I had to share this recipe as well.

This is another family holiday favorite. It’s so easy to throw together, gets better with age, and feels festive and indulgent without any fuss.

This recipe is also found in Let’s Stay In as part of our Christmas Tea menu where I usually serve it as cupcakes with a hefty dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.

I’ve always loved the idea of Sticky Toffee Pudding. Tender cake sweetened with dates, served with a warm buttery toffee sauce. But I so often found the end result too sweet. Enter cranberries. Their vibrant color reinforce a seasonal flare and their tart bite cut through the sweetness in a way that has me pining for this cake long after the holidays are over. Thank goodness for frozen cranberries. 

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Cranberry Sticky Toffee Date Cake

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Yield 8-10 servings

Ingredients

Cake

8 ounces/ 230 g pitted medjool dates, roughly chopped

1 cup/ 240 ml boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons/ 60 g butter, melted

3/4 cup/ 160 g packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup/ 140 g all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups / 170 g fresh (or frozen) roughly chopped cranberries

Salted Butterscotch Sauce (half the recipe from Bittersweet Chocolate Cake)

1/2 cup / 100 g dark brown sugar

1/2 cup / 120 ml heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoons rum

Pinch sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 inch cake pan then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Add the dates to a bowl then cover with the boiling water. Stir in the baking soda then let this mixture sit until the dates are soft enough to easily break up with a fork, about 5 minutes. Mash them up a bit then set aside. 

In a large bowl stir together the melted butter and brown sugar then whisk in the eggs and salt. Add the flour and softened date mixture then stir well to combine. Stir in the chopped cranberries.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the cake springs back slowly when gently pressed in the center.

For the toffee sauce:

Bring the sugar, cream, and butter to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat then carefully stir in the salt and rum.

When ready to serve pour the warm toffee sauce over the cake. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

*This recipe also works well for cupcakes. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. 

As promised I’m sharing the recipe for our Christmas dessert tradition. The chocolate peanut butter Bo\uche de Noel. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

The recipe comes from my book, Let’s Stay In. Our entire Christmas menu (Beef Wellington!) can also be found in that book.

The holidays are the perfect time for show stopping desserts. The Buche de Noel or Yule Log is a classic French dessert of a rolled up cake or roulade, with some sort of filling tucked inside and decorated with meringue mushrooms and frosting shaped as holly leaves in order to resemble log. My version, while lacking in sugar decorations (although there have been years where those were present too) is filled with a creamy peanut butter mousse and each slice is bathed in a salty peanut caramel. 

There are a number of steps here but each can be made in advance and even the finished cake itself can be kept in the fridge overnight if needed. The lengthy process and heaps of dishes is immediately erased when you see the delight on your friend’s and family’s faces when they watch you parade a giant chocolate log into the dining room. After that you there’s no way they’ll make you wash those dishes.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Buche de Noel

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Yield 10-12 Servings

Ingredients

Cake:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder, plus more for dusting

6 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Mousse:

1 pound 4 ounces (from 2 1/2 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups / 500 grams creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Chocolate Ganache:

8 ounces heavy cream

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Pinch salt

Salted Peanut Caramel:

8 oz/ 1 cup sugar

6 oz/ 1/2 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup or corn syrup

1/4 cup water

8 oz/ 1 cup heavy cream

2 oz/ 4 tablespoons butter, soft

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds removed (optional)

6 ounces roasted and salted peanuts

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 12×17-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper. Set aside.

Sift together the flour and cocoa powder in a bowl then set aside. Then whisk to combine.

Add the egg yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy and just starting to shift from lemon yellow to butter yellow. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar in a slow and steady stream. Continue to beat until thick and pale yellow, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the whipped egg yolks to a large bowl then clean the stand mixer bowl and whisk. Wipe dry then add the egg whites.

Beat starting on low then gradually build up the speed so as not to shock the eggs. Once frothy add the salt. Continue to beat until soft peaks form then steadily stream in the remaining 2/3 cup sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold the egg whites into the whipped yolks. Gingerly fold the dry ingredients into the whipped eggs. Continue to fold until no streaks remain.

Use an offset spatula to spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the cake slowly springs back when pressed.

Lay a piece of parchment paper, as large as the cake, on a clean flat surface. Dust it generously with cocoa powder. In one swift action invert the cake onto the parchment. Peel off the still warm cake’s parchment layer then dust the cake itself with another generous flurry of cocoa powder.

While the cake is warm and pliable gingerly roll it up with the parchment. Let the cake cool in this position. While the cake cools make the mousse or once cooled, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap then save the next steps for tomorrow.

For the mousse:

In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the cream cheese and peanut butter. Beat until smooth. Stir in the powdered sugar, heavy cream and salt and mix until well combined.

This can be made up to 3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate then bring to room temperature when ready to use.

For the ganache:

Add the cream to a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Watch the pot carefully as cream tends to bubble up and over rather quickly. Add the chocolate to a large bowl then pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let this sit for one minute then whisk to combine. Stir in the salt.

Let the ganache cool until it’s firm enough to easily spread on the cake, about 1 hour.

Ganache can be made up to 1 week in advance then rewarm gently in the microwave or in a saucepan on low heat.

For the caramel:

Combine the sugar, golden syrup and water in a large saucepan. Stir gently to combine then wash off the sides of the pan using water and your clean hands to feel if any sugar remains on the side. If stray bits of sugar fall into the caramel it can cause the caramel to crystallize so it’s important to make sure all the sugar is in the bottom of the pan mixed with the water.

Set the pan over high heat to bring the sugars to a rolling boil. Continue to cook until the caramel turns copper in color, about 7 to 10 minutes. Carefully add the cream, butter and vanilla bean, if using. The caramel will immediately seize but let it come back to a boil. Once the sugar is all melted stir in the peanuts.

Let the caramel cool before serving. This can be made up to three days in advance.

If the caramel is too stiff you can rewarm in a microwave or in a saucepan to serve. Store caramel in a sealable container.

To assemble the cake:

Carefully unroll the cake from the parchment paper. Add the mousse in an even layer then roll the cake again. Don’t worry about any cracking or tearing in the cake the ganache is there to cover all that up.

Cover the entire cake with plastic wrap tightly, like a giant piece of candy, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Place the cake on your serving platter.

Spread the ganache all over the cake. Cut off the ends at an angle and arrange in a way that resembles a log. Use a fork to create bark-like stiping in the ganache.

Serve straightaway or cover and refrigerate if you’ve made the cake in advance. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving.

Serve with the salted peanut caramel.

* This post was created in partnership with California Olive Ranch. We’ve been working together this year to bring you some special recipes that highlight this beautiful olive oil. I’ve been using their olive oil for years now because they produce a high quality oil for an everyday price. Cooking is what grounds me, which is why I make sure to work with ingredients that offer consistent quality and delicious taste. Olive oil is the basis of so many dishes, sweet and savory, and California Olive Ranch allows my food to shine.

I stare at the computer screen practically paralyzed by the mounting list of to-do’s. Ivy’s half-finished Halloween costume sits dormant in the corner, a few dishes from last night’s dinner linger on the table, and dinner tonight? There are no plans yet. 

In this moment I put the computer down, bound into the kitchen and set the oven to 350°F. The fridge is bare but the pantry provides everything I need to create something out of seemingly nothing. Raw ingredients; those that linger in the cupboard for moments such as this, they are humble, not much on their own but when combined with a few of their pantry neighbors they are comfort and warmth. Delight and joy and honestly, they become therapy.

It’s the process that is the healer. Instantly I’m out of my head with the racing thoughts of “not enoughs”. Not enough time in the day, not good enough, not fast enough, not helpful enough … and I focus on the fragrance of nutmeg as it slips across the microplane leaving behind flecks of spice. I marvel, if just for a moment, at the intricate pattern that’s revealed once the dull exterior is shaved away. Fresh ginger drips down my finger and releases a powerful perfume while it’s whisked into pumpkin purée. And fragrant olive oil, grassy with a bright pepper bite slowly dribbles in before dry goes into wet and then it all goes into the pan before hitting the hot oven. I return to the computer screen having accomplished something. It wasn’t on the to do list but I stepped into the present, into the process just long enough to regain right perspective. 

I created something. Something that scented the house with spice and Fall, something that will wrap the kids in warmth when they walk through the front door and something that pulled me out of myself long to remember that everything will be okay. 

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Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Adapted from BonAppetit.com

This simple recipe is everything I want in a quick baking, snack cake. I love a loaf cake that uses oil as the fat as it produces and tender crumb and here we use olive oil for texture and it adds a wonderful fragrant flavor as well. It also keeps the bread super moist (better than butter!) and add healthy fats with a world of benefits. 

I’ve added a couple of handfuls of bittersweet chocolate to this loaf which is also lovely. 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 15 ounce can of pumpkin pureé

1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup California Olive Ranch Destination Series Everyday olive oil

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9×5″ loaf pan with nonstick spray. 

Line bottom of pan with parchment, leaving a generous overhang on both long sides. 

Whisk flour, cinnamon, kosher salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg, in a medium bowl. 

Whisk eggs, pumpkin purée, ginger, and 1½ cups sugar in a large bowl. 

Stream in oil, whisking continuously until well combined. 

Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until completely combined, but take care not to overmix. (If you want to add chocolate stir it in now). 

Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan then top with the pumpkin seeds and brown sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, about 60 – 70 minutes. 

Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes until unmolding and cooling the loaf completely on a wire rack. 

*This post was created in partnership with California Walnuts, but all opinions are my own.. I’m so excited to be bringing you some of my very favorite walnut recipes in 2019 like these candied and chocolate covered walnuts and a hearty and nutritious soup made creamy with the help of walnuts.

This month we’re celebrating this heart-healthy* nut by making a cake that will warm anybody’s heart. Too much? Wait until you see the cake.

Normally when I crave a cake I stay clear away from those towering numbers that steal the show on everyone’s Instagram feed. Perhaps it was years of making wedding cakes that turned me off of stacking cakes on cakes then frosting to a slick perfection. Or perhaps it’s because for me, when it comes to cake I like it plain and often in loaf form.

It’s no surprise to many of you that I’m more of a snack cake fan (exhibit A, B, C). The sort that slips casually onto a plate tucked next to a cup of coffee in the morning. Or the sort that is perfectly fine served on a napkin at three in the afternoon. I don’t need a show stopper, I just want a simple stunner with a hearty crumb, a tender bite and one that values flavor over beauty.

