Egg Hunt

Country Weddin'

I'm making a  wedding cake this week, god help me. 

Thankfully, I have a large workspace, for the first time in my adult life.

Thankfully, I'm not the the contact; I lack the, let's say, people skills necessary for dealing with mind-changing brides. 

Thankfully, the heatwave has passed.   

Thankfully, I've got my health.

Unfortunately, it's still hot.

Unfortunately, I no longer work in a professional kitchen, a generous one that lets me place wholesale orders and lends me turntables and 12" cake pans.

Unfortunately, I suspect I'm losing money.

Unfortunately, my week is shot.

The cake, regardless, will be delicious, with labor divided between me and my partner. She'll make a dense chocolate cake filled with ganache and frosted with vanilla buttercream, while I'll be making, as afore reported, an orange-scented cake with cardamom pastry cream (pretty wintry flavors, in my opinion, but I put it on the menu, so I take the blame. The bride neglected to order, however, the berries I had wished to pair it with- and she can't be talked into them... back away from the issue, Maura,  just back away).

The design is basic: flowers (we haven't been informed of what kind- let's hope the florist has!), beaded border, swiss dots, and three stacked tiers assembled onsite.

It's supposed to be fresh-faced and sweet. Lord knows if I'll be!

Arcadia

The years I spent summer in a microclimate, I baked apricot upside-down cake in comfort while the rest of the country fled to Dairy World and frozen custard stands.  Even with temperatures in the nineties and low one hundreds, many pastry people- including those like me without central air- are committed? passionate? goofy? enough to turn up the oven, heating their kitchens to three-fifty or higher (this is pie season, after all).

However, at the request of the person who shares my toasty home, I've been limiting myself to gelatins and frozen desserts, served with fruit and garnished with discoveries from beyond the screen door...

The property line of a country yard is full of surprises. Here, discoveries include tiger lilies, lilacs, tulips, crocuses, rhubarb, spearmint, a sunflower, anise, daffodils, and any number of flowering plants I can't identify; it's gotten so that after each rainfall or robust lawn watering I go outside and search the margins for what has revealed itself.  When the revelation is edible I'm especially delighted.

My favorite discovery- and a precious accompaniment to pistachio gelato- is the closest to the freezer.

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Candied Rose Petals

Pluck the petals from a fragrant, pesticide (but ant)-free rose.

Using a small paintbrush, cover each petal with a thin layer of froth from a beaten egg white.

Sprinkle each petal with granulated sugar- superfine if you have it, no big whoop if you don't. 

Place petal onto a cooling rack and let air-dry for several hours (easier in low humidity zones, I know, I know).

Use for garnishing anything that tastes wonderful with a floral perfume, like berries or chocolate or cream.

Plumas Summer

It's hot, but not unbearable thanks to dry air and cold alpine lakes, clear to the bottom.

When I'm not swimming I'm thinking about swimming and the smell of water and pine, the sensation of skin tightening in the sun. If someone asks how I spent my summer, I'll tell them I swam, went to the drive-in for a hot dog and malted, then returned to the beach to swim some more. Hiking, a rodeo, and exploring unpaved mountain highways.

I'll be spending a few days in the city this week to catch up with old friends and eat fancy food, see a movie or two and karaoke at The Mint. Maybe viewing Matthew Barney's exhibit at the MOMA, or trying on shoes.  Do I dare get a pedicure, erasing the callouses that make going barefoot possible after too many years confined to sturdy black clogs? 

SF is great, but while I'm flirting and sidewalking, sipping and shopping, there's a wedge of Lake Almanor I'll be hankerin' fer, and nights on the Mexican blanket watching the stars and listening for the Union Pacific.

Cooler

Purchase a bottle of a cheap Beaujolais.

Pour into a tall, nonreactive pot and add:

small handful of basil

large pinch of peppercorns

1/2 c water

1/3 c sugar

Bring to a boil, remove from heat, stir to dissolve sugar, cover. Steep for ten minutes. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate until cold.

Meanwhile, fill some glasses with 

sliced strawberries

blueberries

                                  several thin wedges of peeled nectarine

Pour chilled wine mixture over fruit. Drink in the sun, get headache. Fantasize about how delicious it was! Repeat.

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To make into a gelee: Measure 1/3 c water into a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin over water, let sit for five minutes, and add to still warm- but not boiling- wine. Stir to dissolve, making sure there are no clumps. Place chunks of fruit into serving containers, top with wine mixture. Chill several hours until set.

                   

Crisp

Any other year this entry would have been posted by now... but no bother. July has arrived, and with it the produce necessary to create what I consider the perfect June dessert: Cherry Apricot Crisp.

Strawberry Rhubarb. Maple Apple. Nectarine with Blackberries and Chopped Ginger. Huckleberry Pear. Peach. Blueberry. Raspberry Plum.  The thing about crisp is that it can be quickly assembled before serving dinner and pulled from the oven as plates are cleared (especially if extra topping is kept in the freezer, waiting to accommodate a farmstand splurge). As it bakes the juices thicken, flavors concentrate, and the house fills with the perfume of fruit and buttery crumbles.

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Cherry Apricot Crisp

Topping

3/4 c AP flour

1/4 c cornmeal, rolled oats, or toasted chopped almonds

1/4 c white sugar

1/4 c brown sugar 

small pinch of cinnamon 

pinch of salt

1/2 c plus 2 tbl unsalted butter at cool room temp, cut into pieces

Combine everything except butter. Work the butter in with your fingers until all is blended, with chunks no larger than 1" or so. Chill until ready to use.

Filling

2 lbs apricots, pitted and cut into chunks (include the soft spots, they will turn into sauce)

3/4 lb of your favorite cherries, stemmed and pitted (or leave the pits in for a mild almond flavor- just warn your guests!)

2 tbl sugar, or to taste

1 1/2 tbl minute tapioca (omit for a runnier but brighter-tasting dessert)

pinch of salt

Combine ingredients and pour into a baking dish/casserole/pie plate with a 6 cup capacity. Cover with topping and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the topping is browned and the juice around the edges is bubbling.

Serve hot with ice cream, cold for breakfast, or en plein air at an holiday potluck!