Send a cake! Bake Me A Wish is in the business of making people happy by delivering a tasty cake with a chocolate medallion greeting on the cake, as well as a separate card.

There’s Boston cream cake, brownie cake, carrot cake, chocolate mousse cake, peanut butter mousse cake, red velvet cake and more. The cake arrives in a festive gold and brown striped box.

We sampled two cakes from Bake Me A Wish: Vanilla Bean Cake and Tiramisu Classico Cake. The vanilla bean cake was spot-on, with cream cheese filling. But we missed the traditional soaking of coffee liqueur in the Tiramisu Cake. Something called “tiramisu” and “classico” should have the liqueur as well as the ladyfingers—two ingredients that define tiramisu. We’d suggest making another choice.

Who wouldn’t like to receive a chocolate
mousse cake? Photo courtesy BakeMeAWish.com.

The company is a good citizen, contributing 5% of sales of particular cakes to worthy nonprofit organizations.

Just eat it! No cooking required.
Photo by Zeeshan Qureshi | SXC.

Yet, we haven’t done a post on the joys of raw corn. We were recently reminded of that via an email from The Kitchenista, one of our favorite NIBBLE writers and a great cooking teacher (learn step-by-step cooking techniques at TheKitchenista.com).

Cut the raw kernels right off the cob for a sweet and crunchy addition to many dishes (and yes, you can eat it raw from the cob when it’s fresh-picked and so sweetly seductive).

Raw corn is crunchier than cooked corn: When cooked, the starchy stiffness breaks down.

• Add the raw kernels to salads
• Sprinkle them on other vegetables and grains
• Toss them onto a white pizza
• Garnish soup, hors d’oeuvre and dinner plates
• Top (or mix in to) plain yogurt

Let us know your own ideas.

NOTE: Don’t pull back the husk and silk when buying corn. It usually doesn’t tell you anything and starts to dry out the corn, even if you plan to use it later that day. If you don’t buy that ear, you’re leaving it to dry out for the next person.

How To Cut Corn From The Cob

1. Remove the husk and stringy corn silk from the ears: Just pull down and yank them off. If you’re having problems removing the strings of silk, try a slightly damp paper towel with a downward motion.

2. Hold the ear upright in a medium or large bowl. With a large knife, cut downward along one side of the cob to remove the kernels, using a back-and-forth, saw-like motion. Take your time and cut as close to the cob as you can.

3. Rotate the cob and repeat until you’ve removed all the kernels. Use the leftover cobs to make corn stock—we’ll post the recipe as tomorrow’s Tip Of The Day.

If you think you’ll be removing corn from the cob on a regular basis, there are gadgets called corn cutters or shuckers that help people who don’t have great knife skills. The best one we’ve used is this Corn Zipper from Kuhn Rikon. It’s a curved blade that zips right down the curve of the cob and makes the job easy.

One manufacturer offering help is Chef Hymie Grande. The company has created a line of all-natural barbecue “glazes” flavored with low-glycemic agave nectar instead of other sugars.

Chef Hymie Grande claims to be the first BBQ sauce [glaze] to carry the American Diabetes Association mark on the bottle’s label; the company contributes 5% of sales to the ADA. The line is also vegan-friendly.

Three varieties are available:

• Mild New Mexico Sweet Barbecue Glaze, sweet and gentle-tasting with a suggestion of sweet spice (think cinnamon).
• Polapote* Barbecue Glaze made with ancho and chipotle, billed as medium-heat but delivering a nice amount of mild-to-medium heat.

We have no idea what “polapote” means. It’s not in the dictionary.

An BBQ glaze for people on sugar-free
diets. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

• Cascabel Express Barbecue Glaze labeled “Surprisingly Hot,” but actually a full-medium heat.

All three glazes have a nice texture from crunchy onions. Two tablespoons contain 30-35 calories plus 5g-6g sugars, 7g-8g total carbohydrate and 15mg sodium.

By the way, glaze is a thin sauce. If you haven’t used glazes, the consistency is more like a vinaigrette dressing than a traditionally thick barbecue sauce.

If you’re looking for a sugar-free traditional barbecue sauce, take a look at Bellycheer Grilling Sauces.

Find all of our favorite barbecue sauces in our Rubs, Marinades & Glazes Section.

[1] Start dinner with a gazpacho shot, with or without a splash of tequila (photo © Skyy Vodka).

Start a summer dinner with a gazpacho shot. You can:

 
Even a small amount of soup can add another portion of veggies to your daily intake.

How many fruit and vegetable servings do you need each day?

The government’s prior “five a day” recommendation has been modified based on age, gender and physical activity. Calculate your personal requirements.

Considered the national dish of Korea by many, kimchi is eaten as a side dish as well as incorporated into recipes. It’s a terrific fusion food, pairing well with everything from eggs to sandwiches to meat to tacos.

If you like pungent, spicy foods, take a taste. You can find them in the refrigerated case at Asian grocers, as well as online. As spicy as they are, kimchi is also a probiotic food, aiding with digestion.

• Learn more about kimchi and read our review of Mother In Law’s Kimchi, featuring two artisan varieties.
• Find more of our favorite pickles in our Gourmet Condiments Section.
• Find more of our favorite international foods.

Kimchi is tasty, spicy and probiotic. Photo
by Jessica Boucher | Mother In Law’s Kimchi.