Pie Night

From The Memory of Lemon

Pie Night at Neely’s bakery, Rainbow Cake

“People I had never seen before flocked in, their faces showing a longing you never saw for cake. People’s eyes lit up for a cupcake; cake seemed to signal celebration. But their eyes got filmy, watery, misty when we handed them a slice of pie. Pie was memory. Nostalgia. Pie made people recall simpler, maybe happier times.”

Real-life businesses have inspired both The Cake Therapist and The Memory of Lemon. In creating Neely's fictional bakery, I've been free to gather the best ideas. Seasonal, signature flavors of the month from ice cream parlors like Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and Graeter's. The look of La Durée, a Parisian tea salon,  and their brilliant use of color. In a previous blog post "The Art of a Wedding Cake Tasting," I described how I made pastry chef Neely's ritual of a wedding cake tasting very special after visiting--and sampling from-- Andrea Adams Britt's lovely wedding cake bakery for my own daughter's wedding. 

Dolce Bakery, in a Kansas City suburb near where I live, makes their cinnamon rolls, cookies, scones, and cakes from scratch. In the summer when berries and orchard fruits are plentiful, they host Cobbler Night from time to time. 

So, why not Pie Night for Neely's bakery? The reason is that she has to come up with pies and tarts that will taste great, hold up, and please the picky palates of a society mother and her folksinger daughter. And I imagined a chorus line of pies.

Scalloped tarts with a filling flavored by spicebush berries, a Kentucky native. (Photo by Donna Hay).

Blackberry tarts with a lattice top, also a Kentucky favorite.

Neely had fun experimenting with all the possibilities in  crust and filling.

And on Pie Night, her customers sampled pies of all kinds. (These pies are from Rye, a restaurant celebrating Midwestern cuisine and culture in Leawood, Kansas.)

Blackberry and Lavender Turnovers

With a package of puff pastry in the freezer and a jar of good blackberry jam, you can turn fresh blackberries with a hint of lavender into a summer treat.  Pack up these turnovers for a summer outdoor concert, a tasty reward after a hike, or a lunchbox goodie. You can find culinary lavender buds at Penzey's, your garden, or online. Recipe from Bake Happy.

Makes 8 turnovers

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 14-ounce/397 397-g or a 16-ounce/454 454-g package), thawed and kept cold in the refrigerator

Blackberry and Lavender Filling:

1/2 cup (125 ml) blackberry jam

1/2 teaspoon organic, dried culinary-grade lavender buds

11/2 cups (216 g) fresh blackberries

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Glaze:

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons granulated or raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a thickness of 1/4 inch (6 cm). Using a pizza cutter or paring knife, cut the pastry into 8 squares.

For the filling, combine the blackberry jam and lavender in a small saucepan over

medium-high heat. Stir the mixture until the jam starts to bubble around the edges. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in blackberries and lemon juice.

To assemble the turnovers, brush the perimeter of each pastry square with a little water.

Spoon about 1/4 cup (59 ml) of the filling into the center of each pastry square. Fold the squares in half on the diagonal to form a triangle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork. Brush the top of each turnover with beaten egg and dust with sugar. With a paring knife, make 3 diagonal slits on top of each pastry. Place the turnovers on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is browned and the filling is bubbling. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the turnovers to a wire rack to cool.  These are best enjoyed the same day they are made.

So Happy Together:

Dark Berries + Lavender

A little sprinkle of dried lavender buds brings out the “purple” flavor in dark berries such as blackberries, blueberries, marionberries, and black raspberries.

Sneak Peek: The Memory of Lemon

When I was in college in Ohio, my parents bought a second home across the Ohio River in Augusta, Kentucky. 

You had to take a ferry to get there, and I remember the feeling of the river running beneath my feet as I stood on the deck. The Augusta skyline got closer and closer. I felt like I had left my old life behind and stepped into a place where time had stood much stiller. 

On the wide front porch of the Old Methodist Church, built in 1819, which my parents had converted into a two-bedroom home, I could watch the river in all its moods--somber gray in winter, sparkling green in sunlight, muddy and turbulent during a storm. My mother planted an herb garden full of old-fashioned favorites like blue-starred borage, Rober's Lemon Rose scented geranium, medicinal horehound.




















I didn't know then that the seed of a book had been planted.

In the fall of 2014, I went back to Augusta and stayed in a log cabin to get the feel of it.

I could see the where a long-ago ax had made its mark on the logs, and where a long-ago hand had chinked with clay and pebbles from the creek.

And so with a different kind of toil--fingers on a keyboard--I wove stories together. Neely, the intuitive pastry chef, who tries to come to terms with the father who abandoned her and to a dissolution of her marriage.  A new love trying to bloom. The Wanderers and Healers who have something to reveal to her as well as a recalcitrant bride and her society mother. 

My daughter Sarah was getting married as I was finishing this book (no resemblance to the mother/daughter drama in the book, thank goodness!). 

Her ring was created with family diamonds, passed down through generations, and we imagined all the women in our family coming together, in spirit, to wish her a happy life.

Isn't that what we all want? To find the place where we belong and bloom there.

If you e-mail me and tell me you have ordered or purchased The Memory of Lemon, I will send you a downloadable booklet of recipes, my thank you!

Kentucky Lemon Pie

This recipe, passed down through generations and families, holds a key to understanding in The Memory of Lemon. Made with thin sliced whole lemons, it’s puckery and tart. And my family's favorite.

