So here’s a thought that I just can’t shake: It’s absolutely bonkers to me that we live in a world full of flavor-blasted everything, which I love, and yet when it’s time to whip up pancakes (or whatever!), most of us open a bag of the most boring flour imaginable. All-purpose. Even its name sounds reluctant to be here. “Might as well use me,” the floofy white flour says, tasting of nothing.

Nah thanks.

Today I’m mixing Sonoran wheat and buckwheat to make the Apple Upside-Down Pancakes from Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond, by my grain and granola godmother, Roxana Jullapat, head baker and co-owner of Friends & Family in L.A. Thinly sliced apples indent on the bottom of each pancake like an accidental tarte tatin.

A few years ago, early in my baking journey, I came across Roxana’s first cookbook, Mother Grains, and everything changed. Did I become a little too obsessed with the book? Yes, and my garage fridge is full of half-pints of buckwheat and sorghum flour among all the tailgate beer and Costco Kerrygold. But it’s a book worthy of obsession. Roxana wasn’t the first baker to showcase baking with whole and ancient grains, but she’s one of only a few. She speaks to a new generation with her velvety ricotta cornmeal pound cake and blueberry spelt muffins (legends, both). She made me realize that even adding a few tablespoons of whole wheat flour to my pie crust would make it beautifully freckled and subtly nutty, qualities I admire in pie, and people.

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My baking incentives are deliciousness, but yeah, you get some fiber and nutrients in these unvarnished flours, and you support a shrinking local food system with some pretty cool farmers. Roxana, who left academia to get into baking, writes much more eloquently on these topics than I ever will, so please read her book for the full picture. You get muffins at the end.

But now I’m going deep in Morning Baker. (Roxana, fun fact, wakes up at 2 a.m.!! Bedtime is 7:30 p.m. Can you imagine?) Instead of being organized by grain, the chapters follow breakfast categories, and the recipes often blend grains, like a Cheddar Jalapeño Scone with whole wheat, all-purpose (okay, I admit: it does have a purpose), and cornmeal. Also enthralling: A whole wheat-based Coconut Layer Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream. Something happily named Rhubarb Roly Poly. Masa-wheat-cornmeal hybrid tortillas, whoa. And for SMCP host , Sour Cream Cake Doughnuts. Snagged the recipe for that one, here.

So while the pancakes are poofing up on the cast iron, or the doughnuts are sizzling in their oil, listen to Roxana this week on She’s My Cherry Pie to hear more about her upbringing in Costa Rica, her extremely early mornings, and her Doughnut Principles—which we should all live by.

Until next time.

xx
Alex

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ROXANA'S SOUR CREAM CAKE DOUGHNUTS

Get the flours

A few of Roxana’s favorites from Morning Baker

• Anson Mills

• Hayden Flour Mills

• Maine Grains

• Janie’s Mill

The cherry on top

• Don’t miss Roxana talking sourdough bread her first time on the pod

• Jubilee is a week away! Tickets are almost sold out—join us 4/25 in NYC!

• Check out the latest installment of our So You Want to Open a Restaurant series

As a young pastry cook at Campanile, I fried a batch of these cake doughnuts, created by my mentor Nancy Silverton, every morning to sell next door at its sister company La Brea Bakery. If you’re craving doughnuts and don’t have the time to make a risen dough, which can take up to 2 hours, this recipe is for you. Cake doughnuts rely on baking powder and baking soda to puff up, forgoing the lengthy fermentation period. They can be made in one morning without much forethought.

Freshly grated nutmeg gives these doughnuts their characteristic old-­fashioned flavor, so don’t leave it out, even if you think you aren’t fond of nutmeg. Always grate your own nutmeg right before using and avoid the store-­bought ground stuff. Use a soft whole-­wheat for this recipe, such as Sonora. Successful cake doughnuts require a very sticky dough, not unlike cake batter. Flour your work surface and cutter generously with the same flour that you used in the dough (some will inevitably get worked in), but resist the urge to incorporate more flour into the dough while mixing. Tossed in sugar and sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, these are everything a cake doughnut should be: light as a feather, crunchy on the outside, tangy from the sour cream, and warm with nutmeg.

—Roxana Jullapat

Don’t miss Roxana’s new book!

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Ingredients

Makes about 12 doughnuts

• Equipment: instant-­read thermometer, 3-­inch (7.5 centimeters) doughnut cutter or 3-­inch (7.5 centimeters) and ¾-­inch (2 centimeters) plain round cutters

• ¾ cup (180 milliliters) whole milk

• 1½ teaspoons instant yeast

• 3 cups (390 grams) whole-­grain all-­purpose wheat flour, such as Sonora or Frederick

• 1 cup (140 grams) all-­purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, plus extra for coating

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon baking soda

• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1 cup (225 grams) sour cream

• 3 large eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup (115 grams) confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

• Vegetable oil for frying (1 to 2 quarts/1 to 2 liters, depending on the size of your pot)

Method

In a small saucepan, heat the milk until it is lukewarm (98–­105°F/37–­41°C). Pour into a cup, sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk, stir with a spoon to dissolve, and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, sift the flours, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a mixing bowl. Using your hands, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dissolved yeast mixture, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the liquid mixture into the well in the dry ingredients and stir to combine using a silicone spatula. The dough should be uniform but very sticky.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and dust generously with flour. Transfer the dough to a well-­floured work surface. Dust the dough surface generously with flour and pat down with the palms of your hands until it is ½ inch (1.25-centimeter) thick. Cut as many doughnuts as possible with a 3-­inch (7.5-centimer) doughnut cutter or plain round cutter. Make sure to dip the cutter in flour in between cuts to prevent the dough from sticking. If using a round cutter, cut a smaller inner circle from each doughnut with a ¾-­inch (2-centimeter) cutter. Gather the scraps into a ball, pat down again, and cut a few more doughnuts and holes. You can discard the leftover scraps or fry the random pieces after you fry the doughnuts later—­they will be funny looking but just as delicious. Place the doughnuts and holes on the prepared baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel, and let them rest for 30 minutes.

Fill a large pot with vegetable oil, 3 inches (7.5-centimeter) deep, and place over medium heat until the oil reaches 360°F (182°C) on an instant-­read thermometer. (Alternatively, fill a countertop fryer with vegetable oil and heat to 360°F/182°C.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels.

Working in batches, carefully drop a few doughnuts into the hot oil, one a time. Fry until the doughnuts are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes, then flip over and fry the other side, about 1 more minute. To test for doneness, choose a sacrificial doughnut and cut in the middle to ensure it’s cooked through. When the doughnuts are done, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on the paper towel–­lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the doughnuts are fried. Carefully put all the holes in the frying oil at once, stir continuously with a wooden spoon so they fry evenly, and remove from the hot oil when they’re golden brown. The holes will fry much faster than the doughnuts. Drain on paper towels.

Toss the fried doughnuts and holes in a bowl of granulated sugar while still warmish. Put confectioners’ sugar in a fine-­mesh sieve and dust generously over the sugared doughnuts. Serve immediately, preferably while still warm. They’ll keep for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature.

From Morning Baker by Roxana Jullapat. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

LISTEN TO OUR BAKING POD

Hi, bakers and baked good lovers! She’s My Cherry Pie is taking a short break while host finishes the manuscript of her next cookbook (!). But don’t worry, we’ll be back with new episodes very soon. In the meantime, if you’re looking for some baking inspo, catch up on these fun convos we had on our pod this year…

• Claire Saffitz & Molten Chocolate Cake

• Justine Doiron & Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Mariam Daud & Knafeh

• Danielle Sepsy & Chocolate Chip Scones

• Mia Castro & Tres Leches Cake

• Colu Henry & Pizza

• Spring Council & Bread Pudding

• Tanya Bush & Crullers

• Mallory Oniki & Shortbread Cookies

Annnd we had a Broadway moment! Sam Tutty & Christiani Pitts from the musical Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) were this season’s most unexpected guests, who took the cake (literally)! Plus, did you see they gave feminist icon and Cherry Bombe cover star Gloria Steinem a Milk Bar cake? Watch the clip below.

