Chocolate Budino, Ricotta Cake and a Trifle...

Hi hi peeps. Am so sorry to be a tad late in getting this letter to you (okay more than a tad) but life has gotten in the way of letter writing. Both my boys are home in NYC this summer and it is utterly fantastic having them around, but also a little distracting. Also, I made a few life-style(ish) New Year’s resolutions last January, and one was to “stop and smell the flowers” (aka hang out with your family and friends and enjoy yourself more) and I have been attempting to do just that (see below, for evidence).

Anyhoo, today’s letter features three fab recipes: a chocolate budino (aka chocolate pudding), a ricotta cake with macerated strawberries and a raspberry trifle - all of which feature grappa. Grappa Nonino, is a family-owned, female-run distillery, producing both grappa and amaro. Nonino is also a sponsor of She’s My Cherry Pie, and challenged me to create sweets recipes calling for grappa - and (spoiler alert) I did. Lots more about these 3 tasty treats below . . . (also, I made the trifle with my friend Sam: how cute is she?

But before I get into why you need to make these three grappa-infused treats ASAP, I wanted to remind you to not only PLEASE PREORDER MY NEW BOOK (signed copies available!) - but I wanted to tell you the EXCELLENT NEWS that if you do so and share an image of your receipt, I will send you three recipes from the book!! Eek! Amazing, I know.

Also, friendly reminder to check out the “please subscribe to my paid letter” button below (‘cause subscribing not only gives you all the inside scoop about the book, but also gets you an exclusive recipe FROM the book in EVERY letter.).

And to wet your savory baking whistle, check out this feature about the book in Pastry Arts Magazine! Was so fun talking about the book with the writer, as it was my first (of many!!) convo about it for publication. Below is a sneak peek of the second page of the article, esturing two fab Nico Schinco pics from the book.

This Week’s Episode of She’s My Cherry Pie

So, the pod was on a between-season break in July, but season 3 (aka Q3) just started and i had the absolute pleasure of chatting all things danish with Mindy Segal, of Mindy’s Bakery in Chicago (where I will be going on my book tour!! Sharing all the deets on that as they roll in . . .). Mindy is hilarious and brilliant and an epic, OG baker and she taught me so much about danish. Hope you will give it a listen.

A Snackable Happening:

July has been a relatively snackable month, and to promote Salty Cheesy, I did a live demo of the tomato za’atar galette from the book for Talkshop Live and it was super fun.

And you can actually watch the entire demo right here, if that’s your jam.

Recipes!

Alright first up, is a chocolate budino (which is really just a super rich and chocolatey Italian pudding. Here I’ve infused both the pudding itself and the whipped cream with Nonino’s Monovitigno Chardonnay Grappa. The flavors of this grappa (bread, vanilla, pastry) play beautifully with the chocolate - and this recipe could not be easier to assemble.

Next up is a one-bowl ricotta cake with macerated strawberries. Again, she is easy-peasy and is infused with Nonino’s Grappa Monovitigno Merlot, the tasting notes of which, rose petal and cherry, work beautifully with both the simple olive oil cake and the macerated berries.

Last, but hardly least, is a raspberry trifle, infused with Nonino’s Monovitigno Moscato Grappa. This varietal has tasting notes of flora, sage, thyme and vanilla - which play so beautifully with the cubes of simple pound cake (store-bought - you’re welcome), macerated strawberries and mascarpone whipped cream. And, yes peeps, this girl is easy.

Have you watched . . .

Okay before i sign off, just wanted to chat about my three favorite things (besides you all - ). First up, TV: have you watched season 3 of The Bear? Well, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I did not love it . . . they gave individual characters their own episodes and I was not loving that? And, also felt like nothing happened plot-wise, like to move things along - am I crazy? Is what i am saying blasphemous? Please advise.

Have you listened?

Here’s the thinking about me and podcasts: I don’t necessarily have the most sophisticated of ears and find myself listening to a lot of kind of low-brow true crime pods (my fave genre). In the last letter, I mentioned one from the New Yorker that I loved, as I was trying to impress you . . . I mean I loved it, don;t get me wrong - I just chose to mention it, as opposed to others, so you wouldn’t think ill of me. Anyway . . . I really Loved Dirty John. it’s all about a relationship which features coerce control as its lifeblood. I thought it was great.

Have you read?

I am reading In Memoriam by Alice Winn right now and i am literally incapable of putting it down. It is about a WWI love story between two boyhood friends and it is spectacular. Highly highly recommend it.

Alright, that’s this week’s letter. See you in two (I promise!).