There’s a Story Around This Cake

For its new Keret Cake, Breads Bakery’s Proustian moment was a short story, “Crumb Cake,” by Etgar Keret, an award-winning Israeli author who wrote it for the bakery. The cake, a moist, slightly citrusy golden loaf topped with crumbs and bits of dried raspberry, was created by a Breads baker, with input from the writer.…

Details

The Bean for Your Irish Coffee

Among the beans sold by Fire Dept. Coffee in Rockford, Ill., a company founded by firefighters, are some infused with spirits, including bourbon, rum, tequila and Irish whiskey. The whiskey flavor is worth having on hand to make Irish coffee, the winter warmer soon to be in great demand. Though the whole beans smell of…

Details

This Shop Has Gone to the Dogs

Sergei Potekhin will not disclose how he and his wife, Lena, create their chocolate menagerie, mainly many breeds of dogs. Mr. Potekhin calls it a “proprietary technique,” though it looks like the figures in milk, dark and white chocolates are sculpted; some might also be molded. The couple started in Russia, where Ms. Potekhin worked…

Details

The Anything but Humble Carrot

LONDON — “You ask me what life is,” wrote the great Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. “That’s like asking what a carrot is. A carrot is a carrot, and there’s nothing more to know.” Well, Anton, I think there’s a lot more that can be said and known about the matter. Almost everyone loves a carrot,…

Details