In this walnut cake, flooded with milk chocolate mousse, covered with maple cream cheese frosting and a cascading river of salted maple caramel I believe we all win. Because in all its glory this cake is indeed a stunner. But strip away the frills and you have a cake that made my Saturday morning coffee time shine.

I will say that the milk chocolate mousse, while lovely, is a step that I may skip the next time I opt for stacking this cake. Just the cake, plentifully studded with walnuts, wrapped in a lightly sweet frosting and the flood of maple caramel is quite right on it’s own. But you know, it’s good to have options.

Stacked or unstacked this cake makes hearts happy.

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Walnut Cake with Milk Chocolate Mousse and Salted Maple Caramel

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 3/4 cup whole milk

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 cups chopped, toasted walnuts (plus more for finishing the cake)

Instructions

Makes two 8-inch cakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 3/4 cup whole milk

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 cups chopped, toasted walnuts (plus more for finishing the cake)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans lined with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In another large bowl whisk together the olive oil, milk, eggs and orange zest. Add this to the dry ingredients then mix well to combine. Stir in the walnuts.

Divide among the two prepared cake pans and bake for 50 – 60 minutes. Or until the middle springs back when gently pressed.

Let the cake cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

While the cakes cool prepare the frosting and mousse.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

Pinch salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter and cream cheese. Beat on medium low until creamy and well mixed, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup and a pinch of salt then mix on low until combined. Increase the speed to medium then beat for an addition 5 minutes. Set aside.

Milk Chocolate Mousse

From Epicurious.com

2 tablespoons brewed coffee

5 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

3/4 cup heavy cream, cold

Bring a small pot of water to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Combine the coffee and chocolate in a medium metal bowl that can sit atop the pot of water without touching the water. Place the bowl on the pot and heat until the chocolate is melted, stirring often. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and set aside to cool until no longer warm to the touch.

While the chocolate cools, whip the cream until soft peaks.

Gently fold in about half of the whipped cream into the chocolate. When just combined fold in the remaining whipped cream. Chill until ready to assemble the cake.

Salted Maple Caramel

1 cup maple syrup

Add the maple syrup to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer then reduce to 3/4 cup over low heat, about 5 – 7 minutes.

Keep a close eye on it as it can boil over. Let cool to room temperature.

To assemble the cake:

Once the cakes are completely cooled it’s time to assemble!

Using a piping bag (or if you’re fresh out as I was use a ziplock with a small cut in one corner) pipe a ridge or dam around the top edge of one of the cake layers. Fill the frosting fencing with the chocolate mousse (you may not need all the mousse, consider that the cake baker’s bonus). Top with the remaining cake layer. Then frost the entire cake.

Refrigerate until firm.

Just before serving add 1 cup or so of toasted walnuts to the top of the cake then pour the maple caramel over the top of the walnuts. Sprinkle with flake salt then serve right away.

*Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. One ounce of walnuts provides 18g of total fat, 2.5g of monounsaturated fat, 13g of polyunsaturated fat, including 2.5g of alpha-linolenic acid, the plant-based omega-3.

“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”
― Anne Lamott

I think I need this year to feel different. Because it is different.

For the first time Grandma won’t be the one bringing the pumpkin pie to the Thanksgiving table. She won’t walk through the door with a bag of Lay’s potato chips and her 9×13 glass Pyrex dish that houses a perfect pie. I won’t hear her insist the crust didn’t bake right or listen to her tell me how I could have done so much better. She’s wrong. Try as I might my pumpkin pie is never as good as Grandma’s even though I use her crust recipe; the one with no butter but lots of oil and a splash of milk. I even buy the can of Libby’s pumpkin pureé and follow the recipe off of the can because that is what Grandma does.

Did. I can’t seem to get used to that damn past tense.

This year is different. We knew someday it would be but what surprises me is that I’m finding myself wanting to lean into the difference. That was Grandma’s pumpkin pie and when I recreate it something is missing. Some recipes, perhaps, are best to live in memory. Maybe next year I’ll be ready to make her pie again but this year it still feels like it belongs to her.

The last time I saw her I held her hand and fingered her silver hair as she gasped her few final breaths. She was never very good at receiving praise so I took the opportunity I could to tell her how much I love her and how proud I am to be her granddaughter. She still felt like she was fighting. Her breathing, peaceful at times and then she’d dig deep for a breath. Wanting to release her I leaned in and whispered, “It’s okay Grandma, I’ll bake the pie now.”

It’s nearly Thanksgiving and while I want to honor that promise, making her pie feels like too great a task. I can’t bear for it to not be the same as it has been my entire life.

Last month, while in New Orleans, Joy and I spent a good bit of time flipping through the pages of the Sister Pie cookbook. Together she and I baked the Apple Pie with the Gruyere Crust but I took a quick photo on my phone of the Buttermilk Pumpkin Pie with the buckwheat streusel. The same day I made that beloved Collard Greens Melt I baked up this pie to see if it could be a possible contender for the holiday table.

It’s familiar, which for this holiday I do believe is essential, and yet different enough that I didn’t find myself comparing it to the one I’ve had for the last 36 years. There’s a subtle tang that intrigues and a warming crunch as you bite into the buttery spiced crumble. It’s a soft nod to tradition while gentling reminding us that life evolves. In our purest moments we are present because we know it won’t always be that way. We’re continuing to build new memories while still honoring those of the past.

Even if my pumpkin pie is not her’s I know she is still so very proud.

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Sister Pie’s Buttermilk Pumpkin Streusel Pie

Author Sister Pie

Yield 8 Servings

This recipe comes directly from the book. It’s a beauty. Loaded with inventive recipes and unique twists on the classes. Also, pie dough cookies! 

Ingredients

1 recipe single crust pie dough (I’m partial to my latest recipe in Let’s Stay In or you could use this one)

Buckwheat Pepita Streusel Topping

1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour

1⁄4 cup buckwheat flour

1⁄4 cup pepitas, toasted in a dry skillet

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 cup packed light brown sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, straight from the fridge

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree

3⁄4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup

2 tablespoons (1⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons fine yellow cornmeal

3⁄4 cup packed light brown sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 large egg, beaten

Instructions

Blind Bake:

Roll out your chilled pie dough into a large rough circle. Roll the dough around your rolling pin, then lay over your pie dough. Cut any excess dough off then fold in the edges and crimp the dough between your fingers. Place in the freezer and chill for 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450°F with the rack on the lowest level. Remove the pie crust from the freezer, tear off a square of parchment that is slightly larger than the pie shell, and gently fit it into the frozen crust. Fill the crust with sugar (yes, sugar, this is a genius tip I learned from Stella Parks from Bravetart. Read more about it here.) and place the pie pan on a baking sheet. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 25 to 27 minutes. Check for doneness by peeling up a piece of parchment—the crimps should be light golden brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. After 6 minutes, carefully remove the foil and beans. You did it! You are now ready to fill the pie.

PUMPKIN PIE

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Make the streusel topping: In a mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose and buckwheat flours, pepitas, cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt. Place the butter in the bowl and coat on all sides with the flour mixture. Take a bench scraper and cut the butter into 1⁄2-inch cubes directly into the flour mixture in the bowl. Work to break up the cubes with your hands until they are lightly coated with the flour mixture. Continue to use the bench scraper to cut the cubes into smaller pieces—the idea is that you are cutting each cube in half.

Switch to a pastry blender and begin to cut in the butter with one hand while turning the bowl with the other. It’s important not to aim for the same spot at the bottom of the bowl with each movement, but to actually slice through butter every time. You’ll need to clean out the pastry blender every few turns of the bowl. Once most of the butter is incorporated, use your fingers to fully break down the butter until it is no longer visible. Be careful not to overwork the mixture at this point. Scatter the streusel over one of the parchment-lined baking sheets, distributing it evenly, and transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, gently tossing the mixture with a spatula about halfway through. When the streusel is evenly browned and does not appear wet anymore, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the filling: In a mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, syrup, melted butter, cornmeal, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ginger and whisk until well blended.

Place the blind-baked shell on the other parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the crimped edge with the beaten egg. Pour the buttermilk-pumpkin filling into the pie shell until it reaches the bottom of the crimps. Transfer the baking sheet with the pie on it to the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the edges are puffed and the center jiggles only slightly when shaken.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the pie to a wire rack. Let cool for 15 minutes, then cover the pie with the streusel topping. Allow the pie to fully cool and set for another 4 to 6 hours. When the pie is at room temperature, slice it into 6 to 8 pieces and serve.

Store leftover pie, well wrapped in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

I read this comment from a reader on Cup of Jo a couple months ago and ever since then it has given me so much joy and parental confidence (which if you are a parent you know that is very hard to come by).

“Growing up, my absolute favorite dinner was ‘plate of little things.’ My single mom would slice cheese, apples, crackers, hot dogs, dry cereal, whatever and we would eat it in front of the TV. I told her that recently and she gasped, ‘What? those were the nights I failed. I didn’t cook a thing and was too tired to talk to you guys. That’s ridiculous.’ Goes to show, it may be JUST when we fail that our kids feel most happy.”

Doesn’t that just breathe life into your soul? To think that the times when we are most in our heads beating ourselves up for the choices we are making or the things we AREN’T doing may be just the things that remember with gladness, joy and appreciation?

We’re deep into summer here and like many families we struggle with the work/life balance during the summer especially. Gabe and I are trying to balance our freelance careers while also wanting to give the kids a memorable summer. It’s also the blessed time of the year in the pacific northwest where we feature enviable weather. For once the rest of the country looks to our gray corner longingly and I tell you what, it’s hard to focus on work.

Last week, in an attempt to be both good mom and good boss lady business owner, I took my oldest to the shop with me. He has expressed interest in working for me so I wanted to give him a glimpse of what that work actually looks like. He watered my neglected plants, cleaned up my dishes and helped me develop a few recipes – most of which failed (not his fault). Together we worked on this recipe for turning a Donut or Saturn Peach into a batter-dip and cinnamon sugar coated dream. He took one bite, smiled, said it was good and then asked when we could leave.

I loved having him there, giving him a deeper glimpse into my day-to-day life, listening to his commentary peppered throughout the day but then, as I watched his head droop in boredom and his eyes long for someplace other than mom’s office, I felt guilty. I thought of all the camps I didn’t sign him up for, for the friends I was keeping him from. He should be on the water or on his scooter with his friends not in a hot kitchen standing in front of a steaming dishwasher.

