sour belly could be your post-meal companion (I should know, having eaten enough overfermented injera, and dosa, and suffered the aftermath).

Harrar has been open for five years. Its decor is a bit more modest than that of Mesob, its glitzier counterpart in Montclair, but what it lacks in glamor, it makes up for with heart.

The dining room of Harrar, named for the city in Eastern Ethiopia which is known for its distinctive coffee, is cosy in its earthy tones, with paintings, wall hangings, upholstery and artifacts from Ethiopia.

At the center of the room is a table with coffee pots and other implements which are an instant lure for children and curious adults but aren’t meant as playthings. This is the setup for a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony that Harrar holds every Friday and Saturday in the late afternoon, which the general public is welcome to participate in at no charge.

A visit to South Orange recently, which included a browse at the prolifically stocked Garden of Eden Marketplace, font of many a culinary delight, warranted a pit stop at Harrar for lunch.

My lunch companion and I started with an Ethiopian spiced ice tea, welcomingly cold, steeped in spices such as green cardamom and cloves, and aromatic with cinnamon.

For an appetizer, we picked sambousa, little fried pastry triangles stuffed with spinach and cheese. These were spicy and very morish indeed, a bit like spanakopita with added chilis.

Azifa followed, full of veg-protein goodness, a lentil salad with chillies and spring onions, served with folded triangles of injera.

For a main course, we split an assa tibs (tibs refers to a sauteed dish, wat refers to stews). This was salmon cooked with onions, garlic, lemon juice, tomatoes and Abesha spices. Two portions of the salmon were separated by a perfectly sauteed onion and spinach side dish that was invitingly green and still hot off the pan.

What else to try:

The lamb or beef sega wot, or the very popular beyayenetu, a combination of vegetables such as collard greens, cabbage, potatoes, lentils and split peas served on injera. Assa (dryish curries) of shrimp, catfish and salmon – which are sauteed with onions, tomatoes and berbere (a mix of 20 different spices). And don’t leave without trying the portobello mushroom dish known as ingudai tibs.
Recommendation: Do visit. Great value, fab service.

Following the restaurant visit, Baristanet chatted with Terence Richard, 48, who owns the restaurant with his wife Lulit Mamo, 39.

When did you open Harrar?

We started the cafe in July of 2006 and the main restaurant in September 2006. We serve Ethiopian cuisine and a few American dishes, too – my background is in catering American food.

Have you eaten at Montclair’s Mesob, a possible competitor?

Yes, but my wife put a stop to it! (Joke) We know the owners, of course.

How did you meet your wife?

I was walking by her family’s cafe as I was about to pay my insurance – it was called Harrar Coffee and Tea House – and she caught my eye! I paid, and came back to see what the cuisine was like. We struck up a conversation and one thing led to another. I found out her family wanted to sell the business. Meanwhile, I had a catering business in Piscataway, NJ, the lease of which was coming up, so I agreed to rent the back of Harrar while I decided whether I wanted to buy or not. Lulit was supposed to teach me to cook the Ethiopian dishes (I’m American) for six months, and then we were supposed to make the exchange. But she never wrote the recipes down (still hasn’t) and it became a partnership – in marriage and business.

What was your wedding like?

It was a traditional Ethiopian wedding, held in Newark Club. It was a wonderful experience. We started out at her sister’s house, where her male friends and mine took on the role of warriors. They escorted me to her house to stage a ‘break in’ and ‘capture’ the bride-to-be. Sounds strange but it was quite a moving experience for me!

Kids?

We have a four year old son and four-month-old twins, a girl and a boy.

Did you make any changes to the coffee and tea house?

I decided to put the Ethiopian food in front, and changed the focus away from just tea and coffee.

How’s Harrar doing?

Very well. We have a faithful following. All the old crowd came back, and people in South Orange encouraged us to move here from the original location in West Orange – it’s more cosmopolitan here. A lot of our customers keep coming back, some from quite far away.

Anything new cooking? How far away do you cater food?

We are planning on supplying food at the Baird weekly outdoor music festival, which is on every Wednesday in South Orange at Floods Hill. We do cater outside of South Orange, as far as South Carolina for big events. And we include all sorts of cuisines.

