a vanilla prelaunch cake

how are we talking about cake after monday's pizza overload fourth of july festivities??? i dunno. i ate so much pizza because it was so smoky and good from the campfire, and it was covered in all of the fresh herbs that we're getting from our garden, and also because my new favorite dress that i wear every day is like wearing a pillow case so i have no idea how to gauge when i've eaten too much pizza. meh! happy belated 4th to you!! i really hope you ate flag cake and drank spritzes aplenty. 

today this fun new-to-me thing starts, called a book prelaunch! i've never done one of these before, obvi, but from what i can gather, i think i'm going to approach it as if it's the chrismukkah season (and chrismukkah is actually october 4th, the molly on the range release date). so instead of peppermint/gingerbread/gift guide holiday content, i'll be periodically posting behind the scenes looks at the making of molly on the range and some recipes that didn't make the final cut but are still really good, and instead of secret santa, there will be surprise preorder giveaways scattered about the next few months (!!!), and instead of the eight days of hanukkah arriving at the end of it all, there will be more like 28 days of me showing up in your town* and talking about molly on the range and making you cake! 

*specific towns are tbd and idk if it'll be exactly 28 days

i'm still working on what kind of tree we're going to decorate for the occasion and i'm trying to persuade eggboy to write a song about it. or maybe you're a songwriter and want to write a song for the season?? what's confirmed is that there will be cake (actually two cakes) for those who preorder my book! because this first preorder giveaway includes:

-the recipe for this very vanilla layer cake, along with some choose-your-own-adventure ideas for adding various mix-ins and flavorings and nuts and things

-the recipe for a pumpkin walnut layer cake with cream cheese frosting that is going to make you sooooo excited for the fall

-cake frosting tips!

to download these bad boyz, preorder the book, and then enter your info here.

and preordering now will also make you eligible for the next few giveaways which i'll be announcing soon!!

happy prelaunch season everyone! *throws sprinkles in the air*

-yeh!

watermelon mini cakes

macaroni and tofu turn one this week!!!!!! 

i can't believe it. *they grow up so fast* look at them a year ago (!!):

and now they are beautiful colorful egg-layin ladies and tofu is a handsome young man and they bring us so much joy (and lots of shakshuka). happy birthday, macaroni and tofu! we love you! 

obviously we made little cakes for them with all of their favorite things: watermelon, yogurt, mint, and "sprinkles" (sunflower seeds and stuff). we sang the birthday song and thought about making little party hats... but i don't think chickens really like hats. sweaters, maybe. but hats? do you have any intel on this?

yogurt, i recently learned, is really good for chickies since it helps their digestion, and mint keeps them cool and helps repel any pests. and of course watermelon hydrates them, oh boy they are big watermelon fans.

i didn't sweeten the yogurt in these since chickens don't really have a sweet tooth, but if you're looking to make a human version of these, it might be tastier to use whipped cream or sweetened yogurt between the watermelon layers. or! you could take the old sweet/savory route and use slices of feta. these are easy little cakes to make and perfect for a hot summer day!

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watermelon mini cakes

1. slice thin layers of watermelon and use a biscuit cutter to cut out your cake layers

2. stack up your layers with a layer of yogurt/whipped cream/feta (see note above) and a few mint leaves in between

3. top with mint leaves and sprinkles and enjoy!

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-yeh!

coconut rainbow popsicles

i am staying in the world's cutest airbnb in silver lake this week. it has a tomato plant, a vintage oven, a huge stash of za'atar, and a million stairs leading up to it that make me feel like i'm in a treehouse! (a climate controlled treehouse, thank heavens, because it was one hundred and twelve degrees this week!! don't smell me.) it also has some pretty delicious light pouring in at all hours of the day, so lily and alana and i made our #popsicleweek popsicles in my little kitchen. we used coconut milk, lemongrass, and the most beautiful pluots from the hollywood farmers' market, and then each took a layer to do our thang and make the popsicle equivalent to friendship bracelets. kewt. they tasted like grownup pudding pops, 10/10 would recommend. 

alana infused her layer with lemongrass for the pale green top,

lily mixed in some pluot juice for the bright pink center,

i made a malabi-inspired mix with rosewater, vanilla, and cinnamon,

and then we did a chocolate drizzle and bedazzled them with pistachios, rose petals, coconut, and glee. 

and then! billy, king of popsicle week, waltzed right in with adrianna and approved of the whole thing and it was, as the kids these days would say, gucci.

my life as a silver lake person has been so tasty and stone-fruit-filled, i can't wait to tell you more about it. but i just have a few more sleeps here, so i'm gonna go cook a branzino because mastering the art of branzino is going to be one thing i do before i leave california. bye!

