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Posts from the ‘Pies, tarts, and cakes’ Category

Sep 5

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Birthday banana cream pie with (slightly) salted caramel and ganache

Today is my birthday, so I’m not going to say much. I have firm plans to do not much of anything for the rest of the afternoon, and I don’t want to be late.

Banana_cream_pie

But I do want to share with you, finally, the recipe for the banana cream pie I’ve been fixated on for the last half-dozen years or so. It’s deeply inspired by the one at Tartine in San Francisco – flaky pie crust, layers of caramel and dark chocolate, filled with pastry cream and fresh bananas, and topped with billowy whipped cream and chocolate shavings. But I’ve been adding my own touches here and there over the past years, finding the perfect recipes for each of the various elements, and it’s finally ready for sharing. Read more

Jul 10

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Polenta layer cake with fruit and créme fraîche whipped cream

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Oh doesn’t that look like an amazing cake to make for 4th of July?

I’m so helpful.

I did make this cake for 4th of July, but that means I can’t write about it until after 4th of July, which makes it a little late for all of you. But wait! You can actually make this cake any time of the year. Woo hoo! Now you’re set and I’m not late at all.  Read more

Jul 11

Peach upside-down cornmeal skillet cake (bye bye, CA!)

So. It doesn’t really feel any different, really. We loaded up our stuff, we drove away, we unloaded our stuff, we set up our bed in a completely new room in a new city in a new state, and soon we’ll even leave that. We drank beer at lunch today (on a Wednesday!), and if I didn’t check my email for another five days there’s not really anything that could happen to me.

But nothing feels significantly different. It’s kind of like when we got married, and I took the fact that absolutely nothing felt different as a good sign (a very good sign – but we’ll save more on that for some future installation of Bowen’s Thoughts on Marriage). And this time, as we went through the motions of leaving, I kept telling myself to feel something BIG – like when we ate at our favorite bakery for the last time, and when we spent our last evening on campus, and when we handed over the keys to our house. (Funny story about that, below.) But everything just felt kind of … normal, and I’m taking that as a good sign that all of this is happening at the right time. When I’ve tried to force myself to see the significance of everything, I just see this sort of satiny, infinite ribbon spreading out ahead of me – I think it represents time, maybe? Or freedom? Something like that. I’m not really sure why I picture the next year as a ribbon, but in any case I have this really strong visual that I don’t understand but that I associate with positive feelings, certainly. (Or maybe it’s guilt at all that perfectly good leftover double-sided satin wedding ribbon I threw out as we cleaned out our house.)

So since I apparently don’t need to spend any time “transitioning,” I just get to focus on doing everything that catches my eye as worthwhile or fun or interesting (as long as it doesn’t cost too much money).  Which at the moment means enjoying summer, especially a summer a little more temperate than our Previous Place of Living. We’re in Eugene for the next 10 days or so, including a few days working at the Oregon Country Fair, plenty of time in the backyard, some exploring of what we’re hearing is a pretty fantastic new “Brewery District” in town (more on that next week, I’m hoping), and lots of summer fruit.

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Jun 14

Rustic fruit galette, and a little bit about home

One of the reasons we’re so excited to embark on this huge year-long adventure and to settle somewhere new is that we’re looking for a place that feels a little more like home. Despite the fact that Southern California has technically been our home for the last ten years, it’s never really been a great fit. Neither of us ever really intended to stay after college (in fact, at one point I didn’t think I’d even stay all the way through), but things happen, and here we are.

A preview – I’m going to talk about home a little more, then you get this:

galette_served Read more

May 30

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Thai iced tea cupcakes with condensed milk buttercream

These cupcakes easy to make, and a little confusing to eat. (In a very, very, very good way.)

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See, they taste exactly like Thai iced tea – you know, the delicious kind you order at Thai restaurants to calm down fiery curries and noodles packed with chili. (The one you inevitably end up drinking most of before your food even arrives …) You’d swear you were drinking a big glass of creamy, sweet, orange-colored Thai iced tea – but it’s a cupcake.  Read more

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