You can catch all episodes of She’s My Cherry Pie on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Fresh baked news

• Erin Jeanne McDowell’s new book, out this fall

• From Lucie x Red Currant Bakery

• Anna Voloshyna’s paska

• A sweet kids’ collection from Ladurée & J.Crew

• Make Jessie’s carrot cake muffins this weekend

• Giant. Butter. Cake.

The cherry on top

• Don’t miss our Q&A with global superstar Demi Lovato

• Jubilee joy is on its way! Join us on Saturday, 4/25, in NYC.

• BTS of our Mom’s the Bombe cover shoot

• If you’re a restaurateur, check out our new guide on how to grow your business! It’s filled with insights from some of the industry’s most thoughtful leaders.

When she was eight years old, Mallory Oniki went through the cheesecake phase.

You know, the phase where you can’t stop making cheesecake. She was all-in on Jell-O’s “no-bake” cheesecake mixes, which actually do seem like a great gateway bake for kids, especially the Oreo flavor. But we digress. Mallory was born to bake…

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based content creator known as “The Palatable Life” started by sharing her recipes a little before the pandemic; it was her cookies inspired by pop culture, like a Gilmore Girls-inspired coffee cake cookie, that went viral. Now she’s the author of Cookie Club (pre-order from a local bookstore or Amazon), a cookbook with a nice mix of classics—a whole chapter on chocolate chip cookies!—and unexpected, super creative flavors, like a Magnolia banana pudding-inspired cookie, and chili crisp cookies. We also love that she’s a strong advocate for jumbo, bakery-sized cookies. So are we! Bigger cookies = more textures.

This week on She’s My Cherry Pie, Mallory talks to host about how her path almost led to a career in finance, before a few early successful recipes—and the bleak job market during the pandemic—encouraged her to try content creation full-time. Then there’s a deep dive into shortbread that’s packed with hot takes and great tips, so put the kettle on for tea.

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GET MALLORY'S SHORTBREAD COOKIE RECIPE

Shop the show & more

• Like so many bakers we talk to, Mallory swears by USA Pans

• Swipe that cookie dough with this colorful Hedley & Bennett spatula

• Give away baked goods often? Pink bakery boxes are a joy.

• Mallory is stocked up on Trader Joe’s bourbon vanilla paste

Tip of the week

• SALTED. BUTTER. FOREVER. Mallory and Jessie agree that salted butter just tastes better, so what are you holding out on? The difference in salt is ultimately minimal in your baked goods. Let’s live for flavor.

Fresh baked news

• A life-size butter purse for Guess

• How pretty is this chrysanthemum cake

• Should we wear this ice cream knit to Jubilee?

• The cakes trending for wedding season

• An entire tablescape made from bread

• Artist Savitha Viswanathan’s take on From Lucie cakes ⬇️

The cherry on top

• Join us and award-winning restaurateur Molly Irani at our member meeting on Wednesday, 4/1, at 3 p.m. EST (paid subscribers, check your inbox for the registration link)

• If you’re a fellow restaurateur, check out our new guide to growing your business! It’s filled with insights from some of the industry’s most thoughtful leaders.

• Jubilee is in T-minus 30 days! You don’t want to miss the best day of the year—join us 4/25 in NYC.

Few things are more instantly recognizable than Cher’s yellow plaid outfit from the movie Clueless. Cher, a self-proclaimed matchmaker, serves looks in every scene as she tries to fix everyone else’s life before realizing her own might need a little recalibrating. I made these checkerboard shortbread cookies in honor of the incredible yellow plaid blazer and miniskirt Cher sports at the beginning of the film. Vanilla and chocolate shortbreads are cut and layered into a checkerboard shape, making these cookies almost too pretty to eat-but after you experience their flaky texture and buttery taste, you’ll be glad you did.

—Mallory Oniki

Don’t miss Mallory’s book, out 4/14!

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Ingredients

Makes 18 cookies

• ½ cup (113 grams) salted butter, cold and cubed

• ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 large egg yolk

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1½ cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

• ¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 1½ tablespoons cold water

• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

• ¼ cup (45 grams) turbinado sugar, optional

Method

Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to mix until combined, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until combined, about 1 minute.

Add the flour and salt. Mix on low until a crumbly dough forms, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on low, slowly add the water and mix just until a soft, cohesive dough forms.

Remove half of the dough (about ¾ cup/190 grams) and place in a small bowl. Add the cocoa powder to the dough still in the mixer and mix on low just until combined, about 30 seconds.

Shape each half of the dough into a square. Wrap both in plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the chilled dough from the fridge. Carefully roll out each dough ball into a 5-inch-wide (13 centimeters), ¼-inch-thick (6 mm) square. The dough will be very cold. Be patient, and the dough will start to work with you. Try to make the two squares as similar in shape as you can.

Stack the dough squares on top of each other, gently pressing down to adhere the two pieces together. Cut the stacked dough in half and then stack one half on top of the other, making sure the colors are alternating. Wrap with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

Remove the dough from the fridge and use a sharp knife to cut the dough lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick (6 mm) slices.

Bring one slice in front of you, laid flat, so you can see all the alternating colors. Grab another slice and stack it on top, making sure the colors are alternating. (If the vanilla dough is on the left, the piece going on top should have the chocolate dough on the left.)

Gently press down to adhere the two pieces together. Repeat with two more pieces so you have four total pieces stacked, making sure the colors are alternating with each piece.

Cut off the rough ends, revealing a checkerboard pattern. Sprinkle each side of the stacked dough with turbinado sugar, if using, and press gently to adhere.

Slice the rectangular log of dough into ¼-inch-thick (6 mm) slices. Place up to twelve slices onto each baking sheet, spaced equally apart.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes, just until the cookies stop looking doughy. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

From Cookie Club: 80 Creative Cookies to Make, Swap, and Share by Mallory Oniki. Reprinted by permission DK Publishing, a division of Penguin Random House.

“You’re not going to break a pizza.”

is the pizza coach we needed. She made so many pizzas for a friend’s birthday recently that they had to stop because it was 30 degrees out and the olive oil froze. Imagine that’s what it took you to stop making pizza. Imagine!

Colu is the author of three wonderful cookbooks that are all linked by her snappy sense of humor and her knack for easy, fancy meals that come together with a few flicks of the wrist. Her advice is so good, it’s in Vogue. Colu talks to on She’s My Cherry Pie this week about her path from restaurant PR and events to getting a cookbook deal all because of an Instagram hashtag (remember those?). #backpocketpasta forever.

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Her latest cookbook is Better at Home: Recipes for Big Nights In. Just look at this fire-engine harissa and brown sugar-glazed salmon—wowza. These are recipes for those special Friday night dinners with your person, hosting your inner circle, and just getting after it on a Tuesday with a bowl of spicy crab pasta with lemon breadcrumbs.

Jessie and Colu walk through her Pizza with Soppressata and Pickled Peppers recipe, which made us want a shiny orange Gozney pizza oven in a baaad way. But also, pizza. So don’t mind if we do stay in tonight with the warmth of our pizza stone, patiently preheating in the oven.