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malabi pops

(this is layer #3 of these coconut rainbow popsicles. click here for the lemongrass layer and here for the pluot layer.)

ingredients

1 c full-fat coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1/2 tsp rosewater
a pinch of kosher salt
a pinch of cinnamon
2 tb maple syrup, or to taste

optional toppings:

melted chocolate, crushed pistachios, rosebuds, toasted coconut

clues

make your lemongrass layer, pour into the bottom third of your popsicle molds and freeze for 45 minutes. make your pluot layer, pour on top of the lemongrass layer and freeze 15 minutes. insert popsicle sticks and then freeze for another 15 minutes. 

mix together all ingredients for this layer. taste and adjust as desired. pour on top of the pluot layer and freeze for an hour. drizzle with chocolate and top with pistachios, rosebuds, and coconut, if desired. enjoy!

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-yeh!

a big green cobbler with leeks, gruyere, and split peas

ok hi from santa monica! i am here this week filming some videos with tastemade and generally worshipping huckleberry every moment i get. i've been wearing the half-bun and a nifty new pair of aviator sunglasses and i got a slight bit of tan, but so far no one has mistaken me for a local. i'm trying to figure it out. is it because i don't have a car and have been walking everywhere? am i acting and dressing like 76º is warmer than it actually is? or maybe it's my accent. syalad, syandwich, syanta monica.

that's ok! even if i was mistaken and someone asked me for directions, i would not know the answer. unless if it were to huckleberry. 

i'm mostly really excited to cook with california produce. and i'm thinking i'll just hide out here until our garden back home comes up with cucumbers and tomatoes and fairytale eggplants (new this year!). which brings me to this recipe, because it's likely my last recipe of the season that will require you to really cook the daylights out of vegetables before eating them...

did i ever tell you about the green party that my parents threw me when i was three? i only vaguely remember it because i was three, it might have been at chuck e cheese, but everything was the color green except for probably the food because that was back when i only ate macaroni and cheese. if i had been eating green foods though, this savory cobbler would have been a good contender for the menu. all it is is five different green things swimming in a pool of gruyere and topped with buttermilk biscuits. you can get with that, right? it's very leek-centric and has a nice scoop of dry split peas, which is a new ingredient for me! i tried them because this year is the international year of pulses (have you taken the pulse pledge yet??) and have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to have these little green dudes on hand to throw into soups and stuff.

if you'd like to add in any more green veggies to this cobbler that you have on hand or sub out the spinach for another leaf or the leeks for another allium, go right ahead. this is a very forgiving cobbler!

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big green cobbler

serves 6

ingredients

3 tb butter
3 leeks, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 bunch scallions, chopped, whites separated from the greens
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c flour
1 1/2 c vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 c heavy cream cream
2 packed cups spinach
1 c shredded gruyere
1/2 c dried split peas, cooked according to the package directions

Biscuits:

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
14 tb butter, cold and cubed
3 tb buttermilk
1 egg, beaten

clues

Preheat the oven to 425ºf.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium high heat and add the leeks, zucchini, a pinch of salt, and a few turns of pepper and cook, stirring, until the leeks are soft and translucent, 7-10 minutes. Add the whites of the scallions and the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the flour and cook for another minute, and then add about half of the broth. Cook, stirring, until the broth has thickened, and then add the other half of the broth and then cook until thickened. Stir in the cream and spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted. Stir in the cheese, the peas, and all but a handful of the scallion greens and then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, while you make the biscuits.

To make the biscuits, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and, using a food processor or pastry cutter or your hands, incorporate the butter until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal. Fold in the remaining handful of scallion greens and then mix in the buttermilk until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Turn it out onto a floured work surface, pat it out to 1/2” thick and then cut out round biscuits, re-rolling scraps as needed.

Pour the green mixture into an oven-safe vessel such as a casserole dish or cast iron pan or dutch oven and then top it with the biscuits. Brush the biscuits with the beaten egg and top with black pepper. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes. Enjoy!

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-yeh!

thank you so much to usa pulses and pulse canada for sponsoring this post!