A video recipe for a PB&J cake
This PB&J cake from FRUIT CAKE is too easy to make *and* too easy to eat. I’ve still never been to Fire Island but I imagine it tastes just as good with a little sand on top. If you haven’t bought your copy yet, head over to food52 for the recipe.
A stop motion video of a spoon performing a poem
A rather distraught spoon recites a poem about the trials and tribulations of baking from my book FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020)
“The oven’s preheated
The butter’s well-beated
The dry’s folded into the wet
The chocolate is melted
The vanilla sweet smellded
The timer is precisely set
The pan has been filled Anticipation builds
Will it be a delight or a dread?
You forgot the sugar
Too late to recover
F#©k it I’m going to bed”
A very dramatic apple reads the opening poem from my book FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020).
“First to show was sweet Clement
Richard often came and went
Unlike Sal who settled in
Instantly becoming kin
Thinking there was room for more
Florence flitted through the door
Leon, Gerald, Evan, Ray—
It seems their numbers grow each day
Exhausted as I try and try
Still these fruit flies will not die”
A video recipe for cornbread
Cornbread Disco by Jason Schreiber. Music by Jess Damuck.
MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS
Each November, an email exchange between my mother and me resurfaces. The conversation goes back more than ten years, which is a testament to both our forgetfulness and the resilience of modern technology. The subject: cornbread, and how. Each year the recipe is tweaked and changed, adapted and scaled. No more. I have put it down in ink now, for my mom and yours
FOR THE CORNBREAD
Pan Goo (below), for greasing the pan
2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (115 g) stone-ground cornmeal
1-1/2 tsp (4.5 g) coarse salt
1 tsp (3 g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (3 g) baking soda
2 tsp (4 g) finely grated orange zest (from 1 orange) 3/4 c (159 g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup (84 g) pure maple syrup, preferably dark and robust
1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk, room temperature
FOR THE GLAZE
1/4 cup (62 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp (42 g) pure maple syrup, preferably dark and robust
1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter
coarse salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) with a rack in the center position. Brush a 9 x 2-inch square cake pan with Pan Goo.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, use your fingers to rub
the orange zest into the sugar, releasing all the fragrant oils. Whisk the eggs into the sugar one at a time until well combined. Slowly whisk in
the maple syrup, followed by the melted butter. Finally, whisk in the buttermilk. The mixture should be very smooth.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet as you would pancake batter. Be careful not to overmix or the cake will become tough; leave some lumps of love. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake until the top springs back when gently pressed and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Make the glaze while the cake is in the oven: In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, maple syrup, butter, and salt. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture boils. Continue boiling without stirring for 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
7. Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack. Brush the top of the cornbread with the maple orange glaze as soon as it comes out of the oven, then let it cool completely in the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
STORAGE
Cornbread is really best eaten the day it’s made but will keep reasonably well at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
PAN GOO
1/4 cup (62 mL) neutral oil, such as safflower
1/3 cup (47 g) all-purpose flour.
In a small container with a lid, whisk the oil and flour together until combined. Brush onto baking pans in place of parchment paper or cooking spray. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks. A month seems like maybe too long
From FRUIT CAKE: Recipes for the Curious Baker (William Morrow, 2020).
Here’s something to take your mind off the dumpster fire: This week is exactly one year from when we shot FRUIT CAKE, and I’ve put together a sketchbook full of the drawings I made when I was prepping. You can head here to sign up for my mailing list and download a free PDF. We’re also just about 1 month out from publication and pre-orders are super important, so (if you haven’t done so already) you can find some links to purchase from indie bookstores here.
Click above to view your sample ballot at vote411.org
🗳New Yorkers: The last day to request an absentee ballot for the June 23rd primary election is June 16th — less than 2 weeks away.
Just because Joe Biden has the de facto nomination does not mean you don’t need to vote, or that you need to vote for him. By selecting the candidate and delegates whose values most closely resemble your own, you can help shape the Democratic Party platform for the November general election.
There are also important local elections at stake. Click here to see a sample of your ballot and to learn about who is running for office and what they stand for. The systemic changes we are fighting for start at home, which is why I’m supporting @jabariforstatesenate for NY State Senate District 25.
#vote #newyork #defundnypd #protest #election2020 #thinkglobalactlocal #lgbtqiaplus #pride #blacklivesmatter #justice
One of the great ironies of pandemic baking is that specialty flours seem to be easier to find than ever, which is great for me because there’s almost nothing I don’t want to mix with buckwheat and spelt. Here their nutty flavors provide the perfect bass note to balance out the sweetness of the pears and chocolate. This is the epitome of a snaking cake: sturdy enough to eat out of hand and needing no accompaniment.
| 86 grams | unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan |
| 100 grams | all-purpose flour |
| 50 grams | buckwheat flour |
| 50 grams | whole spelt flour |
| ½ teaspoon | coarse salt |
| ½ teaspoon | baking powder |
| ¼ teaspoon | baking soda |
| 150 grams | granulated sugar |
| 2 | large eggs |
| 50 grams | pure maple syrup |
| 75 grams | whole milk plain yogurt |
| 2 teaspoons | pure vanilla extract |
| 2 | firm ripe pears, peeled, cored, and chopped into ½-inch pieces |
| 150 grams | chopped chocolate (bittersweet, milk, or a mix) |
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the center of the oven. Brush a 2-quart baking dish with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, spelt flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the butter is brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a heatproof bowl, making sure to scrape all the brown bits from the pan. Add the sugar to the browned butter and whisk to combine, then set aside for a few minutes until the mixture is warm but not hot. Vigorously whisk in the eggs one at a time, then continue whisking until the mixture is the texture of a loose aioli. Whisk in the maple syrup, yogurt, and vanilla.
