Dunk & Crumble

mollygilbert520

Lemon Cream Ice Cream

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There are certain things I just know that I like.  Red nails.  Gramma’s house in Montauk.  Pancakes and French pastries with extra syrup and jam.  The act of re-reading any and all Harry Potters (except maybe number five — Harry’s angsty teenager act stresses me out in that one).  New running sneaks.  Getting flowers!  Clean sheets.  Amazing/terrible pop music.  Thanksgiving!  Also chocolate.

And now, apparently, lemons?  I don’t know.  I mean, lemons.  I didn’t used to think the sight of a pile of lemons on the counter would excite me, but here I am again, singing the praises of yet another lemon recipe.  I’ve made lemon curd (twice, actually – the second time I turned it into lemon yogurt mousse), lemon muffins, um, twice, lemon loaf cake, lemon yogurt cake (one of my first ever blog posts, by the way — how far I’ve come since then), and lemon-scented banana bread.  And now ice cream!  I am lover of lemons and a maker of lemon cream ice cream.  Yes!  Loud and proud.

You don’t see a lot of lemon ice cream out there.  Lemon sorbet, sure, and the occasional lemon Italian ice (or water ice in Philadelphia), but it’s rare to find smooth, creamy, true ice cream in bright and refreshing lemon.  But let me tell you: it exists, and it is fantastic.

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Buckwheat Berry Buckle

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Confession: I made this snacky, breakfasty buckle cake a year ago, but kept it entirely to myself — that is, I forgot to share it with you.  …Also I had four spoonfuls of ice cream for breakfast this morning (Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup).  Except maybe it was six spoonfuls.  Oops.

At any rate, now that berry season is upon us (here in California, anyway), it’s time for the jewel-toned crisps and crumbles, cobblers and betties and buckles to come out of the wood work.  And I think by “the wood work” I mean “your oven.”  (Side note: if I end up having three children and those children end up being two boys and a girl, I will be hard pressed not to name them Crisp, Buckle and Betty.  My kids are going to be so popular.)

I’ve been experimenting a bit with buckwheat as of late; I made buttermilk buckwheat pancakes just last week with my tiny-faced students, and then there’s this buckle.  A buckwheat berry buckle.  (Alliteration is fun.)  Turns out I really like the rich, delicate, nutty flavor that buckwheat flour contributes to baked goods – it seems to elevate things, somehow.

I was intrigued to learn that using buckwheat flour, even just the scant quarter cup called for here, darkens the batter (whether pancake or cookie or buckle) pretty significantly.  So it doesn’t make for the prettiest crumb topping at this berry buckle ball — but I happen to know that you’re not into artificial, skin-deep beauty.  You wait to make judgements until you’ve gotten to know what’s inside.  And in this case?  What’s inside is cake.  Deeply-purplish and royally ruby-splotched, berry-laden cake.

Grab a fork and a cup of creamy coffee!  It’s berry baking time.

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Mama’s Day Brunch

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Is your mom as great as my mom?

(Hi, mom circa 1985.  Get after it with that power haircut.)

Does she smell like mom (aka some sort of mixture of love and baby powder and Lancôme’s Tresor?)  Did she teach you to play tennis?  Does she give the most delightful back scratches and arm tickles of all of the back scratches and arm tickles?  Does she have the loudest voice on the telephone, especially when she’s talking to your Aunt Lis?  Do you owe her, like, pretty much everything?

For me, the answer is yes.

(I don’t want to talk about the floppy ears or mammoth cheeks or multiple chins.  Hey, mom.)

If your mama is half as fantastic as mine (and I bet she is — pretty much all moms are the best), you’ll want to do something special for her this Sunday.  A card is good.  Flowers are better.  Breakfast is best!

I hereby call to order this meeting of the Last-Minute Emergency Mother’s Day Brunch Committee. General agenda?  Brunch-spiration.

I’ve compiled some simple ideas that I happen to know that your wonderful mama loves. Probably.

We’ve just discussed smoothies.  They’re still a good idea.

How about pancakes?  Always a good choice.  Try these ones, made with almond milk.

You could always fancify mom’s typical yogurt and fruit racket — with some Meyer lemon yogurt mousse!  This stuff is ethereal.  Like mothers.

