Some Snackable Bakes for celebrating Easter, Passover and the fact that it’s Tuesday . . .

Hello hello! In celebration of Tuesday (or whatever day of the week it happens to be when you open this letter) I am sharing a few treats - a fluffy coconut sheet cake, a flourless hazelnut cake with Nutella whipped cream (you’re welcome) and some matzos bark (chocolate, toffee, matzos, delicious) that happens to be topped with a little Easter candy (as a nod to the fact that my family celebrates both Passover and Easter) and a baking tip (how to properly test a cake for doneness). But before we jump into all that (although if jumping is how you roll, you can stop reading now and scroll down to the recipes - I won’t have hurt feelings, I promise), I did want to chat a little about some of the snackable baking (and living) that I’ve been doing as of late.

I am continuing to work away at my fourth cookbook, tentatively entitled: Savory Snackable Bakes: Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Fruity, Spicy and Sometimes a Little Bit Sweet. The book is identical in concept to my last book, Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy Recipes for Exceptionally Scrumptious Sweets and Treats (yes, I’m fond of long subtitles) - in other words, every recipe can be assembled in 20 minutes or less, calls for ingredients already in your pantry (or at your local grocery store) and does not require any special kitchen equipment (aka no stand mixers, hand mixers, or the like). If you do not own a copy of Snackable Bakes, might I suggest you consider purchasing one? And if a signed bookplate is your idea of a good time, I would be over the moon to send you one to place inside your new (or, if you already own it, old) copy of the book. Dropping a photo of the cover here, just so you can get a visual.

But I digress. So the new book is similar to the old, but the fact that I don’t usually develop recipes for savory items has made writing this book really tricky and really FUN and challenging and it makes me cry and keeps me up at night and all that good stuff. But here’s the thing, if this book, or books in general, or cookbooks or writing, or any of the above is interesting to you, I am going to be launching a different newsletter for PAID subscribers that will be ALL about the cookbook writing process - the highs, the lows, the mediums and - wait for it - this paid content will include a recipe from the yet to be published book!! Eek!! Please don’t tell my publisher - but it’s true. Of course this letter will always be FREE FREE FREE, but the paid one, focusing on my new book, will be pretty damned special, just saying. 

In addition to working on my book, I did a pop-up last weekend with my friend Edy at his shop, Edy’s Grocer. We gave three different recipes from Snackable Bakes a Lebanese twist, including the salty snacky fudge, the thick and chewy vanilla cookies and the cinnamon sugar doughnut holes, and we had a pretty fantastic time doing it. Also, thinking that it might be fun to share the recipes for the treats Edy and I created for the pop-up in the paid newsletter . . . thoughts?

Okay, one last thing before we talk recipes, my baking podcast, She’s My Cherry Pie, got a little shout out in Forbes! Cherry Bombe, the producer of the podcast, is celebrating its 10 year bday and I was thrilled that the writer mentioned me and the podcast in her article about CB! Season 1 of She’s My Cherry Pie just finished and Season 2 episodes will be dropping shortly! In each episode, I do a deep dive with an iconic baker about their signature bake. One of my guests this past season was my dear friend, Zoe Fancois and we chatted all things pavlova (if you want to give it a listen) and pavlovas make for a perfect Easter OR Passover dessert, just saying. Zoe’s recipe is here.

Alright, recipe time.

First up is my One Bowl Coconut Sheet Cake with Toasted Coconut Buttercream. I originally developed this cake for a one-bowl baking story I wrote for Fine Cooking Magazine (RIP) and she is a winner. The recipe does call for a stand mixer (which is very off brand for me) but it is still easy-peasy to make, calling, as it does, for the reverse creaming method of cake making (the butter is combined with the dry ingredients). And although pulling out one’s stand mixer can be a pain, the stand mixer bowl is the only one you’ll use for both the cake and frosting (I abhor doing dishes, so one bowl recipes are my love language). Moreover, the cake calls for 4 different kinds of coconut: coconut cream (such as Coco Lopez), coconut extract, shredded coconut, and toasted flaked coconut - ensuring that coconut’s creamy, dreamy flavor really pops. If bunny cakes are your kind of Easter cake, consider this your grown up version.

Flourless Hazelnut Cake with Nutella Whipped Cream is up next. This cutie is gluten-free for Passover or just plain scrumptious for Easter or cause it’s Tuesday (or Wednesday or Thursday or . . . ). It’s a great alternative to other gluten-free Passover desserts, such as macaroons or flourless chocolate cake (although do not get me wrong: those are fab too). The cake was inspired by Ottolenghi’s walnut cake recipe in the NYT and I was drawn to it because it has very few ingredients and is easy to assemble. The luscious Nutella whipped cream (made of nothing more than heavy cream and Nutella) is basically the stuff of legends. And although you may come for the cake, you will stay for the whipped cream (or something like that).

Finally, my Chocolate-Toffee Matzo Bark with Easter Candy is the perfect nexus of Easter and Passover and is a nod to the fact that my family attends a seder every year, but also celebrates Easter. Matzos bark, for those not in the know, is an easy toffee chocolate situation that you prepare over a few sheets of matzos - sometimes this kind of bark is made with saltines and in Snackable Bakes (the book, not the newsletter . . . ) I have a recipe for it with Ritz Crackers (to DIE for). Essentially you melt butter and brown sugar on the stovetop, pour it over matzos, bake til bubbly and then cover in chocolate chips. The chips melt and you spread them over the toffee. In this recipe, I call for sprinkling the chocolate with (kosher-for-Passover) candy, but toasted pecans and flaky sea salt is delicious, too.

Alrighty, that’s it for today’s recipes which means that it’s BAKING TIP time. Today I'm sharing how I test a cake to make sure it is done baking. I like to use a long wooden skewer. I like wood because it is rough and will stick to the cake crumbs and pull them up (I like to bake my cakes until I see moist crumbs on my skewer - a clean skewer means overbaked in my book) and I like a long skewer, as opposed to a toothpick, because toothpicks are too short and for something like a bundt cake: they just can’t handle the job.

@jessiesheehanbakesHow do you know when your cake is done baking??!!! (@jessiesheehanbakes). #professionalbaker #bakersoftiktok #bakingvideo #letmeteachyou #bakingexpert #doittherightway #bakingtip #youredoingitwrong #cakevideo #rainbowsprinklecake #rainbowsprinkles #bakinghack #cookiesoftiktok

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And that’s a wrap, peeps. Hope you like the recipes I shared today, as well as all the newsy tidbits. Hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber (so I can start to share some fab easy-peasy savory baking recipes with you). Hope you’ll give my podcast a listen and that you find my baking tip helpful AND if baking with me and Bake from Scratch Magazine in Birmingham Alabama this summer sounds fun to you (yes, it will be hot, but it will also be fantastic!!) please join me July 21 to 24th. 

See you in two weeks!