Down deep I realize that these experiences are important and good for him to see the hard work his dad and I do in order to provide for them but the guilt is strong, particularly when I peruse the Facebook streams of others living their best lives. Yes, I too fall victim to believing the social media lies.

The next morning I thought often of that quote above as Gabe and I woke up to our 12 year old asking us if we were ready for breakfast. When we sleepily responded, “we’re ready!” we were greeted with two perfected plated donut peach donuts along with a cup of tea for Gabe and coffee for me. My boy had got up 6 am to recreate the recipe that we made together the day before and surprised us with breakfast in bed along with the sweetest note of gratitude for us as parents.

I’m not sure what spurred on such an act but my goodness, there were tears.

Our kids are now getting to the age where they reflect on their younger years as if they are distant memories. The events they often recall are often the mundane. They are the repeated acts that to them took on meaning. Often they are the times when I as a mom felt as if I was somehow failing them but to them it was felt as love.

I never would have guessed that these simple fried little peaches would spur on one of my most favorite memories as a parent to date.

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Donut Peach Donuts

Author Baron Rodriguez

Yield 1 dozen

You guys, this is so fun. My oldest son has tested and written today’s recipe and I could not be more proud. I’ve added a bit more detail and some of my own tips in parenthesis. Hopefully this isn’t too confusing.

In case you are wondering, these are even more delicious if someone else makes them for you so considering printing the recipe and sharing with a loved one. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter

1 egg

1 dozen Donut or Saturn Peaches

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Instructions

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Then add milk, butter and egg and mix until no flour clumps are showing.

Then grab a large pot and fill it with vegetable oil until a donut peach can float in the oil, and heat. (When filling the oil make sure to leave at least 3-inches of space at the top of the pan to prevent the oil from boiling over.)

Make cinnamon sugar to dip the fried donuts in, which is about 1/3 of a spoon cinnamon and 1/2 a cup sugar. To fry the peaches, stick them in the batter and then put them in the oil. (I found that using two forks for dipping and retrieving the peaches from the batter works well. Gently let the excess batter drip off the donut at the edge of the bowl).

The oil should be ready after about ten minutes. (Heat the oil to about 350°F. You can test if the oil is ready by dropping in a small amount of batter. It should take about 15 – 30 seconds before it starts to color and it will float at the top of the oil). You will know when to pull the donuts out when they look light brown. (This takes about 3 to 4 minutes and I tend to like them a nice deep copper color).

Best served warm. (With vanilla ice cream). Enjoy immediately!

I’m delighted to see that there are a few signs of spring showing. But before my mind races to rhubarb and frilly herbs and sweet green peas, and peppery radishes, and sweet asparagus, and and and…. I have yet another blood orange recipe for you.

It was never my intention to tease you with this recipe for so long but I’m still adjusting to life after opening a shop. It’s not unlike readjusting to life after you add child and then another and then another to your family. Although I am happy to report that I am getting a full night’s sleep.

Let’s jump right to the recipe before blood oranges are out of season. There was no particular purpose for this cake except that some days the craving for cake is strong and my desire to coat a bittersweet chocolate cake with a blush toned buttercream flavored with the floral notes of blood orange sent me dashing into the kitchen to preheat the oven.

My other nudge towards cake came when I saw Stella Parks from Bravetart fame post about her quick and easy Devil’s Food cake. The image touted the texture which looked delightfully dense yet springy and oh so very dark with cocoa AND dark chocolate. Ever since finding Regan Daley’s recipe for chocolate cake from her book, In the Sweet Kitchen, I never found the need for another chocolate cake. But Stella’s recipe has earned its keep.

The color and flavor from the buttercream comes from a reduction of blood orange juice. It simmers gently until reduced to the consistency of warm honey. It’s enough to add a bright floral fragrance to the frosting but not enough to interfere with the silken texture of an all butter buttercream. What doesn’t get added to the frosting slips across the cake layers so the flavor of blood oranges will remind us that winter has its perks.

If you like to gild the lily then I’ve provided the instructions for candied blood orange peel. They are equally welcomed on top of this cake or presented in a bowl alongside coffee or tea at the end of a long meal. My cake also has a bit of candied rosemary which I prepare in the same way as the orange. Just skip the initial blanching and jump right into simmering in the simple syrup.

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Devil’s Food Cake with Blood Orange Buttercream

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Yield 10 – 12 Servings

Ingredients

Devil’s Food Cake

(Head to Serious Eats for the recipe)

Blood Orange Buttercream

1 cup Blood Orange juice (from 5 – 7 oranges)

6 large egg whites

1 2/3 cup sugar

5 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon blood orange zest

Blood Orangettes

2 blood oranges

1 cup water

3 cups sugar, divided

Instructions

For the cake:

Follow the Stella Parks recipe on Serious Eats or use any of your favorite chocolate cake recipes.

For the buttercream:

Add the blood orange juice to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, reduce to low then simmer until 1/3 cup remains. Let this cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the egg whites and sugar.

Set this over simmering water. The base should not touch the water, instead you want the steam to warm the egg whites and dissolve the sugar.

Whisk the eggs whites and sugar while warming. Every so often feel the temperature of the egg whites. They should feel warm and the sugar should be dissolved.

Transfer the egg white mixture to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin to whip on low. Increase the speed as the egg whites froth. Whip until thick, billowing meringue forms.

Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Every time I make buttercream I have a minor panic moment fearing that the frosting will never come together. Eventually it does. It may take some time.

Once the buttercream is smooth and glossy turn the mixer down to low then stir in 1/4 cup of the cooled reduced blood orange juice. Stir in the zest and salt.

For the blood Orangettes:

Using a paring knife, remove the peel from the oranges. Carefully remove the pith so only the outer peel remains.

Slice the peels into rough 1/4-inch wide strips.

Bring a saucepan of water to boil then add the orange peels to the pot. Simmer for 30 seconds. Drain then run the peels under cold water.

Repeat this process 2 to 3 more times. This removes some of the unpleasant bitterness from the peel.

Add the water and 2 cups sugar to the saucepan then bring to a simmer. Add the orange peels then let this mixture simmer for about 45 minutes or until the peels look translucent.

Add the remaining 1 cup sugar to a large bowl.

Carefully remove the candied peels from the syrup then add them to the bowl of sugar. Gently toss or stir to completely coat the peels in sugar.

Transfer the peels to a fine wire rack to dry for a couple of hours.

Assemble the cake:

Brush the cake layers with the remaining blood orange reduction. Frost the cake then garnish with the candied blood orange peel.

We are nearing the end of May (how is that even possible?!) which also means our big season of birthdays is over. Phew. It starts with mine in March, then we celebrate Gabe in April and both boys in May. Ivy is already counting down the days for her September birthday.

This year we celebrated Baron’s in a big way with a fundraiser for mosquito nets. I think I mentioned this here before or maybe in our newsletter but back in November Baron had the idea of using his birthday as an opportunity to raise money. After reading that the deadliest animal on earth is actually the mosquito he decided to raise money for mosquito nets. Over the course of this fundraiser we had the chance to meet the president of World Concern who told us first hand the life-saving benefits these nets would have on countries who are riddled with mosquito-born illnesses. She looked Baron right in the eye and told him, “you are not just buying mosquito nets, you are saving lives.” Meanwhile, I was a puddle in the corner. We also visited the Institute for Systems Biology to learn about all their incredible research being done as they work tirelessly to find a cure for Malaria.

After his big birthday fundraising bash we managed to raise over 8,000! Which means through World Concern we can purchase 8,267 mosquito nets to be distributed to communities around the world in need. Now that’s how you celebrate an 11th birthday.

We don’t have many traditions around our birthdays but I love the simple ones we do have. A few streamers cascade in the doorway of the birthday boy or girl’s room stealthily hung while they sleep. They each choose a special (read: sugary) cereal to enjoy on the morning of their birthday and they get to plan the menu for their birthday dinner. This year Baron requested Lasagna with caesar salad and a Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat cake for dessert. For his birthday, Roman, who usually goes for Chorizo Macaroni and Cheese, requested sliders (I made Banh Mi sliders) and Billionaire Bars for dessert.

Have you heard of Millionaire Bars? They are basically like homemade Twix bars. But our kicked up version, which we’re calling Billionaire Bars, have a base of chocolate chip cookies in lieu of shortbread. The cookie base is capped with a creamy caramel and topped with bittersweet chocolate and a dusting of flaky salt in an attempt to tame all that sweet. While the family chorus sang happy birthday to Roman I stacked the bars tall on a plate then topped it with a flaming ‘6’ candle and told everyone to tilt their head upside down to imagine the ‘9’ that should have crowned the stack.

Caramel making can induce a bit of stress as it does require precision. Relieve these fears by getting yourself an instant read thermometer. I am a fan of the thermapen but really any will do. In the video you’ll notice that I test the caramel by using a glass of cold water. This is how grandma made candy and it basically gives you a little peak at the caramels constituency once cool but caramel moves through the stages of soft ball to hard ball quickly and continues to cook even after you’ve turned off the heat so again I think the most accurate and easiest way is to use a thermometer.

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Billionaire Bars

Prep 30 mins

Cook 20 mins

Total 50 mins

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Yield 24 bars

Ingredients

Cookie Base:

1 stick butter

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (or use dark brown sugar)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

12 ounces (1 bag) chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

1/2 teaspoon flake salt

Caramel:

8 oz/ 1 cup sugar

6 oz/ 1/2 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup (or corn syrup)

1/4 cup water

6 oz/ 3/4 cup heavy cream

2 oz/ 4 tablespoons butter, soft

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Chocolate Glaze:

12 ounces chocolate

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon flake salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish.

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Continue to simmer until the milk solids rise to the top then gently sink as they caramelize. The butter will shift in color and smell nutty.

In a large bowl combine the sugars and stir in the browned butter. Stir in the eggs, then the flour, baking soda and sea salt until everything is well combined. Stir in the chocolate.

Add the batter to the baking dish then press in with the back of a spatula or wooden spoon. If it starts to stick I like to lightly wet my hands with just a touch of water then press in the dough. Finish with the flake salt then bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are deeply golden and the middle is set.

While the base cools prepare the caramel.

Combine the sugar, golden syrup and water in a large saucepan. Stir gently to combine then wash off the sides of the pan using water and your clean hands to feel if any sugar remains on the side. If stray bits of sugar fall into the caramel it can cause the caramel to crystallize so it’s important to make sure all the sugar is in the bottom of the pan mixed with the water.