What are the regular Ethiopian seasonings?

Garlic, fenugreek, cardamom, cinnamon, and berbere is the main seasoning, which is a mix of 20 different spices including cayenne, so there’s a bit of heat. We also use rosemary and oregano here.

Is shrimp and salmon typical in Ethiopia?

No! But done Ethiopian-style, they go down well here. Also the mushroom tibs, ingudai, aren’t typical. We started offering it after my sister-in-law cooked it for us. I’ve been told that in Ethiopia, mushrooms are considered rubbish and no one would eat it!

Harrar Cafe

11 Village Plaza

South Orange, NJ 07079

973 761 5222

(Published on Baristanet May 12, 2011)

Never underestimate the power of social media, even if you’re tweeting about cake.

Or the power of cake in general.

It was the savvy Twitter feed and Facebook posts of a young lady from Bloomfield that first alerted the tweet-sensitive antennas of Debbie Galant and me to the alluringly named Cake Seduction.

Takisha Miller, 28, was laid off from her interior design job at the peak of the U.S. recession, in March 2009. In November that year, as she struggled to get a foot back into the industry she had trained for, her mom called upon her to bake a pound cake for a function, and to put a glaze on it. The confection was an instant hit, and Miller immediately had requests from an uncle and brother.

Said Miller, “I told them, look, I haven’t got a job. You want cake, you can pay me to bake it for you.”

And that’s how Cake Seduction was born.

“By Christmas that year, I had 4 or 5 flavors and requests for things like cookies and pies and layered cakes. I decided to stay focused on pound cake, and by the end of 2010, I had 34 flavors.”

What has been particularly impressive about Cake Seduction and its affair with social media is that Miller has her posts down pat – she does everything one is supposed to do to speak to, and seize the attention of, one’s readers. And she does it with charm, humor and brevity. Like this recent update:

Wow, I can’t believe how busy I’ve been! I LOVE IT!!! (but a little sleep wouldn’t hurt)

Tuesday at 20:31 · Like ·

Said Miller, who is keeping her eyes peeled for a kitchen and bakery location in Montclair or Bloomfield, “I started a Facebook page and linked it to Twitter because, at the start, I couldn’t afford to set up a proper website. My husband, who is in IT, gave me my first piece of advice, which was to engage the audience.”

She achieves this in a non-pushy way, with regular updates about new flavors and experiments, giveaways and events that Cake Seduction will be attending. Everything, says Miller, is a learning experience.

“I pay attention to the details, maybe because of my design background. I watch Cupcake Wars to get ideas and I do whatever makes sense. And I listen to my family and friends,” she said. “Bananas Foster is a flavor that someone suggested on Facebook – a banana cake with caramel glaze and crushed pecans, spiked with rum.”

Cake Seduction’s wares are made with organic ingredients and no artificial flavors or coloring. Red Velvet cakes get their hue not from a nasty bottle with a number and no name, but from the juice of beets (which, as one may know, a little will go a long way, especially on a white shirt).

Friend Miller on Facebook, or Twitter, and read her blog here.

Or (what’s the world coming to?) do things the old-fashioned way and meet Bloomfield’s affable young entrepreneur in person. Miller will be at a tasting event on June 26th at InsaniTea on Bloomfield Ave, where there will be tea, lashings of cake and a raffle, at a charge of $10 per adult, $8 per child.

Oh, and her cakes are outstanding. Pictured are Miller’s super-mini bundts, or bundles, sold at $24 for two dozen per flavor.

I like to think of my child-rearing method now as carrot and stick. As in carrot cake and carrot stick. I’m not averse to cake, as you can tell by my well-fed Baked Goods label. But I am averse to anti-cupcake Nazi-types, who only fuel my desire to cheer the pro-life (pro-cake) population by regular and prolific baking. My boys eat relatively healthily and I have, after many years, learned to be more relaxed about them having chocolate and sweets now and again. Of course, to protect their healthy little arteries, I do intervene to rescue them from the evils of excessive chocolate (by consuming the lot myself).