Whisk in the dry ingredients until just combined, then fold in the pears and chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake the cake until golden brown, the center springs back to the touch, and a cake tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the baking dish to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.
This earth day, let’s take a moment to consider those whose livelihoods are inextricably tied to the growing covid and climate crisises. Farm workers are on the invisible front-line, ensuring that our grocers continue to be able to stock the foods we use in our recipes and put on our tables. Farm work is skilled, grueling, and underpaid labor. Many of the workers are migrants and undocumented, and despite the fact that they pay taxes on their income, they are ineligible for many of the basic services that are seeing us through this crisis.
If you have any money to spare, please consider making a donation to Hispanics in Philanthropy and their partner Justice for Migrant Women to support the Farmworkers’ COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund, which will provide immediate financial assistance and much-needed protective equipment to workers around the nation.
Pantry baking can include loads of dried fruit, especially when you’ve just written a book about fruit cake and you still have too much of it on hand. This bread has so many apricots and dates that it’s basically self-jamming… which is good because that’s the one thing we didn’t stock up on.
I made this up as I went and barely wrote down what I did, but if you want to try to follow along here’s the “recipe”.
250 grams dried fruit (I used apricots and dates)
boiling water
500 grams flour (I used a mix of bread flour, semolina, and a mystery flour I found in the back of my pantry)
75 grams sourdough starter (fed and ready)*
10 grams salt
50 grams lightly toasted hazelnuts
*If you don’t have a sourdough starter try using 3/4 tsp instant yeast (Mix it in with the flour. It should work. I think.)
Chop the fruit and place it in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand 30 or 40 minutes or overnight or however long you want. Strain the fruit out of the water and set aside. Add enough cold water to the infused water to bring it up to 390 grams. Use less if you’re not used to working with very wet dough.
Combine the flour(s) and water in a large bowl and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and rest for 45 minutes. Add the starter and use your hands to pull/stretch the dough up from the sides and over the top of the dough until all the starter is incorporated. Add the salt and keep stretching/folding until combined. Shape into a ball as best you can and place in an oiled bowl to rise 45 minutes. Use two hands to grab the dough at 9 and 3 o’clock and pull up, stretching the dough and letting other two ends fall underneath. Lower the ball and rotate the bowl 90 degrees. Grab the the dough at 9 and 3 o’clock again and stretch the dough up and then lower it onto itself again. It’ll look a bit square now. Cover and rise 45 minutes. Repeat the folds 3 more times with 45 minute rests between each. Let the dough bulk rise until about doubled or put it in the fridge and cold ferment overnight.
Flip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch into a circle about as big as you can get it. Maybe 18 inches? I didn’t measure. Scatter the soaked fruit and nuts evenly over the dough, then roll up like a jelly roll into a log. Roll the log into a coil and then shape into a ball. The dough might tear because there’s probably too much fruit in it, sorry. Do the best you can. Cut the dough into two pieces and let it bench rest for 20 minutes.
Shape the dough into balls or batards or whatever you want. It’s soft and sticky, just do the best you can. Place the dough in really well floured bannetons or colanders with floured linen napkins or whatever you can find without leaving your house FOR GOD’S SAKE STAY HOME. If you have rice flour dust with that I hear it helps the sticking but I don’t have any and I’m not going to go get it. Let the dough rise until it’s doubled or at least full of air and gently springs back. Preheat the oven with a pizza stone in the upper third position to 500 degrees. Set a sheet pan you don’t care about on a lower shelf.
Flip the dough out onto a floured peel and score with a sharp knife or a razor blade. Slide one loaf into the oven towards the back of the stone. Repeat with the other loaf and try to get it towards the front. Carefully dump about 1 cup of ice cubes onto the sheet pan and close the door. Bake for 20 minutes until the bread is beginning to brown. Lower the oven to 450 and bake another 10 minutes. Carefully remove the sheet pan full of water if it hasn’t already evaporated and bake another 10 minutes until the bread is almost burnt. Check if the bread is done by tapping on it to see if it sounds hollow. When it’s finished, turn the oven off and crack the door open. Let the bread sit in the oven for 10 minutes to finish developing the crust. Cool completely before serving. Is it serving if you aren’t allowed to have guests?
This holiday season, the New York Times challenged me to create an awesome gingerbread house using a boxed kit. Watch the video below.
A video of me assembling a gingerbread house for the New York Times
