Sunny Summer Bakes
Celebrating the anniversary of this little newsletter and a weekend with The Bakers.
Last weekend, I met up with most of the friends I made during the Great American Baking Show. I don't call them fellow contestants anymore because we're legitimately friends. We gathered in New York City for our second annual reunion. Our posse ate baked goods from Librae, Levain, Supermoon Bakehouse, Lady Wong Pastry, La Cabra, Comfortland, Breads, Patisserie Chanson, and Brooklyn Bagel, plus a veritable feast of pastry at Lysée. We hit a Mets game, picnicked in Central Park, shopped at Kitchen Arts & Letters, perused the Union Square Greenmarket (my request), sampled global cuisine at the Queens Night Market, oogled art at MoMA PS1, and gorged at an epic food court in Flushing. But most of all we chatted, caught up, and enjoyed each other's company. We even rendezvoused with other Baking Show alumni, Tina, Jenn, and Ruoyun. A huge thanks to Jon and his wife, Katie, for hosting us!
Traveling is best with good eaters. Maybe this happens with all groups of foodies, but The Bakers (as we call ourselves) will eat anything. Aside from a few allergies and such, our crew is the least picky group of eaters I've ever been with. Everyone is adventurous: they'll try almost anything, and I don't think we argued or turned our noses up at anything. It's the opposite of the struggle to pick a restaurant with fussy group of friends or family. Dining with this group is a dream.
Revisiting Summery Recipes
Great Bakes turned one year old last month! I launched this newsletter after folks kept asking me for recipes and I realized that I needed a venue to practice writing. Most of you subscribed after I shared these sunny summer bakes, so I wanted to introduce them to you today. These recipes feature my favorite summer stars: fresh fruit and ice cream.
Meet the floofiest of cakes thanks to a technique from
plus whipped cream in two places. Topped with lemon-verbena whipped cream and a mound of berries, what's not to love? I just re-made a version of this cake for the 4th.Is this the ultimate summer ice cream? Luscious, easy chocolate ice cream swirled with gooey toasted Swiss meringue and chunks of graham crackers.
Want a low-bake dessert? This strawberry pie is super simple. I encourage a diversion from this recipe using a homemade (or *gasp* store-bought) graham cracker crust.
Here's a German-inspired, not-too-sweet brunch bake. Tangy, jammy apricots, a pillowy, buttery dough, and crunchy almond streusel.
For the adventurous type, I adore the harmony of tarragon and strawberries, and this refreshingly aromatic ice cream will surprise and delight curious eaters and skeptics.
Finally, my recipes for two different cherry pie fillings: art cherry and apricot-rainier cherry. Plus, all you need to know about tart cherries—the ultimate baking fruit.
Happy Baking,
Martin