Our oldest son turned 11 recently, and gave me carte blanche to bake him whatever cake I felt like. So, here’s what he got. A batch of his favorite orange cupcakes with both orange-buttercream and chocolate-buttercream frosting, and lemon cupcakes with lemon curd and lemon-buttercream frosting.

Do note, in one of these photos, there’s a wee hand grabbing a little tomato. I was surprised and pleased that the tomatoes and carrots and wholegrain chips and hummus disappeared almost as quickly as the cupcakes. Perhaps the boys were ravenous after a playing Capture the Flag for a couple of hours.

The other surprise was that tweenage boys – and there were about ten 10-to-11 year olds at the party – adored the *dainty lemon-curd cupcakes that I’d baked with their mums in mind, and also gobbled up all the mini lemon tarts that would have delighted girls their age. These are macho fellas, mind you, who play football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, baseball and tennis. More power to them.

And many happy returns to my gorgeous son!

(*Having grown up with three brothers, I had absolutely no intention of making macho-themed cupcakes decked out as tennis balls, baseballs, little dogs’ tails, snails or whatever!)

During our recent visit to London, Grandpa Mike treated the boys to his favorite recipe for bubelach, a fried pancake which uses matzah meal and so, is suitable for Passover consumption.

While frying up the little breakfast treats, told his grandsons how he, too, would stand next to his mum while she cooked up the exact little cakelets in oil, while reaching out with eager fingers to steal bits of the cinnammon and sugar that the bubelach are later dredged in.

To make them, mix four tablespoons of matzah meal with four eggs, whisk to a froth. You may add a dash of milk and orange zest if you like (I did), and a tablespoon of potato flour if you wish. Then, drop them by spoonfuls into a pan in which olive oil has been heated up (but not to smoking point).

Cook till golden brown, flip, transfer to a kitchen-papered dish to soak up excess oil (not a necessary step), then dredge in cinnamon and sugar. My kids had some this way, and some plain with jam.

Don’t forget the most important ingredients – a dash of love, and small, hungry tums to pass the tradition on to.

What could be sweeter than having some charoset at your Seder table made by Mesiah? Not the Messiah, but Nicky Mesiah, Montclair’s own queen of the caramelized confections, who has come up with a charoset-inspired toffee.

I cornered Miss Nicky recently and persuaded her to divulge the secrets of the Delivery of the Enslaved Toffee-Fruit Confection (to your home).

Tell us about your history with charoset.

I grew up with Jewish kids and we swapped holiday experiences including seders, bar & batmitvahs, sleepovers, camp, etc. It was that cultural exchange which introduced me to charoset. After moving to Montclair 26 yrs. ago, I would buy it from Mardi Gras & King’s. But when I left corporate life and began my business, I decided to make it myself and realized that I craved those flavors from my childhood, and that the dish is quite healthy.

Charoset, which symbolizes the ‘mortar’ used in making the bricks in biblical times, has apples along with the dried fruit and nuts. My version doesn’t contain dates, and having more Ashkenazi Jewish friends also influenced the type of charoseth I make.

Will your charoset be a concern to the FDA in its fight against obesity?

I have always been concerned with being ‘healthy, not skinny’-as my mission statement says. The sucrose-blend Splenda charoset’toffee is the lowest caloried of all of the toffee varieties I do. It contains less than 10 ingredients, including butter, sugar, nuts, raisins, dried cherries, walnuts, pinch of salt and flavorings.

Will rabbis be after you for straying from a paste eaten for thousands of years, and which takes its inspiration from mortar that’s used to adhere bricks together?

There is no chocolate in the Charoset’toffee —which is in keeping with tradition of the dish. And it has dried fruit and nuts in it, too.

Is this a dessert dish or to be eaten at the Seder?

It is great as dessert, but I also break it into small pieces and use atop a Waldorf salad. It adds a wonderful layer of sweetness from the raisins and cherries.

Thank you, Miss Nicky. The charoset’toffee was outstanding!

For more details on charoset, click here, and for charoset’s connection to a poem of love, read this.

(P.S. Neither this toffee, nor Miss Nicky, make any claim to this delightful confection being kosher for Passover. However, it was declared a revelation by colleagues of all persuasions at Reuters)