Place the lid on the pan and put over high heat. Having the lid on during the first few minutes of boiling creates condensation that further helps to wash away any sugar that may be left on the sides of the pan. After 5 minutes remove the lid and let the caramel continue to boil until it reaches 300 degrees F. If some of the caramel starts to color you can gently swirl the pot to combine.

Add the cream, butter and salt once it has reached 300 degrees F and then continue to cook until the caramel reaches 248 degrees F. At that point remove the pan from the heat and pour over the chocolate chip cookie base.

Refrigerate to cool.

For the chocolate glaze add the chocolate and the butter to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring well in between each eating, until completely melted. Pour this over the cooled caramel and spread into an even layer. Top with the flake salt. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm then slice and serve.

Courses Dessert

To be perfectly honest, I’m not much of a cake person. In fact for my wedding I put in a request for pints of Ben & Jerry’s to be served in lieu of the traditional towering cake but was vetoed. I’ve since made up for that disappointment by eating my fair share of ice cream. My cake of choice – ice cream cake. The sort with no actual cake present.

But there are days when I’m struck with the intense urge to bake a cake. I’m not talking about snack cakes, by which I mean the kind where fruits and vegetables linger in the batter. I love those. I’ll take a slice of Grandma’s banana bread heavy with whipped butter slathered over top any day. That cake is different. Here I mean the kind that towers on a pedestal like royalty and something to be looked upon with honor. The sort with frosting that requires a pound of butter and sugar cooked to soft ball stage and forces me to dig out my old piping bag and tips to adorn the cake with a flourish that is worthy of its stature.

There wasn’t a birthday to celebrate when the urge hit, no grand occasion for such a cake but the ordinary day, as most of them are, was suddenly made remarkable by the presence of this cake. Most often we use food to bolster the occasion but I sometimes prefer the food to determine the occasion, to subtly and sweetly remind us that there is much to celebrate in the mundane. Our everyday is worthy of attention and looking on with fondness. A cake can help us mark the occasion of a snow day, or the day in which we are all healthy again, or just because it’s Thursday which is almost Friday and around here that is indeed a thing to be celebrated.

This cake comes from my friend Sarah’s gorgeous baking book, The Vanilla Bean Baking Book. It’s full of all the things I crave with soft twists that make me smile. Like this cake; heady with cardamom and iced with a bittersweet coffee buttercream. Of course those two flavors are natural mates as they cozy up in a cup of traditional Thai coffee – or the sort I’ve had at least but never have I thought to pair them together in a cake. Then for some reason I was reminded of the plums I had in the freezer and thought the brightness of a tart jam would sandwich the layers nicely. We loved this cake so much it has turned not one but two ordinary days into ones marked with the memory of a stunning cake and joy in the everyday.

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Cardamom Cake with Plum Jam and Coffee Buttercream

Prep 1 hour

Cook 30 mins

Total 1 hour, 30 mins

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Yield 10 – 12 servings

Cake recipe adapted (oh so subtly) from The Vanilla Bean Baking Book

Ingredients

Cardamom Cake

3 large eggs

2 egg yolks (reserve the whites for the buttercream)

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces

Plum Preserves

1 pound fresh or frozen plums, pitted and halved

1/4 cup sugar

Coffee Buttercream

1 1/4 cups sugar

5 large egg whites

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup strong coffee or espresso

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 8 by 2-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

Whisk together the eggs, yolks, vanilla, and sour cream in a liquid measuring cup or medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and orange zest (if using). Turn the mixer on low and mix until everything is combined. Add the butter while the mixer is still running and continue to mix until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Slowly add half of the wet ingredients and beat until combined. Add the remainder of the wet ingredients, speed up the mixer to medium speed then beat for 20 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, with a spatula. Finish the batter by stirring with the spatula a few more times.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth the top.

Bake for 17 to 22 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and pulling away from the edges of the pan ever so slightly.

Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the rack, remove the parchment and let cool completely. Once cool, the cakes can be wrapped in plastic. Well wrapped the cakes will keep in the freezer for one month. OR let’s get frosting!

For the jam:

Combine the plums and the sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the plums start to break down and the juices look like warm honey.

For the frosting:

Combine the sugar and about 1/4 water in a small saucepan.

Bring the sugar to a boil then cook until 238° (soft ball stage) or until you can blow a sugar bubble through a fork (be careful!)

While the sugar cooks whip the egg whites to soft peaks.

Carefully stream the sugar down the side of the bowl with the machine running on medium speed.

Increase the speed and whip until stiff peaks form and the bowl is no longer hot.

Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip until smooth.It may look like a mess but keep whipping until it comes together.

Add the vanilla extract, coffee (or espresso) and salt.

Pipe a border around the edge of the first cake layer. Fill with the jam. Add the other cake on top then cover the layers in frosting, starting with a thin layer just to cover the crumbs. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until the frosting is firm. Add another layer of frosting then decorate however you like.

Our first cake was topped with a light layer of salty sprinkles which was completely delicious.

Courses dessert

*This post is the third in our Date Night In series with Chateau St. Jean. They (and we) believe wine and date nights are a great pair. This month we’re cozying up with their Cabernet Sauvignon with rich berry and soft spice notes that pair beautifully with my recipe for a Chocolate Tart with Poached Pears.

Recently I gave an interview in which I was asked something to the effect of “How do you avoid the stress of the holidays?” I understand that question, absolutely. There are so many extra things that make their way onto the already packed to do list and then there are all the things I feel like I ‘should’ be doing. Making crafts with the kids, bringing homemade treats to all the neighbors, buying the perfect gifts, saying a resounding YES! to all the parties, and decorating my home to rival that of a December West Elm catalogue. But mostly what I felt as I read that question was a pang of sadness.

The holidays and stress shouldn’t go hand in hand. I know, wishful thinking right? And completely naive perhaps. Money can be tight, family can be a burden to some and others may just not be particular into the holidays. I can empathize with that but what I love about the holidays, when they are freed up from expectations and ‘shoulds’, is that their purpose is to bring hope, joy and peace. What if we actively sought out those moments during this busy time? I wonder what I would say yes to and what would get a resounding NO! And can we all agree that we need to stop ‘should-ing’ on ourselves?

In seasons of great busyness our date nights are often the first to go. They quickly fall off the calendar to make way for another task we’ve deemed somehow more important than our own connection. This season I’m fighting valiantly to put joy above tasks, peace above stress, and a quiet date night with my husband above yet another trip to Target.

Now I realize this season is already a bit indulgent but I firmly believe that a quiet evening alone with your partner deserves a bit of fanfare in the form of deeply blushed pears and bittersweet chocolate. The enviable pears bath in a mixture of wine, cinnamon, star anise and sugar while hot cream turns a flurry of chopped chocolate into what Gabe deems “the best chocolate pudding ever”. The wine that dressed the pears in a stunning holiday frock reduces to a syrupy sauce for serving. Save any leftover sauce for vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Tart with Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Poached Pears

Serves 6 to 8 (makes one 9 or 10-inch tart)

Pair with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot

1 recipe pie or tart dough

2 cups Chateau Ste. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot

1 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

salt

2 to 3 firm pears, peeled

Whipped cream, for serving

Chef 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch tart pan with the pie dough and bake until golden and crisp, about 20 - 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

Chef 2: In a small saucepan combine the wine, sugar, cinnamon stick and star anise. Add the pears then bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the pears are tender when poked with a knife, about 30 minutes. As the pears simmer gently spoon over the wine and rotate them every now and again so they poach evenly.

Chef 1: In another small saucepan warm the cream just to a simmer then pour over the chocolate. Let this sit for a minute, add a pinch of salt then stir well to combine. Carefully pour this into the tart. Let this sit until the chocolate is mostly firm.

Chef 2: Remove the pears from the wine and let cool slightly before cutting them in half. Carefully lay the pear halves on the tart. Drizzle the tops of the pears with the wine syrup.

Chef 1: Pour a couple of glasses of wine.

Chef 2: Serve the tart with a nice dollop of lightly sweetened cream.

*I’ve partnered with Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker to bring you this bittersweet flourless cake with a torched meringue cap. With only four ingredients in the cake chocolate is the star. I use their 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar for a rich, not-too-sweet, flavor that leaves room for the cool sweetness of the billowy peppermint meringue.

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I cradled Ivy into her sling that hugged my chest and positioned her head in just a way that I could inhale it with every breath. We stepped outside of the car having driven an hour out of the city for the purpose of creating the perfect Christmas tree selecting memory. The air bit our noses as we stepped outside. Baron wore black cowboy boots as he did every day and Roman, with his electric blond hair, was always easy to spot as he eagerly ran off without ever looking back. It didn’t take long for the rain to soak through our layers and the picturesque outing was marred with grumbling, tears and mud covered boots. We quickly picked out our tree and Ivy and I left the boys to saw it down while we sought the car for refuge. Every year since we’ve picked up our tree from our local produce stand five minutes from our front door.

In the early years I forced traditions on us like a chore. Each memory was to be perfectly calculated as if their childhood happiness depended on it. I was the director of the Rodriguez Family Perfect Holiday Fun Fest and I sat back in my director’s chair calling cut and action in a way that made sense for the scene but not for my family.

Ivy is very far from her sling carrying days. Now she’s reading books, losing teeth and painting her fingernails. Baron has long outgrown his cowboy boots and Roman’s hair – still radiant – falls over his eyes in just a way that he shifts his head to the side then gives it a quick flick so that he can see. Without directing and carefully crafted scripts we’ve settled into our own traditions. They don’t always happen with great fanfare but we look forward to them just the same.

It starts with the gift of the advent calendar from Gabe’s mom. It’s the one from Trader Joe’s with the brightly colored graphics and paper doors that open to reveal sweet milk chocolate. We get our tree, as I mentioned, close to home with twinkling lights overhead and rows and rows of trees. It’s a pine scented maze that always leads us to just the right tree. At home we’ll make hot chocolate and the kids will hang ornaments. They are the same ones that hung on the Christmas trees that decorated the space where Gabe and I were married. While the kids are in bed I’ll rearrange the tree so not all the ornaments hang in the lower right hand side.

We’ll drive through the streets with houses covered in lights and holiday music blaring over the speakers. My brothers kids will come over for a Christmas tea complete with a cheese ball shaped like a snowman. There will be cinnamon rolls with tangy vanilla bean flecked frosting and we’ll eat clementines until our mouths hurt. There will be peppermint scented cakes and caramel candies that get stuck in our teeth and those little hard candy storybook sets wrapped in cellophane that I always got in my stocking. Moderation will meet us again in January.

