In my head, the end of summer in San Francisco is the end of September. Not because the weather starts to cool off (it hasn’t, if anything October tends to be just as warm as September) or the leaves are starting to change (San Francisco has very few deciduous trees). No, it’s because the summer activities and street fairs have come and gone and one of the most popular fairs is at the end of September, right before we head into Halloween season, Folsom Street Fair (link NSFW). Like Halloween, it’s a holiday (of sorts) for San Franciscans, one where people wear costumes. But the costumes tend to be more “adult” in nature, as the fair is a celebration of the leather, fetish or alternative lifestyles. Not necessarily safe for work (so you might want to stop reading if you’re easily offended or in a sensitive environment), the outfits for Folsom Street Fair fully embraces the outlandish, though each year it seems more and more tame to me – though in fairness it might just be my jaded self, having attended one too many of them. Last year I fully embraced this street by baking a black and blue (berry) pie as an homage but this year, just in time for Folsom Street Fair, I received a review copy of the new cookbook by my friend Shauna of the Piece of Cake blog, and I thought it most appropriate to go the exact opposite direction of Folsom Street Fair. In honor of all those people who don’t feel like they would fit into the “alternative” lifestyle of Folsom, I present to you a purely vanilla recipe, the Salted Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Multigrain Cookie that you see above.
When we ask, she told us her gay boyfriend made this dress for her.
Birds of a feather and all that...
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a charity organization that helps run Folsom Street Fair.
Folsom, of course, is basically the adult version of Halloween for San Franciscans. Halloween seems to be the one holiday where people seems to dress up in costumes, and, inexplicably make each seemingly innocent outfit “sexy”. Much has been said about the inappropriate sexy outfit, though some costumes naturally veer to the sexy. The French maid outfit seems to veer into the naturally sexy in my opinion. However some costumes just don’t seem like they should be sexy. For instance Sesame Street’s characters should never, under any circumstance, be sexy. This doesn’t stop people of course. And of course, with the gay community, Halloween costumes have definitely veered sexy as well, with seemingly innocuous costumes like Mario Brothers some how coming off as sexy. Of course, with Folsom Street Fair, pretty much any pretense of costuming is ignored and all you get is the sexy part, well mostly. Basically, it’s an event to show off as much skin as possible.
I ran into my friends Tristan, Cavin and Merredith, who all seemed to looking very tastefully sexy.
These are more typical shirtless Folsom Street Fair attendees.
Disco pants and gladiator straps on his forearms were kind of sexy cool.
Ok, I take it back. Apparently there WAS a sexy Minny Mouse. Totally inappropriate.
Of course, what some people consider sexy isn’t necessarily what everyone else thinks of as sexy. As always, the people who dress up as animals just confuse me, but I’m not one to judge. If living in San Francisco for nearly 15 years has done anything for me, it’s made me realize that what someone else finds “fun” isn’t necessarily what I will find fun and vice versa. Thankfully there’s someone out there for everyone and as long as they aren’t hurting anyone, I say go you! Or perhaps I should say “Fetch Fido!”
Um. Woof?
Hmmm. Apparently Max from Where the Wild Things Are came to Folsom when he grew up.
I'm not sure what these two are dressed up as. But they both need to go and eat a hamburger stat.
In the end I realize that Folsom, like Halloween, is a chance for the “local color” to spread their wings and show off their creativity. If you get a chance to visit San Francisco at the end of September, try to make it over to the fair. And if Folsom isn’t really your thing, than be comforted in knowing that vanilla is an exquisite flavor all by itself. If you don’t believe me, pick up a copy of Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever and it will change your mind!
I love that David Bowie from Labyrinth came to Folsom Street Fair.
As always, I wonder how these two explain their tan lines...
You can come up with your own caption for this one.
Special thanks to Quirk Books for sending me a review copy of Pure Vanilla by Shauna Server. I was not compensated for this post, and all the opinions above are my own and have nothing to do with Shauna or Quirk Books.
Salted Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Multigrain Cookie
By Irvin Lin
I’ve never understood why the term “vanilla” stands for bland and boring. Vanilla seed pods are incredibly difficult to grow and harvest. In fact, after saffron, it’s the most expensive spice for this very reason; it’s why vanilla beans and vanilla extract cost so much at the store. That said, I’m not a fan of imitation vanilla, as it’s a synthetic bioproduct of making paper, and tastes really flat and one dimensional. If you can, always use real vanilla extract and vanilla beans. It’s worth it. You’ll notice that I use a whole vanilla bean in this recipe, both the seeds on the inside, and the pod itself, to get the most out of the expensive vanilla bean and to punch up the vanilla flavor in the cookie. If you don’t have a vanilla bean or don’t want to buy one, just double the vanilla extract to 2 tablespoons.
I used a few harder to find ingredients in this recipe, including a multigrain rolled cereal, barley flour and vanilla salt. The multigrain rolled cereal is a combination of rolled oats, barley flakes, rolled whole wheat, rye flakes and Triticale seeds (which is a cross between rye and wheat) and there are variations of it that you can find online. I like the flavor and nutritional value you get with multi-grain but you don’t want to buy it specifically for this recipe you can substitute regular rolled oats in place of the multigrain cereal. If you don’t have barley flour, just substitute in regular all-purpose flour in its place. I have a recipe for vanilla salt, but you can also buy it online and at specialty stores. If you don’t have it, or don’t want to buy it, you can use coarse sea salt, but don’t use iodized table salt, as it’s way too harsh and chemically. If you only have table salt, just omit it. It’s not worth ruining your cookies with it.