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GET COLU'S PIZZA RECIPE

Shop the show & more

• Add to grocery list: Fleischmann’s instant yeast for your pizza dough

• And finely milled type “00” flour, too

• Pizza stone, essential (we love the larger rectangular ones)

• Or splurge for a Gozney pizza oven like Colu has (swoon)

• You’ll need a good pizza cutter and maybe a drizzle of Pizza Oil

Tip of the week

• Pizza, frankly, is all about the toppings. No need to labor over a homemade sauce, just use passata like Colu does. It’s a super-smooth tomato purée, a bright and blank canvas you can season with oregano, salt, and pepper, and slather all over your dough. She loves the Mutti brand.

Fresh baked news

• Bakers Against Racism activation for mutual aid

• Three words: salty chocolate mousse

• We love these bold striped napkins for pizza night

• It’s cherry blossom season at Levain Bakery

• Pelah Kitchen’s cake decorating class, BK, 3/28

• What do you think of Moschino’s apple bag? ⬇️

The cherry on top

• Love doughnuts? Learn about the best beignets in the Bay Area

• Restaurateurs, you need this new hospitality bible!

• Paid subscribers—don’t miss Molly Irani, co-founder of Chai Pani, at our monthly meeting on Wednesday, 4/1, at 3 p.m. EST. Sign up here.

• Jubilee Jubilee Jubilee! Our annual conference is next month in NYC. Join us?

There is no better pizza dough recipe than the recipe from Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, Arizona. He also makes the best canned tomatoes . . . This recipe is adapted from his because I’m not in a position to mess with a good thing and I am very much of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. Chad used to be the pizzaiolo in the house, but ever since I started making the dough, his position has been replaced. We have a wood-fired pizza oven in Nova Scotia and a lot of house guests, which means I make a lot of pizza. If you don’t have a wood-fired oven, invest in a pizza stone and heat your kitchen oven with the stone at 500°F (260°C) until it’s very, very hot.

—Colu Henry

Don’t miss Colu’s new book!

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Ingredients

Makes one 10-inch (25 centimeters) pizza

• 1 ball Pizza Dough (recipe below)

• Semolina flour, for dusting

• 2 to 3 tablespoons passata

• A few pinches of dried oregano

• 3 ounces (85 grams) fresh mozzarella cheese, torn

• 1 ounce (28 grams) thinly sliced soppressata

• Olive oil, for drizzling

• Flaky salt, for finishing

• Pickled banana peppers, for serving

Method

About 1 hour before you’re ready to make the pizza, place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat it as high as it will go. You want the stone as hot as possible.

Have your pizza toppings ready to go before you shape the dough as you’ll need to work quickly.

Remove the pizza stone from the oven and dust with semolina flour. Shape the pizza dough into a 10-inch (25 centimeters) round and transfer to the pizza stone. Spread the passata evenly around the pizza dough and add a few good

pinches of dried oregano. Top evenly with the mozzarella followed by the soppressata and drizzle with some olive oil.

Place in the oven and bake until the cheese begins to bubble and the soppressata begins to get crispy, 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the pizza carefully to a cutting board. Finish with a few pinches of flaky salt. Slice and serve with the pickled banana peppers alongside.

Pizza Dough

Makes four 10-inch (25 centimeters) pizzas

• 1 (7 grams) envelope instant yeast (2¼ teaspoons)

• 2 cups (480 milliliters) warm water

• 5 cups (625 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• Olive oil

Method

In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast and the water—little bubbles should form, which will show you that the yeast is activated.

Mix in 3 cups (375 grams) of the flour gradually until it is hydrated. I usually use a large wooden spoon for this bit and then switch over to my hands. Gradually add in the remaining 2 cups (250 grams) flour, making sure it is well incorporated into the dough. Add the salt and mix until it is worked in throughout.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 5 to 7 minutes until it is extremely tacky and sticky and work it into a ball. Oil a large bowl and transfer the dough, rolling it around to make sure all sides are slick with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

With a pastry scraper or sharp knife, cut the dough into 4 equal portions. Shape them into balls and dust with flour. Cover and let them rise until they have doubled in size, about 1 hour more.

Use immediately or put in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 6 months.

From Better at Home by Colu Henry. Reprinted by permission of Abrams Books.

This is the story of how a 13-year-old started a scone empire from her parents’ Long Island kitchen.

Danielle Sepsy and her family would plan beach days in the Hamptons that began at the Amagansett farmers’ market, picking up chocolate chunk scones at 7 a.m. to avoid their inevitable sell-out. Until one day the scones disappeared from the market, and Danielle had only one choice: learn to make them herself.

With the help of the adults in her life to do the driving—thanks, Aunt Christine—soon she was selling her scones to local coffee shops, waking up at 3 a.m. to get them in the oven. Now you might recognize Danielle from The Big Brunch or the jolly label for her bakery company, The Hungry Gnome, especially if you’ve ever stopped into a Joe Coffee in the city. And now she sells them online! What a beautiful world we live in that you can order fresh, fluffy scones delivered to your door.

Or make them at home, because finally, Danielle wrote a cookbook, revealing the secrets she’s been keeping all these years. The secret is not a dash of mustard powder. Nope. (And phew). Honestly, she laughed as she told host this week, it’s just an egg yolk, rather than a whole egg, that makes her scones extra tender. Dan Levy said they were the best thing he’d ever put in his mouth—don’t you want that??

3 Scone Tips To Take With You

1. COLD butter. COLD cream. COLD egg yolks. These are crucial scone factors, people.

2. The dough should be a shaggy ball. A smooth ball means you’ve overworked it.

3. The oven needs to be HOT. 400°F. If your scones spread rather than rise, it’s not hot enough.

Listen to the episode for all of Danielle’s tips and snag a copy of her book for the full recipe. In the meantime, check out her Raisin Tea Biscuit recipe.

P.S. Don’t miss Danielle on tour! She’ll be chatting IRL with Jessie on Tuesday, March 24th, at Books are Magic in Brooklyn. More info here.

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Shop the show & more

• Snag a copy of The Scone Queen Bakes for more scones—but also a banana cream pie-inspired icebox cake

• Intrigued: Danielle is OXO’s chef-in-residence and swears by the brand’s ceramic-coated baking sheets to keep her scone bottoms from burning

• … as well as the OXO silicone-bottomed mixing bowls that won’t slip n’ slide on your counter

• For the chocolate chips in her signature scones, she’s a Toll House loyalist

• She mentions the Italian nonnas in her life who only cook with Red Cross iodized salt

Question for the class

• What’s the best scone you’ve ever had?

Fresh baked news

• Cookie Monster in Paris

• Sugar Hill Creamery x The Pastry Box, NYC

• We are ready for lamb cake season!

• Osono Bread x At Heart Panaderia pop-ups, Atlanta

• Lucky Charms, but make them macarons ⬇️

The cherry on top

• Meet Jessie and more incredible bakers at our Jubilee conference 4/25 in NYC

• And apply for a business pass if you’re a business owner!

• Get ready for St. Patrick’s Day the Irish way

If you’re not familiar with tea biscuits, they live somewhere between a scone and a buttermilk biscuit. For some reason, they are a bit of a Long Island staple, as they are prominently found on the shelves of local bakeries and in plastic clamshell boxes on grocery store shelves. I rarely see them in other states and there are very few recipes on the internet, which brought me to this conclusion: I believe that someone attempted to make an English-style scone and didn’t think the people of Long Island would know what a scone was, so they called it a “tea biscuit.” I am no food historian but this is my assumption, and I’m stickin’ to it! For as long as I could remember, my grandmother and mother would pick up fresh, iced, raisin tea biscuits from the bakery that had been cut in half and filled with a generous amount of softened butter spread. They aren’t overly sweet and the texture is moist and soft on the inside and slightly crisp and crumbly on the outside. The raisins plump up slightly in the oven and add the perfect contrasting chew. With a cup of hot coffee or tea, it’s a real breakfast treat. Feel free to swap out the raisins for currants, dried cranberries, or even chocolate or cinnamon chips!

