L.A. Story: My Cupcake Liners Runneth Over

Time flies! Three months have passed since I picked out my wedding dress, and last week I flew back to Los Angeles for a dress fitting.

This time around I had a baked goods plan worked out in advance. I decided that I would make chocolate chip biscotti, salted fudge brownies, and caramel pecan cookies for Jerry and Esther, my parents' friends who are so generously providing my wedding dress. I made the biscotti the night before my trip, because I knew that they would be sturdy enough to survive the plane trip without any loss of flavor or texture (unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I sealed up the box). I also packed up some pecans, cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate and fleur de sel so that I would have them to make the brownies and pecan bars. Happily, the baking in L.A. went without incident.

I also had time during my trip for a visit to Surfas in Culver City, the restaurant supply store that is a self-declared "Chef's Paradise." I first learned about Surfas years ago from the Los Angeles Times food section, which I read (on paper when I'm in L.A., online otherwise) every Wednesday. Whenever the section runs an article mentioning a piece of specialty kitchen equipment, it usually lists Surfas as a source. The enormous store sells kitchen equipment, gourmet food, and also houses a cafe and a test kitchen where they offer demos and classes. If you like kitchen stuff and you find yourself in L.A., you really should stop by for a visit.

I was very disappointed that Surfas was all out of Callebaut bittersweet and white chocolate discs, because I was planning to stock up. I did pick up 6 pounds of Callebaut extra bitter (70.4%) discs at a little over $6.50/pound. (Unfortunately, while Surfas does sell lots of unsweetened chocolate, they do not stock it in my heavily favored form of discs, so my unsweetened chocolate supply remains dangerously low... maybe I can wait it out until the cooler weather of autumn makes mail order a viable option again.)

I clearly experienced some form of temporary insanity when I hit the cupcake liner aisle, because when I got back to my parents' house and reviewed my purchases, I realized, "Holy cow, I bought 1,000 cupcake liners!" I just couldn't help myself. I have been coveting some swirl cupcake liners since I spotted them in the King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalog a few months ago, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money to buy them. KA sells a pack of 60 liners for $6.95. I was delighted when I spotted the very same liners at Surfas, in packs of 100 for $4.99 (the mini-liners were $4.50 for a pack of 120). The liners are bright and cheery, and there is even an adorable line drawing of a cupcake on the bottom of each liner. I'm a sucker for that kind of gratuitous detail. I picked up two packs of regular liners and two packs of mini-liners. I also couldn't resist a pack of 600(!) brown waxed paper liners that was $10.55.

I have one more dress fitting to go, and I hope I have time to stop by Surfas again the next time I'm in L.A. Even though I already have more cupcake liners than I can shake a stick at, I'm thinking about picking up some tulip muffin papers on my next visit. Surfas sells them in bulk at incredibly reasonable prices. What can I say, I'm a girl who finds it hard to resist a baking supply bargain!

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