Funfetti Cookies

​♥️Find Your Little Friday♥️

Last month I received a client request for a #pride themed brunch at the end of June. As I began to gather my menu options, it got me thinking about how I could have a greater impact with the work I do. Instead of just offering these options to one client, I wanted to share these featured items for the entire month of June and donate a portion of all of the sales of these featured items to the LGBTQ community. Two of the items featured are a classic flavor, funfetti.

For the past year and a half I have had the great privilege of honing in on a different approach to my cooking. I started assisting Sarah Pachelli in the kitchen and didn’t know how much the work she does would impact my overall approach to cooking. The best way I can describe it is refined with out any refined ingredients-which quite simply translates to swapping out ingredients that are harder on your body to process with easier options.  A client of hers requested clean funfetti cookies and we started making them on almost a weekly basis because they were such a yummy treat.

I am offering these cookies two ways, a classic variation or a refined with out refined ingredients, à la Ms. Pachelli. Sarah also shares recipes every Monday and I am pretty sure her take on these cleaner cookies will be shared since it’s heavily requested.

I am grateful to be able to give back to a community with the business I am building and lucky to have the good fortune of working with/being inspired by those I work with professionally. Happy weekend, get your orders and don’t forget to #findyourlittlefriday

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Streusel Topping 🍓

Hello May! While I still wait for the sun to shine on a constitent basis here in NYC, I to took stock in what makes me happy. That’s right, go back to what you know, for me.....pie. My midwestern roots and love of spring rolled up into something so delicious and edible. This time though, I called in reinforcements.

Update to my favorite, a streusel topping to my strawberry rhubarb. Yes it’s delicious, yes it renders you speechless and yes change can be good! Follow along this recipe, I always make two pie crust discs even when one is only needed. I simply freeze the other until needed. The filling is my classic ratio and the topping is a riff on my much tried and true favorite streusel topping

Pie crust

Yields 2 9 inch discs

•2 1/2 cups a.p. flour

•2 sticks of chilled unsalted butter cut into cubes

•1/4 cup of brown sugar

•1 tsp of salt

•6-8 tbsp of cold water

Sift together flour, sugars and salt. Add the cubed butter into the mixture either using a pastry cutter to incorporate or your hands. Working quickly, mix all ingredients together until the butter starts to become pearl sized as it gets combined with the dry ingredients. Slowly add a few tbsp of cold water and mix together. Add more water till the mixture begins to be moistened through but not overly wet.  Separate the dough into two equal parts, wrap in plastic and refrigerate each disk for at least an hour-freeze one for later if making the streusel topping

While the dough rests make the filling

•1 quart of strawberries cleaned, stemmed and quartered

•3 stalks of rhubarb cleaned and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

•1/4 cup of sugar

•1/4 cup of brown sugar

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and place in the fridge for half an hour to allow the fruit to macerate

Topping

•1 cup of four

•1/3 cup granulated sugar

•1/3 cup brown sugar

•1 tsp salt

•1 stick of butter

•1/2 cup of quick cooking oats

•1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus a tbsp more for sprinkling

For the topping, place the flour, the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well

Preheat your oven to 375º. Take one disk of dough out of the fridge. Flour a clean, flat surface and roll the dough out.  Starting from the center with a floured rolling pin, you want to work out towards the corners. Once you get the dough to a desired thinness (a little less than a 1/4 inch) place in a buttered 9" pie dish.  If the dough hangs over the sides a bit don't worry you can trim it back later. Pour in the strawberry and rhubarb filling, then top with the streusel mixture, ensuring the fruit is covered, sprinkles remaining almonds. Bake for 40 minutes until the filling is juicy and bubbling. Let the pie rest and cook for at least an hour before slicing! #FindYourLittleFriday ♥️

Confiture 🍓

​♥️Find Your Little Friday♥️

confiture-french for a preserve of fruit

It all started with a jar....many years ago. I find that when spring rolls around I pull this jar out of the cupboard and I begin to fill it with whatever seasonal varietal combination I’m inspired by at that moment. I only love a few store bought brands of jam, finding many to be overly sweet. Making my own is not only easy, but fun for me. The jar I use to hold my jams is a little bit kitschy, but reminds me of something my grandmothers would have had and it was a gift from my mom.

The ingredient list is short and the jam is ready in no time. Fruit is coming into it's own best flavors in these months ahead so they don’t require much sweetener. I typically use honey for the floral notes but maple syrup adds a nice caramel flavor. Sometimes I need a tablespoon of sugar if the fruit is not yielding the sweetness I want, but I only add it in when necessary. I find that most fruit flavor combinations or just one fruit on it's own is wonderful. Using a little citrus always helps brighten and balance the flavors. I typically leave the citrus out or only use a little bit when using a combination that has a more bitter fruit like rhubarb.

Try different combinations, put it on yogurt, toast or just on a spoon. I’m certain it will lead you to some little delights/#FindYourLittleFriday ♥️

1 cup of cleaned raspberries

1 cup of strawberries cleaned, hulled and quartered

3/4 cup of honey

1 tbsp of sugar(optional)

1 lemon, zest and juice

1 cup of water

Yields 2 cups of jam

In a bowl combine the fruit and with the back of a metal fork begin to mash the fruit together. Once the ingredients are a nice consistency of mashed fruit, toss in honey/sugar and lemon into the mixture. Place the mixture into a saucepan with a cup of already boiling water. Slowly add it in so it doesn’t splatter and then bring it to a boil, stirring consistently until it’s starts to bubble. Reduce the mixture to a low simmer continuing to occasionally stir and cook at this temperature for about 30 minutes. The mixture will be slightly runny still but will stiffen up as it cools to room temperature. For good measure, I set it in the fridge after for a few hours. 🍓

An Olive Oil Cake For All Your Celebrations ♥️

♥️Find Your Little Friday♥️​

Happy holiday weekend for everyone celebrating Easter or Passover. This recipe is one that I’ve been making for so many years and have thrown together at the last minute more times than I could count. I typically have all of these ingredients in my house and swap them when need be. If you’re celebrating Passover this weekend, swap out the all purpose flour for almond flour(or another nut flour of your choice)and you’re all set! The olive oil is the fat in this cake so you don’t have to worry about substitution to make this a kosher dish either!

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I have a very hard time not eating this entire cake after I bake it. I love it so much that I find myself cutting a slice and trying to get it out of my house as fast as possible. It is so delicious, moist and easy to make. I recommend this cake to anyone looking to bake something but maybe they don’t always trust their skills in the kitchen. Be sure to not bake it for too long, you don't want it to be dry. You can also substitute the orange for lemon and the vanilla for the almond.

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Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon almond extract
Juice and zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners sugar for dusting

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Mix together the sugar and eggs in a medium bowl with a whisk until blended and light. Drizzle in the olive oil and almond and mix until light and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another medium bowl. Add the flour mixture half at a time to the wet ingredients and mix on low just to incorporate. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake, 25 to 30 minutes. Let the cake cool 15 minutes, dust with confectioners sugar and serve.

Enjoy making this dish and celebrating together with those near and dear! #FindYourLittleFriday