—Danielle Sepsy

Don’t miss Danielle’s book!

Shop here

Ingredients

Makes 7 large biscuits

For the dough

• 1 heaping cup raisins

• 1¼ cups bread flour

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon fine table salt

• 3½ teaspoons baking powder

• 10 tablespoons (4 ounces) vegetable shortening, such as Crisco, cut into small pieces

• ¾ cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons very cold whole buttermilk, plus more for brushing

• 1 large egg

• 1 large egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

For the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• Pinch of fine table salt

• ⅛ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 425°F (or 400°F on the convection setting).

Make the dough: Pour hot, but not boiling, water (at least 150°F) over the raisins and let them soak while you start the dough.

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), combine the bread flour, the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder.

With the mixer on low speed, add the shortening and mix until it blends into the flour mixture and resembles fine crumbs, about 2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all the dry mix gets mixed with the shortening.

Drain the raisins in a fine-mesh sieve. Add them to the flour mixture and stir just until they are evenly distributed throughout the mix.

In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together ¾ cup of the buttermilk, the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and vinegar just until blended. If the dough feels very wet and sticks easily onto your hands, add the remaining ¼ cup of bread flour.

On medium-low speed, add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until the dough just comes together, about 2 minutes. If the dough appears to be too dry add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk just to bring it together. You want the dough moist but not so sticky that it comes off on your hands.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is 1 inch thick. Flour a 3-inch round cutter and cut straight down into the dough, don’t wiggle or twist the cutter or else it may not rise evenly. Gather the scraps, reroll, and cut out more biscuits. You should get 7 biscuits. Place the biscuits ½ inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk and transfer to the oven.

Bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan front to back, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (or 350°F on the convection setting), and continue to bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges and bottoms are golden and the centers are baked through.

Let the tea biscuits cool for 10 to 15 minutes on the pan while you make the glaze.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and salt. Add a tablespoon of water at a time until you get a paste-like consistency. Add the vanilla bean paste. Add a few drops of water at a time if needed until the glaze becomes a spreadable texture. You still want it fairly opaque so it sets beautifully on top of the biscuits.

Take a spoon and spread about 1 tablespoon of the glaze on top of each biscuit. Let the glaze set for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature (if you can wait!) before serving.

Storage: Store in a sealed container or wrapped in parchment paper and then aluminum foil at room temperature for 3 days. Reheat in the oven at 325°F for a few minutes or even on a plate in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.

From The Scone Queen Bakes by Danielle Sepsy. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

FYI: The “k” is knafeh is pronounced.

And those who did know just read the word and realized their mouths were suddenly watering.

Knafeh is one of those desserts that completely captures your heart and/or drives you to obsession. There’s nothing else like it. Stretchy cheese, layered with flaky shredded phyllo, drenched in an orange blossom syrup. Come ON.

This week on She’s My Cherry Pie with host , TikTok creator and cookbook author Mariam Daud () shares her Palestinian version of the dessert, which has variations across the Middle East and beyond. Hers has a sunny orange glow that beckons you (even more) toward it. The recipe is from her debut book, I Sleep in My Kitchen: Comfort Food Recipes from My Palestinian American Home, named after her social media bio. It’s an eclectic mix of Palestinian dishes she loves and, well, any dish she loves, from mac and cheese to chocoflan. It reflects the reason why over 7 million people watch Mariam cook online: she has an eye for tasty food, and her recipes make it look easy.

@mxriyumKnafeh appreciation post 🇵🇸⭑.ᐟ

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Mariam grew up with nine siblings and parents who are “a cooking power duo”—they’d owned a restaurant in Cleveland called Pyramid until Mariam was four or five. Her mom had the kids helping her at home, filling hundreds of grape leaves at a time in a happy assembly line. We can’t wait to make Mariam’s version, filled with pomegranate molasses-spiked beef and rice. Might need a few hundred of those.

And then there’s her Knafeh Kishna, soaked in an orange blossom simple syrup that she makes in bulk, so we will too (think of how good it would be in an iced matcha…). Once you find the flaky knafeh dough at your local Middle Eastern grocer, the rest is really just a little food processing and assembly for one of the biggest payoffs in dessert history, if we say so ourselves. Find the recipe right this way.

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GET MARIAM'S KNAFEH RECIPE

Shop the show & more

• Snag a copy of I Sleep in My Kitchen

• Obsessed with Mariam’s marigold yellow 9”x13” baking dish (handles, helpful!) from Caraway

• Stock up on orange blossom water, Mariam says any brand will do

• To find flaky knafeh dough in your area, labeled kataifi, try searching Instacart to see who has it, or order online here

• You’ll need pretty dessert plates for serving

Tip of the week

• Eat a spoonful of Cool Whip straight from the freezer, be happy.

Fresh baked news

• ICE Cakes Not People bake sales this weekend & next

• Everyone loves Punch the monkey

• Now, this is our kind of trophy

• Tanya Bush x Radio Bakery, 3/7 & 3/8, BK

• Breakfast of champions? Lucky Charms

• On our TBR: this book about a cake recipe feud

• We need this fabric croissant ⬇️

The cherry on top

• Jubilee is next month! Join us for our annual conference on Saturday, April 25th, in NYC.

• GIRL! Don’t miss our new issue, Mom’s the Bombe, out now.

• Looking for the perfect foodie gift? Check out our new gift guide.

• Members and paid subscribers, click here for our March Meeting recap with the food stylist of Wuthering Heights

Knafeh is a classic dessert in the Arab world, and many countries have their own regional version. What they all have in common is a beautiful pastry layer, melty cheese, and a sugar syrup topping. The way you can quickly identify a Palestinian knafeh is if there is red or orange food coloring in the dough. (Lebanese knafeh, by contrast, keeps it natural with a pale gold dough.)

You can buy knafeh dough (often labeled kataifi dough) frozen at Arab groceries; it is essentially shredded phyllo pastry. You pack the crumbs into a pan, then layer cheese on top. Traditionally, this would be cooked over an open flame, and you would rotate the tray frequently until all the cheese was melted. In my version, you bake it in the oven because it makes it a little easier and more hands-off. At the end, you flip the whole thing onto a tray and drizzle it with orange blossom syrup, which I make in bulk and always have on hand in my pantry.

—Mariam Daud

Don’t miss Mariam’s book!

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Ingredients

Makes 12 squares

• 1 pound/455 grams frozen knafeh dough

• ½ cup/115 grams salted butter, at room temperature

• ½ cup/110 grams ghee

• ⅛ teaspoon knafeh dough

• ½ cup/120 grams ricotta cheese

• 1 cup/120 grams freshly shredded mozzarella cheese

• ¾ cup/85 grams freshly shredded Akkawi cheese or sweet cheese (see Note below)

• Orange Blossom Simple Syrup (recipe follows), for drizzling

• Chopped raw pistachios (salted or unsalted—your choice!), for garnish

• 250 grams (5 large) eggs

Method

Cut the knafeh dough into large chunks so it fits into your food processor. Add it to the processor and pulse until ground into ¼- to ½-inch-long threads.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, ghee, and food coloring and use your hands to mix together. Add the shredded dough and massage between the palms of your hands until it is fully coated in the butter mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a 9×13-inch baking pan, pack down the dough mixture into an even layer that comes slightly up the sides. Use a flat-bottomed cup to press the dough firmly—this part is important to ensure it holds its shape when you flip it later. Pop the pan into the oven for 5 minutes, just to help it set a little.

Remove the pan from the oven and dollop the ricotta evenly over the surface of the dough. Use your finger-tips to gently spread the ricotta into an even layer—but be careful, since the dough is very tender. Sprinkle the mozzarella and Akkawi cheeses evenly over the ricotta.