Eggs more mom’s speed?  A frittata is the simplest of dishes.  Try one with greens and goat cheese!

Moms love muffins.  How about these lemon-ish berry berry muffins?  Bright and delicious!

You could always be your mom’s favorite and go with cake.  Pistachio rhubarb not-quite-pound cake is the bee’s knees, and perfect for springtime.  And moms.

And if all else fails?  Pink grapefruit with honey and salt.  Throw a fresh flower on that tray and boom — you’ve just made brunch in four minutes flat.

(Meeting adjourned.)

Happy Mothers Day, moms!  We love you so.

Ps: got more ideas for the Committee?  For the sake of your mama, link to them in the comments!

 

 

Ben’s Berry Smoothie

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The best part of having a sister who’s getting married in September is that she will invite you to join her cake tasting committee.  To “help.”  (You’re so helpful!)

Also that she has found her match and will embark upon a new and happy phase of life with him by her side – that part, yes, is a pretty good part of the general your-sister-is-engaged situation.  But getting invited to the wedding cake tasting is, you know, right up there.

So maybe you spent the whole weekend eating cake?  And dark ganache and smooth fruit curds and various flavors of buttercream?  (Thanks, A Cupcake Wonderland.)  So what?

This morning, like pretty much most other mornings since you bucked up and bought a blender, you will be awoken to the sound of loud things crashing around inside that machine.  On the one hand, you’ll be annoyed — in a bleary-eyed, frizzy-haired and too-tired-to-actually-get-annoyed sort of way.  You’re pretty sure you were just sleeping, quite soundly, a minute ago.

On the other hand, breakfast in bed!  It’s a trade-off, really.

A fruit-and-yogurt-packed smoothie rights all wrongs.  It erases all traces of errant cake crumbs and swipes of buttercream.  It makes you feel okay about that extra spoonful of salted peanut ganache.

Is that sort of logic foolproof?  Will it hold a bunch of water?  I mean, probably not.  Do I still want to jump on the breakfast smoothie bandwagon?  You bet your frozen berries I do.

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Cold Sesame Noodle Salad

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You know those days where you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and then you’re out of conditioner?  The ones where you step in a dirty puddle at the bus stop in open-toed shoes?  And then you stare at your computer and your computer stares at you and neither of you can think of a single thing worth writing? Or you accidentally get a legitimate (and legitimately expensive) parking ticket?  How about a fat day in a pencil skirt?

Today is not one of those days.  

Today the sky is blue and the sun is shining; it’s an iced coffee kind of day.  I’ve got a new bottle of conditioner and my nails match my tank top, accidentally on purpose.  Tomorrow I’m taking a trip east, to see my family and this band live and to eat some wedding shower cake. And according to my Astrology Zone forecast for the month of May, I’ve got the next 31 days on lock.  So, there’s that.

Also?  Cold sesame noodles!

In this salad, our noodles are cool and slippery, rich with toasted sesame oil and Sriracha-style spicy.  Thinly sliced fresh and verdant veggies keep things bright and crunchy.  So many good things, to go along with all of the other good things.  

This month better watch out — because we are coming at it with noodle salad.  And pink nails and general sass.  But mostly noodles.

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Sour Cream & Fresh Strawberry Pie

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Pie!  A light and creamy one, covered with bright and juicy strawberries.

For you.  Love, me.

So.  Yeah.  That’s all, really.  Need I say much more?

I think it’s safe to say that this has been a rough week, and a little big slice of pie feels like a welcome thing this weekend.

This one’s got a sugar-and-egg-enriched crust and a sour-cream-and-yogurt-based custard filling. It’s smooth and velvety and just faintly sweet with brown sugar.  And the ruby tumble of berries on top?  Essential.  Pile those on there.

It took me a few happy bites slices of this beauty before I realized that the whole thing is actually pretty reminiscent of cheesecake, which makes a lot of sense if you look at the ingredient list (eggs, sugar, sour cream… oh hello, extensive pastry training).  A welcome discovery!  Strawberry cheesecake pie?  Alright then.

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Spicy Tortellini Soup

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Bay area mornings start out nestled under a bed of gray fog, cold and wooly on the eyes. Some days the blanket lifts to reveal blue sky and sparkling sun by noon, and everything is good.  Other times the fog keeps us wrapped tight in grey, so we wrap ourselves tight in hoods and coats (mostly Patagonia, let’s be real), and everything is still pretty much good.  We eat soup!

