Dessert First
A special holiday deal on zines, plus best sweet bites of November
Cake friends,
We hope you had a restful holiday weekend. To all of the bakers who were deep in the pie doldrums: We see you, we salute you.
We’re not in the business of making regular gift guides (leave that to the experts like Helen Rosner) but we’re offering a holiday special on Cake Zine through the end of the year: Buy Forbidden Fruit and automatically get 40% off Humble Pie and/or Tough Cookie. We’re biased, but we think they make great gifts. Order ASAP if you want to receive in time for holiday gifting.
If you prefer to do your shopping IRL, we’ll be back at Pioneer Works’ Press Play fair of books, records, talks and workshops on Dec 13-14th. We’ll have baked goods and many magazines, including Daily Bread, which is sold-out online. RSVP here, and come say hi!
Today in the newsletter, we’re sharing our favorite sweets from November…plus a tip for a chic/low effort dinner party dessert. No scales necessary.
Tanya:
Fuck-It Hot Fudge on Adirondack Creamery Peppermint Stick
Every Sunday afternoon my husband brings home a mystery pint of ice cream and every Sunday evening I get to eviscerate his decision. This week’s offering was Adirondack Creamery. We tasted a spoonful pre-dinner and I liked the texture (velvety) but hated the flavor (tooth-pastey, onslaught of mint-extract). Then he was like, but it would be so good with hot fudge, so I simmered together some heavy cream and salted butter and the hardened knob of dark brown sugar that’s been decaying in my cabinet for months, then, off the heat, whisked in the tail-end of an almond butter chocolate bar and cocoa powder (no measuring, just intuiting), and somehow it was the best hot fudge I’ve ever made and really excellent draped on top of the too-sweet peppermint ice cream. Festive! Tasted like Thin Mints but bittersweet. More adult. Now I’m thinking that the chicest party dessert is a couple pints of store-bought ice cream plus a quick homemade sauce (miso caramel? hot fudge? raspberry couli? peanut butter? All of the above?) Like a bare-bones make your own sundae bar…
Passionfruit Chocolate Cake from Amanda Perdomo at Strange Delight
Someone needs to write an article about how Amanda Perdomo is the most talented pastry chef in New York. I’ve been a devotee since I tasted her banana bread pudding at the now-defunct Cool World (wrote about it for my Grubstreet diet, which I can no longer defend in good conscience…I eat vegetables now) and I’d follow her anywhere. These days “anywhere” is a convenient thirty minute walk from my house at Strange Delight, where she’s turning out made-to-order beignets, a very good play on a pop tart (apple cinnamon), but most importantly, fancy desserts that begin at 11 a.m. which includes a passionfruit chocolate cake built from slivers of tart, silky passionfruit pudding, chewy ganache, a light, almost cottony vanilla sponge, and a denser chocolate cake sprinkled with Maldon. It’s just really good. Every bite feels perfectly tuned…a little bitter, salty, not too sweet.
Cinnamon Tortillas from Vato
The tortillas at Vato which just opened in Park Slope are doughy and ethereal and a bit sour and while they are delicious plain, I upgraded my ordinary cinnamon toast for breakfast and slathered one in butter and sugar and cinnamon and salt then pan fried it and fuck it was so good.
Maple Pine Nut Tart from Smithereens
Perfect dollop of tangy whip, served alongside a supple, nutty tart. Nico, send me the recipe.
Aliza:
My Birthday Cake 💅
Not to brag, but I have the distinguished pleasure of receiving a Tanya Bush Birthday Cake™ each year. This year, my girlfriend Shirley and I decided to combine our Scorpio birthday parties, and Tanya really outdid herself. Shirley photoshopped a picture of us as kids strolling on the beach for the edible photo—not sure why, but also why not?!— and Tanya matched the theme by layering her signature moist olive oil cake with pineapple jam, Creamsicle mousse, and crème fraîche Swiss meringue buttercream (for stability). The whole thing was topped off with candied yuzu (for crunch) and Pop Rocks (for drama). I am the luckiest!!
Sticky Toffee Pudding at Ha’s Snack Bar
We all love Ha’s Snack Bar, the perfect little restaurant from Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns, fka Ha’s Đặc Biệt. (Real ones might remember them as contributors to our third issue, Humble Pie.) There have been a few stellar staple dishes on the always excellent, regularly changing menu: tamarind butter snails, and this very sticky toffee pudding, which seems to appear whenever I’m craving it most. It’s wonderfully sturdy, plush, and not too sweet—the perfect cold-weather closer to any meal. Get it now and keep an eye out for their larger restaurant, Bistrot Ha, opening very soon.
Lauretta Jean’s Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie can be hit or miss, but when it hits, it HITS. I spent Thanksgiving at my sister’s in Portland, Oregon, where we had the absolute fortune of preordering our holiday pies from beloved local pie shop Lauretta Jean’s. The classic pumpkin was truly classic, from the buttery crust to the very creamy, barely spiced pumpkin filling. Of course, it was better for breakfast with a cup of coffee. If you are in Portland, seek out this pie.
Bake: Tanya has a recipe excerpted from her upcoming debut narrative cookbook in Nicola Lamb’s Kitchen Projects newsletter: a toasted coconut dark chocolate cake with salted custard. A good holiday bake!
Rejoice: A special thank you to everyone who came to the holiday soiree we co-hosted to support One Love Community Fridge last month. We raised over $10K to help open and stock a new community fridge in Crown Heights.
Join: Hagfish Studio, which publishes delicious, genre-defying, out-of-print, and hard-to-find books launched a membership program.
Support: The inaugural LA Gingerbread House gallery and bake sale is happening on Dec 11th, at Danny D’s Mudshop, showcasing landmark-inspired gingerbread houses by bakers with cookie boxes for sale benefiting LA Family Housing. Reserve your cookie box here.
Gift: Rose Los Angeles is donating 100% of profits for its newest flavor, Crimson Watermelon, to Pal Humanity, an organization that provides essential services to displaced women and children in Gaza.
Craft: On December 6, RecCreate Collective is hosting a handmade holiday gift soiree, including tin frame embossing, beaded keychain/bag charm making and clay miniatures. There will also be delicious treats from some of our favorite bakers.
Bring back the death by chocolate t-shirt!