If the edges of the dough are higher than the cheese layer, gently press them down to be level with the cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted but not browned, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, then immediately place a platter larger than the pan over top and quickly flip the knafeh onto the platter. Carefully lift the baking pan, using a table knife, if needed, to reveal the knafeh. Drizzle as much orange blossom syrup on top as you want—some people like it sweet; others, less so—then garnish with the pistachios either strewn all over the surface or arranged in a cute design of your choice around the perimeter. Cut into squares immediately and serve warm.

NOTE: “Sweet cheese” is the most common translation for jibnah hilwah ةولح ةنبج. It is unsalted, which is important for this recipe. Look for it in 16-ounce vacuum-sealed packages in the refrigerated section of a Middle Eastern grocer. You can substitute ricotta if you cannot find it.

Orange Blossom Simple Syrup

Makes about 2½ cups

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar

• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

• 1½ teaspoons orange blossom water

Method

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and 1½ cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the lemon juice and reduce the heat to low. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then add the orange blossom water. Remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge indefinitely.

From I Sleep in My Kitchen by Mariam Daud. Reprinted by permission of Clarkson Potter, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House.

“I had this idea that baking was a hobby I would use to claw my way to happiness.”

Tanya Bush, like a lot of us, was searching for something at the bottom of a bowl of cake batter. But sometimes, cake alone is enough.

The Little Egg pastry chef and co-founder talks to host this week about her new memoir/cookbook, Will This Make You Happy: Stories & Recipes from a Year of Baking, out this Tuesday. It’s a beautifully told coming-of-age “story of desire and dessert” per Tanya, interspersed with recipes and kitchen learnings that inspire you to bake for the joy of it.

The book began as an anonymous Instagram account where she shared narrative captions with recent bakes, including all the messy failures—in life, and in the kitchen. The premise for her book would be to do just the same. Where most of today’s glossy cookbooks portray cooking in its most perfect, idealized form, she wanted to write a cookbook where mistakes, regrets, and heartbreak lead you to the recipes. Cooking, she shows, is just as much about transforming simple ingredients into something great as it is “a transformation of the self.”

Tanya speaks with natural poetry, even when she’s telling Jessie how to replicate the famous crullers at Little Egg. The choux dough is “a sleepy dough,” she explains. If it’s slumping off the stand mixer paddle, you’re good. Doesn’t the image of a slumping, snoozing dough make you want crullers that much more? Good news: We have the recipe.

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• Tanya reminds us of the hilarious brilliance of Fancy Desserts by Brooks Headley

• The cookbook that inspired her as a kid? The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (coconut cake!)

• You’ll need a set of piping bags and tips to fill your crullers

• … or, Tanya’s great tip is that squeeze bottles are terrific piping bag substitutes

• Everyone needs a cute hair clip! We love this lemon one.

Tip of the week

• For the crunchiest exterior and custardy interior, freeze your crullers before frying.

• Okay one more: for lemon curd with a “pizzazz-y spike,” add citric acid (then lick from your fingers; it’s what Sour Patch Kids are coated in).

Fresh baked news

• Bob Red Mill’s Little Free Bakeries

• Dear Saturdays’ take on the giant strawberry from Wuthering Heights

• We love a beautiful butter dish

• Justine Snacks & Ella Quittner make the ultimate CCC

• Community bake sale for human rights, 3/14, Atlanta

• Detour Doughnut’s Bridgerton-inspired treats (who’s watching?!) ⬇️

The cherry on top

• Members and paid subscribers! Our next meeting is Wednesday, 3/4, with the food stylist from Wuthering Heights. Register here.

• If you own a business and are interested in attending our Jubilee conference, click here for a special ticket offer

• Print is always in fashion—don’t miss our new Mom’s the Bombe issue!

This cruller is wonderful drizzled with any citrus curd, but I’m partial to lemon—it pairs beautifully with the poppy seeds that are especially nutty after a quick toast.

—Tanya Bush

Don’t miss Tanya’s book!

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Ingredients

Makes 14 crullers

For the choux

• 250 grams (5 large) eggs

• 66 grams egg whites (from about 2 large eggs)

• 210 grams (¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 300 grams (2½ cups) all-purpose flour

• 1½ tablespoons whole-wheat flour

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

For the poppy seed glaze

• 2 tablespoons blue poppy seeds

• 250 grams (2 cups plus 3 tablespoons) powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Scant 2 tablespoons whole milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste

Neutral oil (such as canola), for frying

Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

200 grams (1 cup) Lemon Curd (recipe follows), at room temperature

Method

To make the choux: In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg whites until homogenous. Transfer to a large liquid measuring cup and set aside.

In a medium pot over medium heat, combine 548 grams (2¼ cups plus 1½ teaspoons) water, the butter, granulated sugar, and salt. Melt the butter, whisking until smooth. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then add the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is homogenous. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring, until a film forms on the bottom of the pot and the mixture is smooth and pulling away from the sides into a ball, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), and mix on medium speed until the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Add the vanilla and lemon zest and mix until smooth, about 20 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Turn the speed to low and gradually add the eggs. Stop adding the eggs when the dough is shiny, thick, and smooth with a pipable consistency, 4 to 5 minutes. The choux dough should hang off the edge of the paddle attachment but not fall off. (You may have some leftover egg depending on the humidity of your kitchen and how long you cooked the choux dough.) Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a size 828 star tip.

Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper. Take a second piece of parchment paper and cut out fourteen parchment squares.

Place a parchment square on a scale and tare the scale. Hold the pastry bag about 2 inches (5 centimeters) above the parchment paper and evenly pipe a 75- to 80-gram circle of choux dough, with one edge overlapping the end of the circle. The diameter of the doughnut should be about 4 inches (10 centimeters). Let the dough fall naturally; if you don’t like the shape of the cruller, scrape the dough off the parchment and return it to the bag to start over. Using the parchment square, carefully transfer the piped cruller to the prepared sheet pan. Continue with the remaining dough, refilling the piping bag as needed.

Transfer the crullers to the freezer until fully frozen, about 1 to 2 hours or ideally overnight (this will yield a more even fry). The crullers can be wrapped tightly in plastic and stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.

To make the poppy seed glaze: In a medium skillet over medium heat, toast the poppy seeds, gently stirring, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Stir in the poppy seeds. Taste and season with more salt, if desired. Set aside.

Set a wire rack inside a half-sheet pan.

Fill a deep skillet or pot over medium-high heat with 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) of oil and heat to 365°F (185°C). Remove the parchment squares from the crullers.

Carefully slide a cruller into the hot oil, ridged-side down. If the cruller flips, that’s fine—use tongs to gently turn it over. Add another one or two crullers, depending on how much space you have (don’t overcrowd the pot). Cook the crullers until the tops are puffed up and yellow and the bottoms are a deep chestnut brown and firm to the touch, 6 to 8 minutes.

Using tongs, gently flip the crullers and fry until the edges feel firm and the bottoms are deeply golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the crullers to the wire rack, allowing any excess oil to drip off. Repeat with the remaining crullers. Let cool completely on the wire rack.

Gently dip the ridged top of the cruller into the glaze, swirling around to ensure an even coating. Return the cruller, glazed-side up, to the wire rack and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Repeat with the remaining crullers. Set aside until the glaze is set, 5 to 10 minutes.

Fill a piping bag with the lemon curd and cut a small hole at the bottom. Pipe the curd in stripes over the glaze. Serve the crullers immediately.

Lemon Curd

Makes 626 grams (3 cups)

Ingredients

• Handful of ice cubes

• 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar

• 200 grams (¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 100 grams egg yolks (from 5 large eggs), at room temperature

• 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

• 170 grams (¾ cup) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch (13-millimeter) cubes

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Pinch of citric acid, or more to taste

Method

In a large bowl, combine the ice with cold water; set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, egg yolks, and lemon zest. Cook, whisking constantly, until pale, thickened, and bubbling, 8 to 12 minutes. You should be able to draw a visible line on the back of a coated wooden spoon with your finger.