Our traditions began when I stopped forcing them. They are the simple activities that without my noticing get repeated every year. The temptation to orchestrate the so-called-perfect holiday season still creeps in but each year I get better about knowing my intentions. I ask myself, “Am I doing this because I think I SHOULD or because it fills me with JOY?” If the answer is joy I proceed with a giddy grin and soak up the fluttery excitement of the season. Every year there are things that never get crossed off the to-do list and I vow to start “Christmas-ing” in October but every year it is what it is and in making joy, peace and hope the priority it’s always my favorite time of year.

This cake is bound to be a tradition as each bite brings me immense joy. It’s a dense flourless chocolate cake made with Scharffen Berger’s 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate. The chocolate is bright and almost fruity making the cake softly sweet which leaves room for the meringue laced with peppermint. If you feel like getting real fancy a streak of red food coloring laced through the meringue would look oh so festive. The toasting of the almond meal can be skipped but I find the reward of a deep roasty flavor is well worth the ten minutes in the oven.

Chocolate Almond Cake with Peppermint Meringue

Serves 8 - 10

Cake adapted from Joy of Baking

Cake:

4 large eggs, separated

1 cup (100 grams) superfine almond meal

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, divided

6 ounces (170 grams) Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped

6 ounces (12 tablespoons) (170 grams) butter, cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) salt

Meringue:

3 large egg whites

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds removed or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the cake:

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Add the almond meal to the sheet pan then toast in the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden and fragrant. Set this aside to cool.

Butter an 8-inch springform pan then line the bottom with parchment. Butter the parchment.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment begin the beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes on medium high until light in color and tripled in volume.

While the yolks are beating melt together the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot filled with simmering water. Stir until just melted then remove it from the heat.

Add the whipped egg yolks to the melted chocolate and butter and carefully stir until just combined. Add the almond meal  and vanilla then stir to combine.

Clean the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment begin slowly whipping the egg whites. Once frothy add the salt. Increase the speed to medium and slowly start adding the sugar. When working with egg whites every move is gentle, so we start the machine slowly and add the sugar very gradually. Once all the sugar has been added increase the speed once more then beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of the whipped whites into the chocolate mixture until combined then add the rest until no streaks are showing.

Carefully add this batter to the springform pan then bake for 45 - 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should have a few fudgy crumbs. The cake will puff and crack and then settle as it cools.

Set the cake aside and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edge and releasing the pan.

Cool completely before adding the meringue.

For the meringue:

Add the egg whites and sugar to a clean bowl of a stand mixer. Carefully place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (or if you are very carefully - directly over a gas flame set on low) and whisk continuously. Periodically check the temperature of the mixture just with your finger. It should have no remaining sugar granules and it should feel quite hot. Immediately set the bowl on the mixer and begin to whip. Continue to whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir in the salt, vanilla and peppermint extract at the end.

Top the cake with the meringue then caramelize the perky peaks with a kitchen torch or pop it under the broiler until the meringue is toasted in parts.

The cake can be made up to three days in advance. Prepare the meringue just before or a few hours before serving.

*This post was created in partnership with Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker.  In the below recipe Scharffen Berger’s bittersweet chocolate, with a floral brightness and a deep roasty flavor, pairs beautifully with toasted pepitas sweetened with honey to create festive and seasonal chocolate pepita butter bites. If you’re partial to a sweeter, creamier chocolate that’s fine too – check out all of the chocolate offerings on Scharffen Berger’s website.

Last year was our first year trick-or-treating with the kids the way I remember it from my childhood. The sort where the parents stay on the sidewalk bundled up with something warm to drink, chatting with the other parents while the witches, Harry Potter’s, princesses, and dragons go off to collect their loot.

As rain pelted our faces we slowly wandered down the winding streets knowing which house to knock on by the amount of Halloween flair that littered their windows and lawn. The kids, timid at first then quickly understanding the routine, would make their plea, “Trick or Treat!” and in return individually wrapped packages of childhood happiness would tumble into their pillowcase/candy receptacle for the night. On their way back to the sidewalk to meet up with us they bury their face in the bags examining their loot and confer with their siblings as they begin scheming their trades.

Batman tipped us off to where we could score the full candy bars while the adults urged one another not to miss the house at the corner where they were passing out pulled pork sandwiches for the grown ups. Rumor has it the year before the adults got shots of bourbon.

This neighborhood knows how to do Halloween.

In an ideal world these spiced pepita butter bites would be just the thing I’d like to tuck into the trick-or-treaters bags that came knocking on our door. I can just hear it now, the giddy murmuring along the sidewalk, “that house has homemade candy!” But homemade treats are frowned upon when the one passing them out is a complete stranger – I totally get that. So we reserve these treats for lunch boxes, parties, or the 3:00 pick-me-up in celebration of National Chocolate Day. I mean a day reserved for chocolate celebrating is a great day in my book. And I will gladly take any excuse to praise chocolate.

Of course these are very reminiscent of a peanut butter filled candy with the same shape but these are stuffed with a toasted pepitas that have been blended until smooth with a bit of warming spices and honey. The Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate offsets the sweetness with a good bit of brightness. A pinch of flake salt on top is never a bad idea.

With two sweet-centric holidays – National Chocolate Day and Halloween – right around the corner these are practically begging to be made.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pepita Butter Bites

Makes 3 dozen small candy cups

1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

2 tablespoons honey

3 to 5 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola, rice bran, or vegetable)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Pinch cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)

3 bags (18 ounces) Scharffen Berger Semisweet or Bittersweet (62% or 70% Cacao) Chocolate Baking Chunks

In a 350°F oven roast the pepitas until golden and fragrant.

Let them cool for about 10 minutes before adding them to a high power blender like a Vitamix or a food processor.

Grind the pepitas until extremely fine. Add the honey and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Blend more until a stiff peanut butter consistency. You may need to add more oil and scrape down the sides of the container quite a bit. It should be sticky but not runny.

Finish with the salt (and please do feel free to add more if you’d like) and the spices.

Melt the chocolate with 1 tablespoon neutral oil.

Line a mini-muffin pan with candy liners. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of melted chocolate to the bottom of the paper cup then add about 1 teaspoon of the pepita butter. Top the pepita butter with more chocolate. Once they are all filled whack the muffin pan on the counter to help settle the chocolate and pepita butter.

Add flake salt to the tops of the candies if you’d like.

Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.

Repeat the process until all of the chocolate and pepita butter have been used.

Any leftover chocolate can be melted and reused as you need. I like to pour the leftover melted chocolate on a parchment lined sheet pan. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set and chop up fine to be stirred into cookies and cakes or into larger chunks to be used later.

Thank you so much for your kind words from the last post. Sharing all of that left me with a bit of a vulnerability hangover but I was so lifted by your comments and reminded of how fortunate I am for this community and that I get the pleasure of sharing my life with you all. I appreciate each and everyone of you who responded with such grace and vulnerability. Now let’s go talk about candy!

About three years ago I started teaching a homemade candy bar class at The Pantry. It’s the sort of class that makes me giddy to get to do the work I do because basically in that moment I’m Willy Wonka. Perhaps a slightly less eccentric version than the characters in both versions of the movie, but maybe not.

My students have to work very hard in the three hours we have together. They whip up batches of peanut butter laced nougat, turn ordinary sugar into copper colored caramel dotted with vanilla bean flecks and beat powdered sugar into peppermint scented dough. All of that work culminates in a chocolate dipping party that spans the length of the 20-foot table. Six bowls line the middle, each filled with either melted milk chocolate or bittersweet. At the end of it all we have dozens of homemade Snickers, Peppermint Patties, Butterfingers, Peanut Butter Cups, Twix Bars and fifteen very happy people. Each one of them walk into that room skeptical of their abilities to turn simple ingredients into childhood favorites and by the end of the night they walk away with a box filled with candies better than the originals.

There are a few candy recipes on this site and one of them is for homemade Twix but in the process of teaching this class I have perfected my recipe and have only recently realized that I’ve not been back to share the new and improved version. Even better still, I went and turned the recipe into a tart so you can just go ahead and skip all the time and mess of dipping the individual bars in chocolate.

If you do want the candy bars it’s a bit of a process but not a hard one. The buttery cookie base includes a touch of finely ground rice. A strange ingredient indeed but it’s a trick I learned from my former Pastry Chef, Sherry Yard, while working at Spago, and I trust that lady with all things butter and sugar. Plain white rice is blitzed in a spice grinder (or blender) – which, by the way, is a perfect way to clean your spice grinder, and then a couple of tablespoons is added to the dough. It adds a pleasant crunch that I just love. The bases are cut and baked then pressed gently into the still warm caramel. Once set you cut along the edge of the cookie so that you have a perfectly formed cookie and caramel layer ready to dip into chocolate. Or, like I said, skip all of that and just make the tart.

Our October newsletter is going to hit your inbox next week and it’s all about candy including a bonus recipe that is always a huge hit in class. Sign up (or leave your email in a comment and I’ll be sure you’re on the list).

Homemade Twix: Bar + Tart

The addition of ground rice to the cookie base adds a great crunch to the sweet candy bar.

Cookie Base

6 oz/ 1 1/2 sticks butter, soft

3 oz/ 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 egg

8 1/2 oz/ 2 cups flour

2 tablespoons ground rice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Caramel

8 oz/ 1 cup sugar

6 oz/ 1/2 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup (you can substitute corn syrup here if you'd like)

1/4 cup water

6 oz/ 3/4 cup heavy cream

2 oz/ 4 tablespoons butter, soft

1/2 vanilla bean, seeds removed

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 pounds milk chocolate, finely chopped

1 tablespoon oil

For the cookie:

Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix until creamy. Add the egg and beat until the color lightens, about 1 minute.

Add the flour, ground rice, vanilla extract and salt and mix until combined.

Form into a flat, rectangular disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375°F. Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper, lightly flour and roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thick. (Work quickly, because the dough will become difficult to roll as it warms up.) Transfer parchment paper with dough to a baking sheet then refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Cut the dough into 3-1/2-by-3/4-inch cookies. You should get at least 24 cookies. Pierce each cookie several times with a fork.

Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool. Meanwhile, make the caramel.

For the caramel:

Grease a 9x13 pan with soft butter and line it with parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on each side. Set aside.