 

Makes 1 9-inch pie

 

Pastry for a double-crust pie

2 large lemons

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs, well beaten

 Slice lemons paper thin, rind and all; discard seeds. Combine with the sugar in a bowl. Let stand 2 hours or longer, preferably blending occasionally. Add beaten eggs to the lemon mixture; mix well. Turn into a 9-inch pie shell, arranging lemon slices evenly. Cover with top crust. Cut several slits near the center. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a silver knife inserted near the edge of the pie comes out clean. Cool before serving.

 

From We Make You Kindly Welcome: Recipes from the Trustees House Daily Fare, Pleasant Hill, Kentucky.

Memories of Lemon: Homemade Citrus-Scented Twinkies

Most of us who grew up in the United States have memories of eating Twinkies, those cream-filled cylindrical sponge cakes made by Hostess. 

In the run-up to The Memory of Lemon (June 14, 2016), I'm counting down with my favorite citrus-flavored recipes.  

And a repeat of my offer: If you pre-order The Memory of Lemon from your favorite bookseller or purchase The Cake Therapist or Bake Happy, let me know and I'll send you a colorful, downloadable booklet of the best lemony recipes.

Contact me at : judithfertig1@gmail.com and I'll send it to you as a lemony thank-you!

Back to Twinkies.

Recently David Leite of Leite's Culinaria featured a post on Homemade Hostess Cupcakes Recipe by Jennifer Steinhauer, and they look fabulous. Wouldn't it be fun to get with a friend and make both Hostess Cupcakes and Twinkies for a gathering?

People were in a panic when Hostess Twinkies suddenly disappeared from grocery store shelves in 2013. Twinkies debuted in 1930 with a banana cream filling that was switched to vanilla after World War II. I loved Twinkies as a kid, but as an adult, I want more flavor and better ingredients. I came across Alison Okabayashi of Pretty Please Bakeshop in San Francisco who creates her own versions, which she calls “Twinks,” in upscale flavors of red velvet, pumpkin, and raspberry. They’re part of her “Nostalgics” line that also includes Ding Dongs and Whoopie Pies. 

Inspired by Allison’s creations, these Homemade Twinkies deliver on flavor with an orange glaze, a tender citrus-scented chiffon cake, and a fluffy filling. I had one wrapped up to give to a friend, but during a bad patch of winter weather, I forgot it in the back seat of my car for a week. When I unwrapped it and took a bite, just to see, it was still moist and delicious in true—but preservative-free—Twinkie style. 

To make these nostalgic treats, you’ll need a canoe or Twinkie pan, which you can find at craft stores, cake supply shops, or online.

Make the syrup first, up to a week ahead, and then bake up those Homemade Twinkies!

Orange-Cardamom Syrup

Homemade Syrups from Bake Happy: Orange-Cardamom is on the bottom right.

Drizzled over Citrus-Glazed Sweet Potato Pound Cake or fresh cut citrus fruit, this heady syrup dazzles.

Makes about 1 cup (250 ml)

1 cup (200 g) granulated or raw sugar

Zest and juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup (125 ml) water

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds or 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

In a large, microwave-safe glass measuring cup, combine the sugar, orange zest and juice, water, and cardamom. Microwave on high until the sugar dissolves, about 3 to 4 minutes. Let the mixture steep for 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature, then strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl; discard the solids. Let the syrup cool and use it right away or store it in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.Let the mixture steep for 20 to 30 minutes. Then strain the mixture into a bowl and let cool.  Use right away or store in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

So Happy Together

Orange + Cardamom

Cardamom, a member of the ginger family, is native to Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and India. Cardamom and cinnamon star together in traditional Swedish bakingWhen paired with orange, but thethis aromatic green cardamom spice takes on makes bright-flavored orange taste slightly mysterious and edgy characteristics.

Homemade Twinkies  from Bake Happy

Makes 18 Twinkies

Baking spray, for the pan

Twinkie Chiffon Cake:

4 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (108 g) cake flour

3/4 cup (155 g) granulated sugar

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/3 cup (75 ml) cold water

1/4 cup (59 ml) vegetable oil

11/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

3 large egg yolks

Marshmallow Filling:

6 tablespoons (90 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted

21/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon fine salt

1 (7-ounce/198-g) jar marshmallow creme

Glaze:

1 recipe Orange-Cardamom Syrup (above), prepared

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Spray the inside of a canoe or Twinkie pan with baking spray and set it aside.

For the Twinkie Chiffon Cake, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar almost until stiff peaks form—the peak should just turn over as you remove the beaters, about 6 minutes; set the bowl aside. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set the bowl aside. In a separate small bowl, stir together the cold water, oil, lemon zest and juice, and egg yolks, and stir this mixture into the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

Pour the batter over the beaten egg whites, one-third at a time, folding the batter into the egg whites with a rubber spatula, using a figure-8 pattern and scooping up from the bottom of the bowl until the batter is evenly colored. Fill each cylindrical depression in the canoe pan half full with batter.

Bake until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched and are a golden color, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Re-spray the canoe pan and repeat the process with the remaining batter. Let the Twinks cool completely after baking.

For the Marshmallow Filling, in the bowl of a food processor or electric mixer, combine the butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, salt, and marshmallow creme and process or beat the mixture until smooth.

To assemble the Twinkies, cut each Twinkie almost in half lengthwise, like you would a hot dog bun. Spread about 1 to 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom half and sandwich the top and bottom halves together. Place each filled Twinkie on a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper for easier cleanup. Brush each with the glaze and let sit for 30 minutes to dry. Serve the Twinkies right away or store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.