Remove from the heat, add the butter, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the salt, vanilla, and citric acid. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Place the bowl of lemon curd over the ice bath and stir until cool. Transfer the curd to an airtight container and press a piece of plastic directly against the surface. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the curd in the refrigerator for 12 hours before using.

From Will This Make You Happy by Tanya Bush. Reprinted by permission of Chronicle Books.

Step 1: Unwrap a Honey Bun, slice it in half.

Step 2: Butter a hot griddle and fry that Honey Bun until the bottom is crisp and golden.

Step 3: Fill with vanilla ice cream, and eat.

Spring Council, we have so much to thank you for, starting with that recipe. The daughter of the legendary Southern restaurateur Mildred “Mama Dip” Council is the author of a new cookbook, Southern Roots: Recipes and Stories from Mama Dip’s Daughter, which puts her mother’s teachings into words, with classic Southern recipes and many that she’s evolved into her own.

Spring is one of eight siblings in a big family—we talked to her niece Erika about her biscuit book last year—and she grew up cooking by sight, smell, and sound. She tells host about the oral tradition of “dump cooking” and recipe sharing her mother passed on to her kids, and we can’t stop thinking about how that art form may be fading in our digital lives. There’s no knowledge as visceral as hearing the sizzle of butter soften into quiet foam, knowing the cornbread batter can go in the cast-iron pan right now.

Then, Spring shares her recipe for Chocolate Bread Pudding with Candied Bacon, a twist on her mom’s recipe in which the bread is blitzed in a food processor for an even more pudding-y texture. The candied bacon recipe (all in the oven, simple!) on its own is irresistible.

Catch Spring at one of her upcoming cookbook events, where you can hear more about her mother’s legacy and how we can keep connections to the past alive and sizzling.

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GET SPRING'S BREAD PUDDING RECIPE

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• Add Mama Dip’s Kitchen, Mama Dip’s Family Cookbook, and Erika Council’s biscuit bible, Still We Rise, to your collection of Southern classics

• And why not throw a bag of Mama Dip’s cornbread mix to cart while you’re at it?

• Blitz up your biscuit breadcrumbs in this 50th Anniversary vintage revival Cuisinart

• … and cook your bacon on this tray

• Our fave butter puzzle is back in stock!

Tip of the week

• Why have we been making bread pudding with brioche when it could be even butterier with leftover focaccia or buttermilk biscuits? Thanks for that one, Spring.

Fresh baked news

• ICE Cakes Not People, a nationwide bake sale initiative

• Hetty McKinnon’s LNY carrot mochi cake

• Broma Bakery x High Confectionary chocolate

• Meet Cake Circle, a community for cake artists

• Look who we ran into—Ballymaloe House’s JR Ryall

• Melissa King + more chefs at No Kid Hungry fundraiser, 4/11, L.A.

• This peach candle has us dreaming of summer

• Turn your tea towels into bread baskets. We love these ones, of course.

The cherry on top

• Our annual Jubilee conference is happening in NYC Saturday, April 25th! Get your ticket here.

• Moms are the bomb! Our new issue, out now, explores motherhood and more.

This recipe brings together three pairings: chocolate and bourbon, bacon and bourbon, and maple syrup and bourbon. I should call this recipe bourbon food pairings, but it’s actually a not-­so-­classic Southern bread pudding. The bourbon adds oaky, vanilla, caramel, and spice flavors. The savory flavor comes from the topping of maple and black pepper candied bacon. I like to serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

—Spring Council

Don’t miss Spring’s book!

SHOP NOW

Ingredients

Makes 6 to 8 servings

For the Bread Pudding

• 2 cups soft bread crumbs

• ¼ cup sugar

• ¼ cup cocoa

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3 cups milk

• 3 eggs, beaten

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• ¼ cup bourbon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup chocolate chips

For the Candied Bacon

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground

• 6 strips of applewood smoked bacon

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Method

To make the Bread Pudding: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and baking powder.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, butter, bourbon, and vanilla. Stir the milk mixture and chocolate chips into the bread crumb mixture. Pour the pudding into a buttered 1-­quart casserole dish. Bake the dish for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the Candied Bacon: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Set a cooling rack on top of the foil.

In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar and pepper. Brush both sides of the bacon strips with the maple syrup and arrange them on the cooling rack. Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the top sides of the bacon.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until done. Cool the bacon, cut into small pieces, and sprinkle over the pudding.

From Southern Roots by Spring Council. Reprinted by permission of Countryman Press, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company.

What if we told you… that hot, molten lava cake is just one step up from making brownies?

Yup. We’d never lie to you. Host talked to Certified Dessert Person Claire Saffitz this week about her recipe—find it here—which is so dang easy. The molten center is all because you bake it in a super-hot oven and take it out before it’s completely done.

It’s not too late to be the star of your Valentine’s Day—after the giant pizza you ordered.

What’s Claire been up to lately? The bestselling author of Dessert Person and What’s for Dessert is about to reach 1.5 million followers on YouTube, where she’s been baking up puffy pita and lemon-ricotta pancakes, and being stumped by the challenge to recreate Kinder Bueno. She tells Jessie about her recent parenting adventures and her next cookbook, which is going to be savory! “But with a LOT of desserts,” she assures us. Phew. Cannot wait.

This episode will make you want a grocery store sheet cake, banana nut “muffies” (listen to find out), and bubble gum-flavored Baskin-Robbins ice cream. Well, maybe not that last one. Listening to Claire wax poetic on nostalgic treats, though, can be very persuasive.

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CLAIRE'S MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE

Shop the show & more

• Everything was different once Claire got her hands on Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts

• Guittard discs are Claire’s only way to go

• Heilala vanilla, always

• Big love for the cordless (!) KitchenAid hand mixer this week

• And did you see their cool color of the year?

• Can’t go wrong with a heart-shaped Le Creuset

Tip of the week

• Metal baking pans or molds—like her vintage French ones, ahem—conduct heat super fast and tend to bake things faster. Keep an eye on your timer, and if you’re baking with ceramic or glass, you may need a few extra minutes.

Fresh baked news

• A gold medal-worthy birthday cake

• Aimee France x Rose Bakery, 2/14 & 2/15, NYC

• Bakers Against Racism’s new initiative

• Constellation Inspiration’s LNY cookie tin

• Tanya Bush’s book tour

• Kiera Wright-Ruiz’s zine for a good cause

• Babies love butter

• A Cozy Kitchen turned Ina’s brownie pudding into cookies ⬇️

The cherry on top

• Our new issue is almost here! Pre-order Mom’s the Bombe now to guarantee your copy.

• Don’t miss Jubilee this year! Our annual conference is Saturday, April 25th, in NYC.

I am going to let you in on what feels like a very big secret: Molten chocolate cake, that stalwart of dessert menus from chain restaurants to fine-dining establishments, is actually a two-bowl dessert, only a half-step up from brownies, that’s ready in under 45 minutes. This is a fairly standard version except for one ingredient: olive oil. Compared to butter, olive oil makes the batter slightly more fluid, enhancing the “molten” effect, and the flavor pairs especially well with chocolate. Keep a close eye on the cakes during baking, since they can overcook quickly and lose their molten centers. Serve them immediately for the most dramatic presentation.

—Claire Saffitz

Don’t miss Claire’s latest book!