And sometimes we hop in the car and drive towards sunnier skies.  To chilly sunny beaches in Carmel.

Or richly green and windy overlooks along Big Sur.

Other times we fly to Seattle, which is unexpectedly warm and full of sunshine for Easter.

The blossoming cherries there!  Nothing better, I’m almost certain.

While you’re in Seattle, you might meet a new man.  Charming and adorable.  Killer style.  I was instantly smitten with this one.

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Chocolate Spring Flower Cookies

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I’ve been feeling weird lately, and also having some bizarre dreams.  I don’t know what it is, but I kind of feel like I’m paddling around in what I think is my Grandma’s pool but is actually the ocean?  Like my body and mind are out of sync, maybe.  Generally just kind of off my game, as of late.  Does that ever happen to you?  

Could that bit of bad ricotta be to blame?  Or maybe the full moon?  Newman?  Maybe the news of Wisconsin’s first-round loss in the (NCAA basketball, for all of you normal unfortunate people without a Badger-obsessed father) tournament is responsible for my funk.  My own personal sort of March Madness.  I don’t know, but it’s weird, this feeling, and I need to figure out a way to shake it.

I’m a list-maker; the process of writing lists helps me feel in control of my own destiny (even if I don’t check off every last thing on it, the act of writing organizes my brain, I think).  In that vein, here is a list of things to help beat the occasional funks:

  1. Chicks in top hats.
  2. Phone calls with sisters.
  3. Brisk walks along the water (bonus points for a walk that ends with a trip to Swensen’s for ice cream).
  4. Easter cupcakes.
  5. I hate to admit this, but green juice.  It makes us feel good.  And until we buck up and spring for a juicer, $9 for “local, organic, cold-pressed” juice will have to be acceptable.  …Yes, I too can hear myself.  Oy.
  6. (Finally!) Starting season 1 of Downton Abbey.  Lord Grantham rules.
  7. Instagram.  Can’t get enough.  Sorry I’m not sorry.
  8. Bake-spiration, mostly here.
  9. Baking cookies with a fabulous friend.  Chocolate ones, all dolled up for spring.

Alright, funk.  We’ve got cookies now.  Get lost.

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Hazelnut Marmalade Linzer(ish) Tart

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The other day I ate bad ricotta.  Not like, “I’ve had better ricotta before, this is kind of meh-tasting.” Nope, I mean I ate bad ricotta.  I’m talking well past the expiration date and straight-up funky.  I ate kind of a lot of it, too, before realizing.

How does a person do this, you might ask?  Well, I can confidently state that if you are feeling sort of sniffly and put rancid ricotta on a toasted English muffin and then top it with a fried egg, chances are high that you will eat the whole effing thing before realizing that the ricotta has gone the way of one of Michael Jackson’s most popular songs.

Ugh.

But!  Turns out I’m fine.  Aside from being generally disgusted, I felt no ill effects of the naughty ricotta cheese.  And then I found food redemption in a jar of Seville orange marmalade for $3.50 from Trader Joe’s.

YES.

Sweet, bitter, and versatile on toast or tarts, this marmalade is one of my favorite finds of late.  And the best part?  Marmalade doesn’t go bad.

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Shamrock(ish) Shakes

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not that into St. Patrick’s Day.  I mean, I don’t even know the guy.  I don’t own a green plastic hat, have never gotten belligerent with green beer or even a real Shamrock Shake, if I’m being honest.  (McDonalds isn’t really my thing.)  (But I’d eat their fries if you gave me some.)  (Also maybe a McFlurry.)  (Gross Yum.)  (I can only assume that a Shamrock Shake is sort of like the Harlem Shake, only minty-er.)

Still, there are aspects of St. Patrick’s Day I can get behind.  Mostly Irish Soda Bread, with extra salted butter.  Jameson, maybe.  But a glassful of cool, minty, blended vanilla ice cream topped with fresh whipped cream and shower of dark chocolate cookie crumbs?

Well, yes.

If I could have one of those in the name of St. Patrick, whoever he might actually be, then absolutely.  Let’s Paddy it up.  A toast to St. Patrick!  Happy day of milkshakes him.

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