Joy the Baker is at it again! Have you ever heard of profiteroles? They are like cream puffs -- but they have ice cream inside. Pretty great, right?

"I’m ok with this melty situation.  It simply means that you have to pop one of these profiteroles in your mouth very quickly.  One bite.  Teeth freeze .  Brain freeze.  You’ll feel like you’ve made a terrible mistake (and maybe you have) but you can chew through it… and you can’t chew through most mistakes.  Also, most mistakes don’t taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream and warm chocolate sauce… so maybe this isn’t a mistake after all."

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Life is just too short to not have all your cheese in one place. PopChart Lab has created a stellar cheese infographic, including 66 cheeses separated by animal and then texture. You can have it as a screensaver or decorate your walls--either way, your cheese will never be too far away. 

The folks over at PopChart Lab are known for meticulously charting the taxonomy of all kinds of stuff, from kitchen tools to video game controllers. Finally, now, their newest print tackles the most important thing on Earth — cheese. On it are sixty-six cheeses broken down by the animal that produced the milk and the texture of the cheese. If you want it, preorder is open now.

See the full infographic 

Michael Pollan met with culture to talk about cheese, cooking, family, and life for the Voicings article in this spring’s issue. However, the result of this meeting was over 15 pages of notes, certainly more than the one-page article can hold! Here are some extra highlights that we just couldn’t throw away.

The Intersection of Nature and Artifice

What’s interesting about cheese is what’s interesting about a lot of cooked things, that they have elements of nature and culture mixed together. I guess you can make cheese in a laboratory, but it’s not what you’d consider cheese. You finally need a cow, or a goat, and you need milk, and you need grass, or grain, and then you work on it, but you don’t totally control it.

Earlier this year, a petition to allow the use of the artificial sweetener aspartame in milk garnered some press. Proponents of the measure argued it would cut calories of both regular and chocolate milk, which as served in schools, despite the fact that aspartame has been linked to obesity and diabetes. Now, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is urging the FDA to reject the petition, but not because of the potential dangers of artificial sweeteners.

So what's the academy's beef with the petition? Well, it goes back to the assertion that the dairy industry makes in its petition that the change (allowing no or low-calorie sweeteners in milk) could promote healthful eating and help reduce childhood obesity.

Not necessarily, says the academy.

"Flavored milk is not a major source of added sugar in children's diets," says Bergman.

The bold flavors in this dish make other frozen yogurts look downright wimpy. Tangy citrus is mixed perfectly with creamy ricotta and the quick kick of crushed chilis. The result? Savory-sweet intensity. Don’t forget the sea salt! 

My last experiment with frozen yogurt was so delicious that I just had to try a sexier version. The ricotta makes the yogurt smooth and rich. The chilli is a sensation that only lingers for a second, tracing the path of the cool yogurt as it moves from tip of tongue to back of throat.

Get the recipe here.

Photo courtesy of Steamy Kitchen.

Grilled corn is a delicious summer pleasure, but why not take it up a notch with bacon butter and a smattering of cotija?

But then I crumbled some crispy, fried bacon into soft, pillowy butter… and I really had no choice other than to slather it on a grilled ear. Then roll it in cheese. Absolutely sinful. We ate this on Sunday night with some delicious chicken I will tell you about later this week. I never knew I liked sinning this much.

Get the recipe
Photo by How Sweet Eats

Whey is a well-known by-product of cheese, one that finds its home as fertilizer, feed for pigs, and even protein supplements for humans. Whey is also a by-product of Greek yogurt, but it's not the same kind -- it's acidic, and yogurt companies are struggling to find uses for it. With the Greek yogurt industry booming, a solution to the problem is needed, and quick.

But it’s not so easy to integrate acid whey into the workings of the farm. The silage Rejman feeds his cows, for example, can only soak up so much before becoming unmanageable slop — “like dropping water on your pizza,” he says. It’s also sort of like feeding your cows candy bars — they like it, but shouldn’t eat too much or it upsets their digestive system. It’s a problem that Rejman admits defies easy solutions. “How do you handle all the whey without screwing up the environment?”

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For now, the spotlight is on Vermont. Tucked in this small Northern state, you'll find cheddar, blue, and gooey soft cheeses, to name a few. Cabot may be the most well-known, but deeper look into Vermont proves a dedicated cheese community worthy of any European successor. Click through below for 9 Vermont cheeses you shouldn't miss out on.

Nowhere is better to bask in the wealth of handmade USA cheese than in Vermont, a true cheese-lover's paradise. It's the state with the highest number of artisanal cheesemakers per capita: over 40 of them.

There's no arguing certain cheeses are just downright beautiful. Le Jeune Autize is one of them, kohl-colored ash striking a bold contrast against the bone-white paste. It's just begging to be eaten, and shouldn't you oblige?

I asked for a taste, and my first impressions were smooth and silky, with a nicely semi-firm body that gave easily under my bite. Oilier than most goat cheeses, Le Jeune Autize plays across the tongue joyfully without being overly capricious. There's a good taste of salt there, with a lightly funky layer that won't overpower those not into strong cheeses. The followup is decidedly sweet, and the rind has a pleasantly dusty, mushroomy flavor that smacks faintly of grass and fresh tobacco.

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Photo by Stephanie Stiavetti

Creamy spaghetti: it's the ultimate comfort food, throughout the seasons. Mascarpone gives this dish a lighter feel, and meyer lemons brighten, so you can still slurp your noodles in warm weather.

Mascarpone is a soft, scoopable, sweet cheese. Not sugar sweet, but mild and milky with just the tiniest bit of tang. The Meyer lemon has that same quality: sweeter than a regular lemon but still tart. They make a great sauce together, lighter than a typical cream sauce but still silky and rich.

Get the recipe
Photo by Faith Durand