Combine the sugar, golden syrup and water in a large saucepan. Stir gently to combine then wash off the sides of the pan using water and your clean hands to feel if any sugar remains on the side. If stray bits of sugar fall into the caramel it can cause the caramel to crystallize so it’s important to make sure all the sugar is in the bottom of the pan mixed with the water.

Place the lid on the pan and put over high heat. Having the lid on during the first few minutes of boiling creates condensation that further helps to wash away any sugar that may be left on the sides of the pan. After 5 minutes remove the lid and let the caramel continue to boil until it reaches 300 degrees F. If some of the caramel starts to color you can gently swirl the pot to combine.

Add the cream, butter and vanilla seeds once it has reached 300 degrees F and then continue to cook until the caramel reaches 248 degrees F. At that point remove the pan from the heat and pour into the prepared 9x13 pan.

Let the caramel cool for 10 minutes before gently laying the cookie bases down in four rows of six. Continue to let the caramel cool for 40 minutes before thoroughly chilling in the fridge for an additional 40 minutes or until the caramel is firm enough to cut.

Once completely chilled, carefully remove the caramel and cookie bases from the pan and cut along the cookies to create 24 caramel topped bars.

Prepare the chocolate coating by melting the milk chocolate in the microwave or in a bain marie on the stove then stir in the oil.

Dip the bars into the chocolate with the help of a fork and move to a parchment lined sheet tray.

Place the sheet tray in the fridge once all the bars have been dipped. Keep the bars in a well-sealed container in the refrigerator for three weeks or in the freezer for two months.

Let the bars sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Twix Tart

Serves 8 to 10

1/2 recipe Twix base

1 recipe Twix caramel

4 ounces / 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

4 ounces / 1/2 cup heavy cream

Flake salt (or vanilla salt!)

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Roll the dough out to 1/4 - inch thick. Carefully roll up the dough around the rolling pin then unfurl it over the tart pan. Press the dough into the pan and bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes.

Let the tart shell cool while you prepare the caramel.

Cool the caramel for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened before pouring into the tart shell.

Refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.

Prepare the chocolate glaze. Warm the cream on the stove or in the microwave. Add the chocolate, let it sit for one minute then whisk to combine.

Pour the glaze over the firm caramel then use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly. Top with flake salt.

Refrigerate until firm.

I had no intention of using the blackberries in cupcakes but I was on one of those end-of-the-season grocery store trips where I had this seasonal sense of urgency. “I didn’t eat enough tomatoes!” “There weren’t enough peaches in my diet!” “I promised myself I’d buy a case of apricots and I didn’t.” Somberly I dreamt of all the missed pies and cans of jam that I won’t get to tuck into in on a cold morning in January. Where did summer go?

So into my cart I tucked five pints of various colored cherry tomatoes, bags of soft peaches and fragrant nectarines and a flat of blackberries still dusty from the fields. The stone fruit never aspired to more than snacks for the kids and quite honestly I think the tomatoes had the same fate. But when a spontaneous evening sailing invitation came up and I volunteered to bring dessert to the little party, those blackberries found their calling.

This cake recipe is not new to this site. In fact I’m sure this is the third or quite possibly the fourth time it’s been printed here. It’s made so often in this house I have the recipe hand written and taped to the back of my cupboard for easy access. It’s delightfully easy (only takes one bowl!) and perfectly tender with a hearty chocolate flavor that satisfies my bittersweet cravings. At this point I should have it memorized. But the blackberries stirred carefully into the nearly black batter, now that is new and a very happy discovery. Tart cream cheese frosting and a bit of vanilla flecked salt was going to be the final flourish but a friend (hi, Krissy!) and I decided that a salty caramel would really put these little cakes over the top.

If I have completely missed the mark on sharing this recipe and berry season is well behind you, you’ll be happy to hear that frozen berries work very well and raspberries make a fine blackberry substitute. So regardless of the season these tart, sweet and oh so pretty cupcakes can shine any time of year.

One final word – for those of you who have shared your email address with me over the years you may have noticed a shiny, new surprise email from me! That’s right, I’ve become a big kid and started a newsletter. We’re aiming for this to be a monthly thing and we’ve got plans for all sorts of fun topics to discuss. This month we’re celebrating the in between – you know when the sun still shines but the leaves lose their green for shades of crimson and orange. Where peaches and apples briefly share the same shelf space and we can finally turn on the oven again without fear of overheating. There are a few recipes from the site that are my favorite to cook right now and then there’s a bonus recipe for a pungent Ginger, Pear Bourbon Punch that is perfect early Fall drinking. I’m aiming for a bonus recipe or something else definitely worth your while – so be sure to sign up!

Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese + Caramel

makes 3 8” inch layers or 24 cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar (I’ve used white or brown or a combination of the two and all work well)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil (or other, nearly flavorless oil)

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups warm water

4 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)

//

Prepare two cupcake pans with liners.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl until everything is well blended.

Add the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Fold in the berries.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops slowly spring back when gently nudged.

Let cool in the pan for five minutes before finishings the cooling on a rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 (8-ounce) packages / 680 g cream cheese, at room temperature

1⁄2 cup / 115 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 - 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (depending on the desired amount of sweetness)

1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean

For the frosting:

Beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Stop the machine and add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and vanilla. Turn on low and mix until combined.

Turn up the speed to medium and beat 4 minutes more.

The frosting can be made up to 1 week in advance and stored, covered, in the fridge.

Caramel

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream

Flake salt

Combine the sugar and the water in a small saucepan. Bring a boil and let the sugar caramelize until it’s smoking and deep copper in color. I teeter the edge with my caramel - close to burnt so you get complex flavors rather than a flat, just-sweet, caramel.

Carefully add the cream (it will bubble up vigorously) then stir to combine.

Let cool.

Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool. Drizzle on the caramel then top with flake salt.

Summer has been busy with all the right things. Beach bonfires, grilled hamburgers, three week adventures across the pond, island excursions, attempting to establish a bit of a garden, sticky marshmallow coated fingers, red tinged sun kissed skin and very few hours in front of the computer or standing at the stove. 

I always say this about whatever season we’re in; this is my favorite season to cook. Summer requires very little cooking, it’s more about the assembling. Which is perfect when you’d rather be reading a book or attempting not to fall off your new paddle board. Lately we’ve been eating big slices of melon in hues of oranges, reds and pinks with a flurry of vanilla salt dusted over top. To accompany whatever happens to be on the grill for the evening I’ve made a bean salad (last week alone I made it three times) with just a few cans of beans (in whatever varieties you prefer), a bit of celery and/or fennel for crunch, cherry tomatoes if you have them, a piquant vinaigrette with a hint of sweet and more handfuls of herbs than you think reasonable.

And for dessert the simplest of things; stone fruit (really any kind will do) with a bit of sugar or honey, soaked in red wine.

I’ve served, many times, fruit in white wine – sparkling or sweet but it wasn’t until our recent trip to Italy that I experienced fruit in red wine. I was delighted, down right giddy actually when one bite led to all of us at the table eating directly from the serving dish. We all marveled at the simplicity of two ingredients transforming into something entirely different; complex and decadent. This dish surpassed the one next to it – pears stuffed with quince jam and wrapped in puff pastry – that we had spent quite a bit of time making during our cooking class. The red wine soaked peaches (in this case) were a delightful surprise to the menu and coming home they keep showing up again and again.

My first go of it I overcomplicated what should be kept simple. There’s no need to simmer the wine with cinnamon stick and star anise with a bit of sugar – although you can do that. My preferred method now is to simply add a few pieces of what ever stone fruit you happen to have – nectarines, peaches, plums, cherries – sprinkle on a bit of sugar or drizzle of honey, top with wine (I’ve not met a variety that didn’t match the fruit and sugar nicely) then let it sit in the fridge for maybe 30 minutes if you’ve got that sort of time. 

Serve it to start a meal or end one. If I’m feeling a bit of an over-achiever I may serve a plate of crisp Italian cookies like biscotti alongside. They are perfect for soaking up those last few sips of wine. 

Stone Fruit in Red Wine

Serves 4

1 nectarine, peach (or a couple plums, handful of cherries), sliced into 1/4-inch pieces

2 tablespoons sugar

red wine

There's really no need for a recipe here, a method perhaps.

Tuck a few slices of stone fruit into a wine glass or coupe. Sprinkle on sugar or a drizzle of honey in its place.

Top with red wine. Enough to cover the fruit.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until the wine has soaked through the fruit. Less or more time is fine too.

I can’t think of a way to start this post that doesn’t sound flippant or trivial and yet I can not begin to fill this place with food again until I’ve acknowledged the heartache and the pain that has flooded  our world due to the events last week. Sitting in the reality of those events, food and what I contribute to this world with the table as my medium felt too small, too easy.

I had intended to share this recipe last week but instead I shared the image below on Instagram and Facebook with the following text because that is what my heart needed to say.

I’m suppose to be sharing a recipe today. Talking about our food and showing pretty pictures of it all. But today I just can’t. I’ll return to the food because it’s part of the beauty of life and I want to foster beauty and remind people that in spite of all the hate and ugliness in this world there is also always beauty. But today I can’t. Today I need to do more and not ignore what is happening in our world right now.

The boys are downstairs. There’s clapping, constant whistling cheers and joy. They are playing a video game. Upstairs I’m scraping off last night’s pasta from our plates, scrubbing red sauce off the stove, waiting for my coffee to bubble up and wondering what the hell do I say to my children about the devastation that has happened in the last few days.

Families have been broken. Friends have lost friends. Beds will be empty tonight where a warm body should lay. Children won’t get the snuggles they so desperately want. Two women are suddenly without their partners. A future they knew that included a teammate has been violently taken from them A dad was killed, his son weeps. My boys are downstairs getting riled up about a missed home run by some pixelated ball player.

I want to protect, to shield them from the gross realities of this world. I wonder if they are too young to know how broken this world is? I want them to stay that way. Wouldn’t it be nice for them if their hardest part of the day was that their brother didn’t give up his turn at the game when he was suppose to?

No.

I want to raise children who are sickened by a world who sees people as a color. I want our family to collectively stand for love and to be a loud, clear voice that advocates for that. How do I teach them to not see color, sexual orientation, religion, level of education, gender, age, etc. as a way to define, rate, and judge people when the world teaches them otherwise?

We can do better, we can do more. We get to show them how to love. We get to teach them to fight hate with love. That’s our job and some days it’s just really damn hard but NOTHING compared to what some people’s realities are today.