Adapted from Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever
Ingredients
1 1/3 cup (8 oz) chopped white chocolate, divided (you can use white chocolate chips, but try to get the stuff that has actual cocoa butter in it, not just white baking chips)
1 whole vanilla bean
3 cups (340 g) multigrain rolled cereal, divided (see headnote above)
1 cup (140 g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (75 g) barley flour (see headnote above)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (155 g) dark brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 g) white granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla salt (see headnote above)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place 1 cup of the chopped white chocolate (reserving 1/3 cup for later) onto a rimmed baking sheet in a big heap in the center. Split open the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the vanilla seeds onto the white chocolate, then toss the chocolate and vanilla seeds together to distribute the seeds. Spread out onto the baking sheet evenly, and place in the oven for 5 minutes. Once the baked, pull the white chocolate out and stir the white chocolate together, until it clumps up and the brown bits are mixed with the less roasted parts of the white chocolate. Let cool on the pan while you make the rest of the cookie batter but keep the oven turned on to the same temperature.
2. Place 1/2 cup of the multi-grain cereal in a food processor or a clean spice grinder. Cut the empty vanilla pod into 1 inch pieces and add it as well. Pulse until the cereal and vanilla pod are ground into a powder. Empty into a large mixing bowl and add the remaining multi-grain cereal, flours and baking soda. Using a balloon whisk, stir vigorously until mixed together.
3. Place the butter and vanilla extract in the bowl of standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream to incorporate the vanilla into the butter. Add the sugars, until the butter is fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at time, beating and scraping down the sides and bottom with a large spatula between additions. Add the roasted chocolate into the cookie dough and beat until just incorporated.
4. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or piece of parchment paper. Scoop the dough into heaping tablespoons and press into each cookie three or four of the white chocolate chunks/chips. Sprinkle a generous pinch of vanilla salt on top of the cookie dough and set the cookie dough 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookie is golden brown, being careful not to overbake. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 to 3 minutes then move them to a wire rack to cool further.
Makes about 36 cookies
merri says
Thanks Irvin it was great seeing you at the fair for a few min. We should hang out longer sometime when you have time 🙂 I love how you put a non vanilla vanilla recipe on a leather fetish fair post!
Irvin says
Thanks Merri! Totally love to hang out sometime…when I move out of my hermit mode. And yes, glad you liked the non vanilla vanilla recipe!
Vijitha says
I have been baking a lot of cookies these days. I need to bake few more for Halloween parties coming next weekend. I have bookmarked this recipe and will let you know how it turned out.
Irvin says
Let me know how they turn out! I loved them, as did my friend who ate them…
Belinda @zomppa says
I don’t even know what to say for the last photo! I love that you know your seasons by fairs. We just had the NC State Fair here, and for me, that is definitely fall!!
Irvin says
Right? Totally unsure what to say about that last one too. And I’ve actually never been to a state fair here in CA. I keep on meaning to go to the big one in Sacramento. One of these days…
Arthur in the Garden! says
Its like an early Halloween! Love it!
Irvin says
Totally like early Halloween! Thanks!
Nik@ABrownTable says
Haha this reminds me of the High Heel Drag Races in D.C. though it is a bit colder here!
Irvin says
We had unusually warm weather during September and October. Now it’s getting cold though. And the High Heel Drag Races sounds fun!
Lauren says
I absolutely cannot wait to make these. And vanilla salt!!! I do my own extract and sugar, but vanilla salt never crossed my mind. It sounds incredible. I need order some more vanilla beans stat!
Irvin says
Yes! Vanilla salt is awesome. I use it lot on top of cookies, especially chocolate chip cookies. It’s like my secret weapon. But it’s also really fantastic in savory food. Try sprinkling a little bit of it over tomato soup as a finishing salt.
Loretta | A Finn In The Kitchen says
I’m totally in love with what I’ve seen of this cookbook so far! Those cookies sound amazing and a nice change from chocolate chip.
Irvin says
It’s a fantastic cookbook, and I don’t just say that because I’m friends with the author (who is absolutely lovely). I think they’re a great change from chocolate chip too, though I’m never one to turn down a good chocochipper…
mary fran | frannycakes says
SanFrancisco seems like such a magical place! I can’t wait until I am out there this February to experience it myself!
Since I am in love with vanilla, these cookies (vanilla salt?! oh my!) sound incredible and you have sold me on another cookbook for my collection
As for the tan lines, that’s why they make SPF 110, now way to get a tan with that stuff 😉
Irvin says
Ooh! Let me know when you come out here to SF in February. If I’m around we should totally get coffee together! And yes, SF is a magical place. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
BTW, these should be pretty easy to make gluten free. There’s minimal all purpose & barley. You could just sub in some gluten free flours and maybe add a teaspoon of ground chia or flax seed to help bind.
And SPF 110? That’s absurd! As my friend Ben would say – “That’s like a burka in a bottle!”
mary fran | frannycakes says
I’ll have to remember the burka in a bottle comment when summer rolls around 🙂
And I will totally let you know when I am in town – I plan on visiting Charissa (from zest bakery) while I am there too!
Andrea says
i plan on making these for christmas treats..can’t wait! what a great idea using the multi grain cereal..why didn’t i ever think of using this before?? i think it would be a great addition to a lot of oatmeal cookie recipes. i love vanilla EVERYTHING so this recipe is right up my ally. thanks for the lovely recipe!
tg says
I was pretty excited about making these but ran into an issue with the directions, should the flour, grain mixture be mixed in before the roasted chocolate? Also, the dough was super wet for me and the cookies baked super flat, is that expected? the flavor is really kickass though. they just aren’t that pretty and don’t have the greatest texture….