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Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

• Butter and flour for the molds

• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil (5.9 ounces/168 grams)

• 9 ounces (255 grams) semisweet chocolate (64–70% cacao), chopped

• 6 large egg yolks (3.2 ounces/90 grams), at room temperature

• 3 large eggs (5.3 ounces/150 grams), at room temperature

• ½ cup sugar (3.5 ounces/100 grams)

• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon Morton kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

• Special equipment needed: Eight 4-ounce fluted metal brioche molds or ramekins, and a hand mixer

Method

PREPARE THE MOLDS: Use a pastry brush to liberally brush the bottom and sides of eight 4-ounce fluted metal brioche molds or ramekins with room temperature butter, then dust the interiors with flour and shake to coat all over. Tap out any excess flour and set the molds aside.

PREHEAT THE OVEN: Arrange an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.

MELT THE CHOCOLATE MIXTURE: Fill a medium saucepan with about 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. In a large heatproof bowl, combine the olive oil and chocolate and set over the saucepan, taking care that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water (this is called a double boiler—for more information, see Setting Up a Double Boiler, page 341). Stir the chocolate mixture occasionally with a heatproof flexible spatula until it’s melted and completely smooth, then remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.

BEAT THE EGGS AND SUGAR: In a separate medium bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks, whole eggs, sugar, and salt on medium-low speed until the eggs are broken up, then increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the mixture is very pale, thick, mousse-y, and approximately doubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and flour.

MAKE THE BATTER: Slowly pour the egg mixture into the melted chocolate mixture, beating constantly with the hand mixer on medium-low speed, until you have an evenly mixed batter. It will be thick but fluid.

FILL THE MOLDS AND BAKE: Divide the batter evenly among the prepared molds (they will be filled nearly to the top). Place the molds on a large sheet pan and bake until the surfaces of the cakes are puffed, matte (with just a touch of glossiness in the centers), and dry to the touch but still extremely soft when pressed in the centers, 6 to 8 minutes for metal molds and 7 to 9 minutes for ramekins. Remove the sheet pan from the oven immediately and set the cakes aside to rest for about 30 seconds.

UNMOLD THE CAKES AND SERVE: Working as quickly as possible (it’s helpful to have an extra set of hands for this), place a small serving plate upside down over a cake, then invert the cake and plate together and lift off the mold (careful, it’s hot!). Repeat with the remaining cakes and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Can I . . . Make it ahead?
Just the batter. The cakes must be served immediately— immediately!—after they emerge from the oven, but you can prepare the batter and fill the molds ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate the filled molds for up to 24 hours, then let them sit out for several hours so they come to room temperature before baking.

Make it dairy-free?
Yes. The recipe is dairy-free except for the butter coating the molds. Instead, you can use a generous amount of oil-based, nonstick baking spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy. Regular oil is not recommended, as it doesn’t coat the molds well and will lead to sticking.

Halve the recipe?
Yes. Halve all of the ingredient quantities and follow the recipe as written, but to halve the 3 whole eggs, combine 1 large egg with half of a whole egg that’s been thoroughly beaten and measured. Start checking the cakes for doneness after 5 minutes.

Use a stand mixer instead of a hand mixer?
Yes. Combine the yolks, whole eggs, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and proceed with the recipe as written, noting that the eggs will whip faster than the time noted in the recipe.

Bake these in a muffin pan?
Yes. Baking the cakes in a standard 12-cup muffin pan will yield 9 slightly smaller cakes. Thoroughly butter and flour 9 muffin cups as directed in the recipe, then proceed as written, dividing the batter among the prepared cups and filling them nearly to the top. Bake the cakes for 5 to 6 minutes, checking for the doneness indicators given in the recipe, then let them rest for 1 minute. Turn the cakes out all at once by inverting the pan onto a cutting board, then transfer the cakes to plates and serve immediately.

From What’s For Dessert? by Claire Saffitz. Reprinted by permission of Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.

Get abuela on FaceTime. Get cooking.

That’s how wrote her vibrant and beautiful new cookbook, Cocina Puerto Rico, which captures her abuela’s traditional Puerto Rican cooking with astute edits based on Mia’s cooking expertise. The book feels classic and comforting—and it was photographed in her abuela’s kitchen!—but not strictly beholden to tradition. Exhibit A: Her recipe for the Milkiest Tres Leches tweaks the sponge cake to be on the drier side so it soaks up the milks without turning too mushy, and she tops it with a coconut cloud whipped cream using Coco Lopez.

Find the recipe here to uplift your deep winter weekend. (It’s a perfect treat for the Bad Bunny concert happening this Sunday. 😉)

Mia’s story: After growing up in San Juan, Mia went to the CIA in New York and worked in restaurants with José Andrés, Thomas Keller, and Wolfgang Puck. But maybe you’ve seen her on Beat Bobby Flay (with Abuela’s arroz con pollo), Hell’s Kitchen, or Chopped? She talks to host this week about how she made her way in the restaurant and food TV worlds while being constantly homesick for the Puerto Rican foods, like tembleque, a sliceable coconut pudding, she grew up eating. There was only one way to satisfy her cravings: Call abuela. Get cooking. And we’re so glad she did.

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GET MIA'S RECIPE

Shop the show & more

• Definitely pick up a copy of Mia’s debut book

• Mia loves Hexclad pans (have you tried them?)

• Plot twist! Mia bakes with Himalayan pink salt, which, like Diamond Crystal kosher salt, isn’t as salty as table salt, so you have more control in your seasoning

• Pick up a few cans of tried-and-true Coco Lopez for your next whipped cream (or piña colada) adventure

• What to explore more Puerto Rican cooking? Check out Von Diaz’s Islas and Coconuts & Collards, and Illyanna Maisonet’s Diasporican

Word of the week

• Empalagado. There’s no singular English equivalent of this Spanish word that means you’ve eaten something so sweet you can’t continue eating. We all know the feeling—now we know the word.

Tip of the week

• Skip the cake stand and use a lazy Susan, per Mia, to frost your layer cakes. When it’s not in cake mode, you know the drill: stash your 14 chili crisps on it.

Fresh baked news

• Bay Area community fundraiser for immigrant rights

• Galentine’s cake decorating at Bandidas Bakeshop, Lakeland, FL

• Lauren Dozier x Susan Alexandra pop-up, NYC 2/14

• Bakers needed in New England for a bake sale

• Our Nashville friend & ice cream queen, Lokelani Alabanza, wrote a book!

• We heard chocolate chip cookies and brownies go well with football (whether you’re watching or not)

The cherry on top

• Cover reveal time! Our new issue, Mom’s the Bombe, is coming soon

• Got Galentine’s/Valentine’s plans next weekend? Come hang with us, Padma Lakshmi, and more at our Bombesquad Bazaar in NYC on 2/13 and 2/14

Please note, some of our links may earn us a small commission.

Tres leches (three milks) is a beloved Latin American dessert: sponge cake soaked with a sweetened milky mixture topped with silky meringue or whipped cream. This is Papa’s favorite. In essence, it’s a sheet cake, which means you bake, assemble, and serve it from the same pan. This makes it portable and convenient to bring to parties or get togethers. But, if you want a more elegant/formal presentation, I’ve also included directions on how to unmold and frost it.

—Mia Castro

Don’t miss Mia’s debut cookbook!

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Ingredients

Makes 12 to 16 servings

• Nonstick cooking spray

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1½ teaspoons baking powder

• 1½ teaspoons salt

• 8 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

• 1 (13½-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk

• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 1 recipe Silkiest Meringue or Fluffy Coconut Cloud Whip (recipes follow)

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. If you plan to unmold the cake, lightly coat the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line them with parchment paper cut to fit. Don’t spray or line the sides. If you don’t plan on unmolding it, don’t spray or line the baking dish or pans at all.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of the salt until well combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer), combine the egg yolks, ½ cup of the sugar, and 1 tablespoon of the vanilla and whip on medium-high speed until the yolks are pale yellow in color, tripled in size, and glossy-looking, 2 to 5 minutes, stopping and scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through. Reduce the speed to low and whisk in ⅔ cup of the coconut milk until just incorporated. Gently transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Using a sifter or fine-mesh sieve, sift the flour mixture evenly over the yolk mixture and fold it in gently by hand until just incorporated.

