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A Rather Distraught Spoon (Cookbook Giveaway!)

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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”
— Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker

A Very Dramatic Apple

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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”
— Fruit Cake

Cornbread Disco

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A video recipe for cornbread

Cornbread Disco by Jason Schreiber. Music by Jess Damuck.

MAPLE ORANGE CORNBREAD

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).

 

Hashtag Food Styling Adjacent

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I've been into origami for as long as I can remember, so I was super excited when West Elm asked me to style some napkins with origami-inspired folds. It's not exactly food, but the two go hand in hand (or hand in lap?)

2,564 Likes, 71 Comments - west elm (@westelm) on Instagram: "Your coq au vin may be inedible, but at least your napkins are on-point. 💅💎 Get more tips for..."

1,726 Likes, 75 Comments - west elm (@westelm) on Instagram: "Getting ready for the 4th by observing our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of obsessively..."

Spotlight: FeedFeed + Figgy Pops Stop Motion

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When it comes to making videos, stop-motion animation has long been my favorite of project to work on. I grew up in a Monty Python family, and I started making my own short films inspired by Terry Gilliam's work as soon as I had access to a video camera. With so much focus on stop motion animation in the online video world these days, it's been greatly satisfying to be able to make this hobby of mine a part of my career as a food stylist. Here's one of my favorite projects so far, a lush, detailed advertorial video for FeedFeed + Figgy Pops.

Resist Wings

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Before you tune into what I'm told is a football game later today, take a minute to write or call your representatives and let them know what irks you. And then whip up these wings.

Blue Cheese Dip
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons mayonaise
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
chives, for serving

Combine in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Garnish with chopped chives.

Wings
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup hot sauce, such as Franks
4 pounds chicken wings
Blue cheese, for serving

In a small bowl, whisk together butter and hot sauce. Pour half over chicken wings and toss to cover. Place wings on sheet pan and broil 15-20 minutes until golden, rotating and flipping wings to cook evenly. Transfer to serving platter and drizzle with reserved sauce. Top with with blue cheese and serve with blue cheese dip.