______

So today I return to food and while it still feels small it’s always where my heart turns when it doesn’t know what else to do. Friday, when sitting with all the emotions of hopelessness, complete heartache and that ripping feeling you get when you don’t know what to do and you fear you’re not doing enough, I started cooking. I made homemade pizza with ricotta and big spoonfuls of truffle cream I brought back from Italy. There was homemade pasta with chanterelles and cherry tomatoes, farro with zucchini, chicken stuffed with fennel, sausage and peaches and slices of sweet nectarines in a chilled, spiced red wine. We gathered around the table with family and our community. We laughed, told stories of our travels and with each bite, each toast, each laugh we began to fill the air with hope. It doesn’t take away with the scary realities of this world but it’s a reminder that even in the midst of darkness there also is beauty.

The recipe today is one that I’ve been keeping for years. It’s an adaptation from a recipe I discovered on Epicurious then throughout many cooking classes I taught, long hot summer days and now sharing it with Electrolux it became my own. It’s a stunning layered dessert with icy watermelon sorbet forming the base and a creamy, tart lime semifreddo capping it off. The name, appearance and taste impresses beyond the complexity of the recipe. The hardest part is waiting for the layers to set so plan accordingly.

Check out the recipe on the Electrolux site and while you’re there poke around at some of the other great recipes. Watermelon is delightful when used in savory recipes too – like this salad with avocados and jalapeños which makes a perfect partner with grilled chicken.  And Sara’s recipe for Watermelon salsa to serve with roasted halibut. 

Just a couple other things to note:

I recently did an interview and shared a few of my favorite recipes with a German Magazine. You can read that on their website, Zeit. If you do read it let me know if they’re making of fun of me because I can understand a word of German. Just kidding, I know they aren’t but seriously, it’s a bit strange to not know what is being said. I suppose I could use Google translator.

Also, I’m partnering with the Salish Lodge here in Washington to put on a super lovely and romantic Date Night. Find out more and book your tickets on their site. There’s not many available so book quickly!

And finally, be kind to yourselves and others today. Let’s fill our tables with good food to share with our people because even though it feels like a too simple task it’s one of the biggest and best things we can do.

*This post was created in partnership with Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker because I find chocolate and summer to be a natural pair. I’m partial to Scharffen Berger’s bittersweet varieties (although Ivy argues that milk chocolate is best) as they’re softly sweet, with a nice acidity and deep cocoa flavor, which works perfectly in these ice cream bars.

The air smells of the last of the lilacs and a briny sea scent that the gentle, nearly warm breeze carries in from the Sound below. The sun lights the streets until nearly 10 pm and we lose track of the time we once dictated by the tint of the sky outside. There’s baseball practice that hurries us through dinner and games on Saturdays where the boys litter the grass with salt-licked sunflower seed shells. It’s June. The time of year where summer teases us with the occasional scent of the neighbors firing up the bbq, the kids wandering out of their houses to play in the street after dinner, and the distant chimes of the ice cream truck. We’re counting down the last days of school.

We all overslept this morning. Again. I popped up out of bed, looked at my phone then ran around the house trying to induce the sense of urgency needed to get everyone off to school on time. They didn’t quite get it. And I’ll admit neither did I. It’s hard to encourage the kids to persevere through these last couple of weeks of school, to continue to try their best and push hard when all I want to do is stay in bed with the warmth of the sun on my face then linger outside in the evening until dark, light up the fire to roast marshmallows and eat off paper plates outside.

Their school clothes have holes in the knees and are fraying at the sleeves but I refuse to refresh them at this point. Their lunches are far less thought out than they were in September and I’m trusting them to be getting all their homework done because I feel the shift. The summer shift. I’m trying to set a good example and be their buoy and cheerleader as they try to finish strong. But I’m also pushing back bedtime and dreaming with them about our summer travels to Europe, camping trips and lazy sun-lit mornings and definitely not thinking about third grade math.

Summer, we’re ready for you. Signs of our summer eagerness show up in the kitchen where I toast a pan full of marshmallows under the broiler. Soft interiors and crisp and caramelized outsides that I fold into vanilla bean flecked ice cream. Layered between two soft homemade graham crackers and then dipped in bittersweet chocolate. I would have stopped there but Ivy suggested a few flakes of salt to finish them off. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more proud.

These ice cream bars are a sweet taste of summer, and as if we needed it, are getting us even more excited for warm evenings sitting by a dancing fire, tasting the sweetness of the chocolate with sticky marshmallow fingers. Only 14 more sleeps – but who’s counting?

*This post is sponsored by Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. As always, the words, photos and recipes are mine.

Scharffen Berger crafts the richest, most flavorful chocolate by sourcing the best cacao in the world, blending it in small batches, and gently processing it to maintain the subtle flavors in the beans.

Be sure to check out their website where you can find a wide variety of baking chocolate as well as bars that need nothing more than a little unwrapping.

Thanks so much for supporting that brands that help keep Not Without Salt running.

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream Sandwiches with Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate

Makes 1 1/2 dozen bars

I’ve gone ahead and included a recipe for homemade graham crackers, one that I’ve adapted from King Arthur Flour. It’s a lovely soft cinnamon scented cracker that works beautifully here but you know you more than welcome to use store bought graham crackers here too. I assure you, no one would complain.

1 cup Graham Flour or Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons whole milk

1 10 ounce bag of mini marshmallow

1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream

9.7 ounces (1 bar) Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped

1 tablespoon flavorless oil (you can use grapeseed, rice bran, coconut, canola, etc.)

For the graham crackers:

In a large bowl combine the graham flour, all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

In another bowl whisk together the egg, butter, honey and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a spatula until just combined.

Shape the dough in a rough rectangle then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick using a bit of flour if it starts to get a bit sticky.

Cut the cookies into the desired shape (I like the size of a quarter of an actual graham cracker - it’s about 1-inch by 2 1/2-inches)  and prick each cookie with a fork to prevent them from puffing up too much.

Set them onto the sheet pans and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake until puffed and golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. For the purpose of using these crackers in an ice cream sandwich I like to keep them a bit softer so I take them out perhaps a bit sooner than you would for a more traditional graham cracker.

Let the cookies cool on the trays.

Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Assemble the ice cream bars:

Line the bottom and sides 9x13 baking dish with two alternating pieces of parchment paper so that there’s a bit of overhang on each side.

Soften the vanilla ice cream by letting it sit out of the freezer for 20 minutes or so.

Set your oven to broil and scatter the marshmallows in a shallow roasting dish. Broil until the caps are copper colored and you can smell caramelized sugar.

Fold the toasted marshmallows into the softened ice cream then add that to the prepared 9x13 dish. Smooth it out to create an even layer of what is now toasted marshmallow ice cream. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Once completely firm remove the ice cream from the pan and cut it out to match the shape of the graham crackers. Sandwich a layer of ice cream between the graham crackers then place those on a sheet tray and return to the freezer until firm. If the ice cream melts too quickly in the process simply return it to the freezer for at least 20 minutes then continue.

Melt the chocolate with the oil in a microwave or over a double broiler. If using a microwave heat in 20 second intervals and stir really well between each heat so as not to scorch the chocolate.

Dip the ice cream bars halfway into the chocolate then return to the sheet pan and top with a few pieces of flake salt. Freeze again until firm and then you’re ready to enjoy.

He’s 10 years old. I’ve been a mom for an entire decade. I have to type that and repeat it over and over in my head in order to believe it.

When he was born I knew the sort of mom I wanted to be. I prepped my shoulder for him to cry on, I bought heaps of felt for all the craft projects we were going to do. The glitter and glue guns were at the ready. He was going to be able to prepare a complete meal by the time we was five because he would join me in the kitchen every evening as I prepped dinner. I would read to him every night, be in his classroom every week, play on the floor with him every day. And then reality hit and I did some of those things sometimes but I constantly failed to live up to the expectation I put on the mom I wanted to be.

Then I stopped being her and started being me.

I set aside those expectations of what I thought motherhood was going to be and leaned into what it actually is and how I fit into that. What once I saw as my “failures” became simply a sign of my humanity. And, as you saw in the conversation from last week’s post – I started to take note of the things I was doing right rather than constantly sitting in the muck of how I thought I was messing it all up. You know what happened when I freed myself up enough to say, “hey, this was actually a pretty great mom thing you just did there!” The floodgates of my parenting thumbs up opened wide and suddenly I was able to go through my days and say to myself, “that was good!” “Nice work on that conversation!” “You played catch with him for 30 minutes? I mean, you’re pretty much a saint.” And then sometimes there was, “yikes, did you really need to say that?” And in that moment I remind myself that I’m not perfect, I make mistakes, I own up to them, apologize and we can move on.

Ten years in and I still have a lot to learn but I’m so happy to be here, parenting in a way that fits me, and loving on my boy who is becoming more himself each and every day.

This “cake” of sorts was made at his request. It’s been a go-to for birthdays over the last couple of years and every time it’s requested I get just as eager to eat it as they do. He may not quite know how to prepare an entire meal yet (although his scrambled eggs are perfectly fluffy) he does know the value of brown butter and that’s how we start this cake. The other secret to this towering cereal treat is a good bit of salt to offset the inevitable sweetness that comes when marshmallows are the glue and a frosting that leans more towards bitter than sweet.

Happy birthday, buddy. Thanks for making me a mom and helping me figure out what that even means.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat Cake

Serves 10 - 12

1 cup / 2 sticks butter

2 10 ounce bags marshmallows

8 ounces / 1 cup peanut butter

13 - 14 cups / 1 pound Rice Krispies

Sea salt or flake salt

1 pound chopped, bittersweet chocolate

2 cups / 1 pound sour cream

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the peanut butter rice krispie cake: Butter and line three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper as well then set those aside.

In a large sauce pan melt the butter. Continue to melt until bubbly and it starts to foam. As the bubbles subside you will notice little brown bits on the bottom of the pan and the butter smells nutty. Turn off the heat then add the marshmallows. Stir until the marshmallows are completely melted.

Stir in the peanut butter.

Add the Rice Krispie cereal to a very large bowl. Seriously, big. If you don’t have a big enough bowl I suggest mixing this in two batches.

Pour the butter/mallow mixture over the Rice Krispies then stir well to combine. It takes a good bit of stirring but eventually all will be well coated. Sprinkle in a teaspoon or so of flake salt or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.

Divide the mixture evenly between the three pans. Press them down firmly then set aside for a couple of hours to firm up.