Wash and dry the bowl of the stand mixer and the whisk attachment (or large bowl and beaters) thoroughly. Place

the egg whites in the clean bowl and whip on medium-high speed until they start getting foamy and begin to turn white, about 1 minute, then begin adding the remaining ½ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip until the egg whites hold medium-stiff peaks (when you lift the whisk or beaters out, the tip of the egg whites should just hold its peak) and look glossy, 4 to 7 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the yolk-flour mixture in three additions until just incorporated (some streaks are fine); do not overmix.

Using the spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan(s), holding the bowl close to the pan(s) to avoid deflating the egg whites. Bake on the center rack for 24 to 29 minutes, until the cake looks light golden and fluffy and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and the remaining coconut milk, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Blend on medium speed until the ingredients are just combined and the condensed milk has dissolved, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Don’t overblend; you don’t want it to become frothy. Set aside while the cake cools.

When the bottom of the cake pan is cool to the touch, poke the cake all over with a fork or skewer, leaving no more than about ½ inch between each poke. Pour about one-third of the milk mixture from the blender over the cake. Be intentional when you pour, making sure to especially get it in the corner edges, which can sometimes end up dry. Allow the cake to drink up the milk, rotating the pan or tapping it gently, if necessary, to distribute the milk mixture evenly. Repeat until you’ve used up all the milk mixture, 5 to 10 minutes. Cover the cake with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight.

If you’re not unmolding the cake, you can skip to frosting it with the meringue. To unmold the cake, find a large plate (with a lip) that’s 2 to 3 inches wider than the cake. Run a butter knife or offset spatula around the edge of the cake to separate it from the pan. Place the plate upside down over the pan, then, holding the pan and plate together, flip them in one smooth motion to release the cake onto the plate. If the cake doesn’t plop down right away, lift one side of the pan and use the butter knife or offset spatula to try to guide the cake out. Remove the parchment from the cake.

Use a spatula or offset spatula to spread the meringue evenly over the top and sides (if unmolded) of the cake. Try to work with thick layers of meringue to avoid lifting crumbs off the cake. Feel free to be creative with the pattern or design of the meringue frosting (I like to go around the top and sides of the cake in a circular motion to create a spiral pattern). Sprinkle the cinnamon on top.

Slice and serve cold. The cake will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.

NOTE: The Silkiest Meringue holds its structure for days—ideal if you’re unmolding the cake or making it ahead. The Fluffy Coconut Cloud Whip is much looser and is best served immediately as a topping (not for unmolding), so it stays put and doesn’t run off the cake.

Merengue Sedoso (Silkiest Meringue)

Makes about 12 cups

• ⅔ cup egg whites (about 6 large), at room temperature

• 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar or lemon juice

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

Place the egg white in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer). Have 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla ready to go right next to the mixer.

Place the remaining 2 cups sugar in a small pot and pour ⅔ cup water around the sugar without splashing. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sugar syrup reaches soft-ball stage, or 230°F (if you don’t have a thermometer, drop a little syrup into a cup of cold water; if it forms a soft, malleable ball, it’s ready), 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In the meantime, begin beating the egg whites on medium speed. Add the 1 tablespoon sugar, the cream of tartar, and the salt. Whip until the egg whites get foamy and start looking white and meringue-y, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and carefully, in a slow, steady stream, pour in the sugar syrup. If it splashes up the sides of the mixer, reduce the speed. Avoid pouring too much too fast or you’ll scramble your egg whites. Continue until you’ve poured in all the syrup, 1 to 2 minutes.

Raise the speed to high and beat until the sides of the bowl are completely cool to the touch, about 10 minutes; the meringue should look creamy and shiny and feel almost tacky. Use immediately.

Fluffy Coconut Cloud Whip

Makes about 4 cups

• 2 cups cold heavy cream

• ½ (14-ounce) can cold cream of coconut, well shaken

• ½ teaspoon salt

Chill a large bowl or stand mixer bowl until cold, at least 20 minutes. Combine the heavy cream and salt in the chilled bowl and, using a handheld mixer or the stand mixer whisk attachment, beat on medium-low speed until it holds soft peaks, 5 to 8 minutes. Slowly add the cream of coconut and beat until the whip holds medium peaks (if you lift out the whisk or beaters, the peaks should hold their tip), 2 to 4 minutes.

Serve immediately, while cold, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If necessary, rewhip to medium peaks before using. Use leftovers for sundaes or hot or iced lattes, or as a topping for cakes or pies.

From Cocina Puerto Rico by Mia Castro. Reprinted by permission of Square Union & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group.

“This is a play about two unimportant people.”

With that line, actor Sam Tutty had us hooked. He’s co-starring in the hilarious and moving Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), alongside Christiani Pitts, a surprising new musical in which… two strangers carry a cake across New York. Why? They’re both headed to a “bougie, over-the-top wedding” (per Christiani) and need to transport the tiers of the wedding cake from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to Midtown Manhattan. As the play unfolds, we realize that they’re “two idiots just trying to find out who we are in the world—who we want to be—rather than who we should be,” says Sam.

The cake, as you might suspect, is more of a metaphor. But for what? You’ll have to see it to interpret that one. Go out for a slice of Junior’s cheesecake after the show to talk it over with your theater date. (Pre-show? We love a table crowded with skewers at Yakitori Totto, nachos and beer at As Is, or old school vibes at Lattanzi Cucina Italiana.)

Host , who dabbled in acting herself (fun fact!), covers everything from Magnolia Bakery’s red velvet cupcakes to the anguish of auditions in this unexpected but very-much-dessert-focused episode. Sam and Christiani have a joyful chemistry and infectious passion that will make you want to see the play, and persist in whatever’s uphill in front of you, whether it’s a layer cake or a tampered dream. Or both.

CATCH SHE’S MY CHERRY PIE ON APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR YOUTUBE

Shop the show & more

• Need to carry some food across New York? May we suggest this insulated one

• If you’re Broadway bound, we love renting a special occasion outfit

• But if you can’t make it to NYC, you can order Magnolia’s famous cupcakes straight to your door

• Bridgerton-worthy cake cloche & stand

Rabbit hole of the week

• Sam, who’s British, informs us that banana pudding is not a thing in the U.K. (tragic!!), but that for birthdays, caterpillar cake very much is. Sorry, we mean “Colin the Caterpillar,” a store-bought chocolate roll cake from the department store Marks & Spencer. Colin, who’s covered in a hard chocolate shell and looks like he’s definitely read Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind, is so iconic that of course Paul Hollywood has a recipe for his version. Next trip to London, pick one up, and carry it across town with a stranger to see what you learn about yourself. Just an idea…

Fresh baked news

• Big news! Nigella Lawson is joining GBBO

• A powerful story by SMCP guest Yewande Komolafe

• Hello Adrianne’s fundraiser raffle for Minnesota

• Keem’s hand-painted cake workshop in SF

• Planning a Galentine’s or Valentine’s outfit?

• Hilary Duff is a big Russ & Daughters fan

• Dauphinette’s baguette bag is giving Wuthering Heights ⬇️

The cherry on top

• NYC! Come hang out with us this Galentine’s/Valentine’s weekend. Our Bombesquad Bazaar is happening 2/13 and 2/14.

• Our next issue is almost here! Subscribe now to guarantee your copy. Cover reveal coming soon.

Please note, some of our links may earn us a small commission.