I like to add a bit more flake salt to the top of the layers.

For the frosting: Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the sour cream. Carefully stir in the powdered sugar until well combined. Add the salt.

You can use the frosting right away or set aside for later. If it gets too firm simply melt over a double boiler and stir until it reaches the desired consistency.

Spread the frosting between the layers and on the top of the cake.

Finish with sprinkles - or a bit more flake salt.

Last week I did something a little scary, a lot vulnerable, and a bit awkward but totally fun: I Facebook Live’d. Is it a verb? Probably, totally not. But we talked rhubarb fritters and that’s all that really matters. If you want to check it out it’s still up on my feed (for how long? I have no idea.) or watch it below. You all were so fun, so supportive and encouraging. Thanks to those of you who tuned in! To date the demo has been viewed over 5,000 times and that, my friends, is awesome (and terrifying).

Facebook live is the most recent (or one of) social media tools to hit the internet. Being a grandma in internet-land (I mean I’ve been blogging for nearly 10 years!) I have watched many things come and go. I’ve seen vibrant, active websites become internet ghost towns and witnessed “the next big social app” fall apart before it caught on. I still feel a bit old – wasn’t snapchat were the young kids went for sexting and now I’ve JUST started snapping (nws-ashrod). Oh man, now I just sound like a real life grandma. But Facebook Live is fun. Super fun.

With Facebook Live I get to cook for you in more than 10 second clips and we can interact through questions and comments in real time. Away from the internet I get the opportunity to teach many cooking and baking classes so I’m thrilled to be able to use those skills with all of you. I’m not sure if this is one of those things that is going to catch on or be left in the dust by whatever is coming next but in the meantime I’m having fun and I hope you come join. I’ll be doing another live demo this Thursday (4/14) at 2:30 pm PST. I haven’t quite settled on what we’ll be making (currently thinking cocktails because it’s DATE  NIGHT!) so if you have any ideas please let me know. Or if you have any questions you want me to answer feel free to write them on my Facebook page or leave in the comments below. Or tune in and ask live! The internet is fun.

These rhubarb fritters were last week’s demo as I said and I wish I could have shared them through the screen. They’re perhaps a bit more doughnut than fritter. Meaning there is more dough to fruit than what I originally intended and you are welcome to add more rhubarb if you’d like but I was thrilled with the result. What I particularly love is that the rhubarb is cold poached in sugar and a bit of spice for an hour or so before the doughnuts are fried. The sugar soaks into the rhubarb sweetening it from the outside in while still maintaining a bit of crunch. The only time the rhubarb is cooked is during the frying process so you get a vibrant rhubarb tang, a pleasant freshness but – with the help of the glaze – enough sweetness to satisfy.

The glaze is made from the reduced liquid that comes from the cold poach along with a good bit of lemon juice to offset the flurries of powdered sugar that is whisked in. If you have a vanilla bean on hand I’d eagerly suggest you add that as well as I’m such a softy for those black flecks and the perfume they bring with them.

While we were devouring our doughnuts after the show Brandi walked in (we filmed at The Pantry where I often teach) with rhubarb mousse. So if you happen to have some rhubarb mousse lying around please do as we did and stuff your fritters with it. Rhubarb and more rhubarb is totally my idea for a good time. Mousse or no mousse these beauties are sure to sweep the internet or more likely, and even better, been seen in our kitchen on repeat.

Rhubarb Fritters

4 cups bread flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

4 eggs

zest from 1/2 a lemon

3/4 cup water

1 stick butter, soft

1 1/4 pounds rhubarb

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch freshly ground nutmeg

oil (sunflower or other flavorless oil) for frying

Glaze:

1/2 cup reduced rhubarb syrup (reserved from the rhubarb filling)

1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

juice from 1 lemon

pinch flake salt, in the glaze or to finish the doughnuts

Put all the dough ingredients, apart from the butter, into the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook and mix on a medium speed for 8min, or until the dough starts coming away from the sides and forms a ball. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for a minute.

Start the mixer up again on a medium speed and slowly add the butter to the dough, about 1 tablespoon at a time.

Once it is all incorporated, mix on high speed for 5 minutes until the dough is glossy, smooth and elastic when pulled.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise until it has doubled in size, about an hour. Knead the dough just briefly it to get the extra air out, then re-cover the bowl and put into the fridge to chill overnight. This overnight rest gives the dough a deep flavor with a soft, sour tang. If you are in a hurry you are welcome to skip this step and just carry on. 

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and gently press it into a large rectangle about 1-inch thick.

Trim the ends off the rhubarb and cut the stalks into small dice, about 1/4-inch cubes. In a bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and rhubarb. Give this mixture a stir and then let it sit for at least one hour. Stir the rhubarb occasionally.

Drain off the syrup into a small saucepan. Reduce the liquid to 1/2 cup and then set aside.

Layer 1/3 of the diced rhubarb onto the right half of the doughnut dough. Fold the left side over the rhubarb like a book. Gently press the dough down again, give it a 90° turn and repeat the process until all the rhubarb has been layered in. Cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap then let rest from 10 minutes.

Gently roll the dough out to about 1 1/2-inch thickness then cut into 2x2-inch squares (or really, whatever size you’d like). This dough can be quite sticky when it has lost its chill from the refrigerator so don’t be afraid to use a good bit of flour to keep it from sticking.

When the dough feels light and airy, no longer cold, and springs back very slowly when touched they are ready to fry.

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a large high sided sauce pan or dutch oven. When the oil has reach 350°F the doughnuts are ready to fry. Add the doughnuts to the oil, a few at a time as you don’t want the oil temperature to drop too much. Fry for four minutes, flipping them over halfway through so they brown evenly. I like them good and dark - color equals flavor! Remove them from the oil after four minutes to a rack set over a sheet tray or paper towels set on a plate.

Let cool slightly before drizzling the glaze over the top.

For the glaze:

In a bowl whisk together the reduced rhubarb syrup along with the juice of 1 lemon and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Whisk until no clumps remain. If it looks too wet add a bit more powdered sugar. The thicker the glaze the thicker it will be on the doughnuts.

I am just too excited to show you this cake that I don’t even know what to say. I don’t think it needs a lot of words but it does need to be shared, like right now, because Easter is on Sunday and I think this cake would blow the minds off of whoever will be joining your Easter table.

This recipe also happens to mark the first rhubarb recipe of 2016 here on Not Without Salt and if you’ve been here awhile you now I’m a fan. A big, big, big, big fan. So happy spring, happy cake and happy Easter.

The bulk of the cake itself gets its structure from almonds, deeply toasted. I mean really, don’t be afraid to go dark here. When your kitchen starts to smell intensely of roasted almonds then you’re there. Once they cool they go into a food processor, completely whole and then, along with the rest of the ingredients until finely chopped, you’ll grind them until fine. Inevitably they won’t be as fine as almond flour so the resulting cake texture has a bit of an almond bite to it, which I love. It’s actually quite a different texture all together; hearty, a bit dense – not like a typical springy cake texture, but it’s beautifully almond speckled, rich and a perfect teammate to the rhubarb and cream cheese. And then you go and serve the cake with the remaining stewed rhubarb and a bit of cool whipped cream and *boom* minds blown, just as I predicted.

Toasted Almond Cake, Stewed Rhubarb and Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake:

2 cups almonds

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted

1/2 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Line three 8 inch cake pans with butter or pan spray and parchment paper. But the parchment paper.

Toast the almonds in a 350° oven until their toasty fragrance fills your kitchen and they turn deeply golden, about 10-15 minutes.

Let the almonds cool completely.

In the bowl of a food processor add the almonds, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Process until the almonds are completely pulverized. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then process again. The finer the crumb of the almond the finer the texture of the cake will be. I actually like a little bit of nutty texture in the cake so I don’t  worry about it being perfectly fine.

In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, eggs, lemon zest, almond extract, vanilla extract, melted butter, and olive oil.

Carefully pour the wet ingredients into the food processor. Process until a smooth batter forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then process again.

Divide the batter between the three cake pans.

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until the top feels springy when touched.

Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pans and cooling on a rack completely.

Make the stewed rhubarb while the cakes bake.

Stewed Rhubarb

1 1/2 pound rhubarb, ends trimmed and stalks cut into 1-inch pieces (you’ll need a total of 2 pounds for the whole cake recipe)

3/4 cup sugar

Juice from half a lemon

Add the rhubarb, sugar, and lemon juice to a small saucepan set over medium low heat. Cook gently until the rhubarb just starts to fall apart. Carefully transfer the rhubarb to a bowl and let cool completely.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature

2 sticks butter, room temperature

3 - 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat together until creamy and well combined. Sift the powdered sugar then add that to the bowl. Add the salt and vanilla extract before beating everything together. Start the machine slowly then, when all the sugar has been mixed in, increase the speed and beat on medium high for 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy and light. Scrape down the bowl then beat again, briefly until well mixed.

Rhubarb Roses

1/2 pound rhubarb stalks, ends trimmed

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the rhubarb into strips. The harder you press on the peeler the thicker the strips will be. You’re looking for about 1/8-inch thickness.

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Carefully add the rhubarb strips to the pan, just a few at a time, and gently poach for about 30 seconds. The strips should be malleable and be able to bend without breaking.

Lay the rhubarb strips on paper towels.

To form the roses gently roll them up in a tight coil. Alternate the size of the roses by cutting down some of the rhubarb strips. Replace the roses to the paper towels until ready to use.

Reserve the rhubarb simple syrup and the rest of the stewed rhubarb.

Assemble the cake:

Phew. Okay, now it’s time to make a cake! Brush each of the cake layers with a bit of the reserved rhubarb syrup from the rhubarb rose making. Then add a thin layer of cream cheese frosting followed by about 1/3 cup of the rhubarb filling. It’ll be soft and juicy and probably run out of the cake a bit but as the cake sits the cake will soak it up.

Repeat with the second cake layer then finish with the final layer. Add about 1 1/2 cups of rhe frosting to the top of the cake. Frost the cake to your desire, although I will suggest a nice thick layer of frosting on the top. I chose to leave the edges of the cake a bit exposed because I love the rustic layers of the cake showing through but you can frost it completely if you prefer.

Serve the slices with the remaining stewed rhubarb and whipped cream if you have some around.

This cake, like so many of its other cake friends, is best the day after it’s baked. You can frost and decorate on the day you plan to serve it if you’d like and bake the cake layers up to two days before. Just be sure to wrap them well.