Finishing up the summer peach ice cream with some warm chai-spiced apple bread.
Little Transitional Seasonal Indulgence
Cake-Like, Bread-Like
Heh. People ask how I get so much done; my family helps, is part of it. Kevin made two double-batches of my chai-spiced apple bread for me yesterday, but amusingly, he did something differently between the two batches, and is not sure what.
One is a little more cake-like, the other a little more bread-like. Maybe he forgot to double the butter? I’m pretty sure that’s it, but luckily, both batches are delicious, so it doesn’t really matter. 
There’s also more active swirling on the second batch, which results in more of the sugar-spice mix caramelizing on the top.
Recipe is here (if you want it more bread-like, you might try cutting the amount of butter in half — no guarantees, though!): https://serendibkitchen.com/…/09/chai-spiced-apple-bread/
And yes, I have a Nordicware molded pan problem, I know. I know!
Fox and Owl Cheddar-Apple Hand Pies
No recipe yet, because I wasn’t entirely happy with the results — need to tweak. But I do like the little pie cutters — it took a little while to figure out how to use them, and it’s definitely fiddly and time-consuming to do this way, but the end result is so cute, I forgive it.
If anyone local wants to borrow these Sur La Table cutters for a weekend, let me know; I’ll feel better about buying them if they get more use!
(the last photo is the mangled pie that I made with the last bits of piecrust trimmings — it looks like a spooky face to me)
A Fabulous Impromptu Cake
When you’ve had a long day, and you realize you have homemade peach ice cream, and slightly over-ripe peaches, and leftover pancakes, and that’s basically a fabulous impromptu cake.
Violet and Vanilla Marshmallows
I really am going to stop making sweets for the Patreon boxes soon. I’m almost done. Tomorrow. I’m going to stop tomorrow.
We’re planning to pack & ship on Friday, fingers crossed.
These are violet & vanilla marshmallows, embedded in bittersweet chocolate, with a ruby drizzle.
Summer Peach & Ginger Scones
No recipe from me, because I basically just followed this one:
https://cardamomandcoconut.com/ginger-peach-scones/
And when I say “I”, I mean Kavi, because I texted her the recipe and asked her to make them. I did collect the peaches from our tree and cut them up for her, though.
These scones don’t keep more than a day or two at room temperature, so eat fast, or freeze for later enjoyment.
Jaggery S’more Bars
Another one for the Patreon boxes!
(30 minutes, makes 30 bars)
What’s summer without s’mores? You can make these with brown sugar, of course, but jaggery adds an extra dimension of yumminess. They are very gooey, in the best way.
1 c. butter, melted
2 eggs
2 c. jaggery (or dark brown sugar), packed
2 T. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. flour
4 c. graham crackers, broken into small pieces
2 heaping c. mini marshmallows
2 c. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350F; butter and flour a 9×12 baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter (cooled slightly) with egg, brown sugar, and vanilla.
3. Add flour and stir until just combined.
4. Add graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate chips; fold until blended.
5. Pour batter into prepared baking dish, smoothing out as needed.
6. Bake 22-25 minutes, until edges are set and lightly browned, with the center of the pan relatively firm.
7. Cool bars in pan for 30 minutes, before attempting to slice. Slice and serve. Can be frozen for long-term storage.
Variation: Try mixing in some salty pretzels!
A Spin on Classic Fairy Bread
Finishing up the Patreon baking. For the fairy theme, I thought it’d be fun to do a spin on classic fairy bread, which is bread and butter with sprinkles, popular in Australia and New Zealand.
I did sugar cookies instead of bread, spread with a rose & vanilla buttercream and covered in sprinkles. The end result is quite sweet, but I gather fairies are very fond of nectar, so it does seem appropriate.
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The Spruce Eats had some fun notes on fairy bread:
“The exact origin of fairy bread is not known, but some say it may come from the poem “Fairy Bread” by Robert Louis Stevenson in his anthology A Child’s Garden of Verses published in 1885. The poem is as follows:
Come up here, O dusty feet!
Here is fairy bread to eat.
Here in my retiring room,
Children, you may dine
On the golden smell of broom
And the shade of pine;
And when you have eaten well,
Fairy stories hear and tell.
For a variation on fairy bread, try topping buttered bread with chocolate sprinkles instead. This treat is popular in the Netherlands, where it is called “hagelslag,” which quaintly translates to “hailstorm.””
Pistachio Margarita Float
(makes one giant dessert drink)
Ready to be indulgent? When my daughter and I were traveling in Sri Lanka, she decided that Sri Lanka was the land of ice cream, because we ended up eating it most places (especially when the dishes were too spicy for her). I wouldn’t serve her this drink, but for an adult libation poolside, this lush concoction will delight. (The pistachio margarita is still tasty, even if you skip the float entirely.)
3 oz. tequila, chilled
1.5 oz. pistachio orgeat (syrup)
1 oz. fresh lime juice
dash of Strongwater’s Virtue bitters (rose, alpine, and sage) (optional)
2 oz. lemon-lime soda
lime and sugar for rim
pistachio ice cream (or to kick it up a notch, use bastani: Persian pistachio-rose-saffron ice cream, see below)
chopped pistachios and/or rose petals for garnish
1. Rub fresh lime along rim of cocktail or margarita glass, and dip in sugar.
2. Combine tequila, pistachio orgeat, fresh lime juice, dash of bitters, and lemon-lime soda.
3. Top with scoops of pistachio or bastani ice cream, garnish with chopped pistachio. I recommend serving with a spoon and/or straw.
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Bastani: Persian Pistachio-Rose-Saffron Ice Cream
8 egg yolks
2 c. sugar
2 c. whole milk
1 c. chopped roasted pistachio nuts (salted is fine)
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. rose extract (or 2 T rose water)
1/2 t. cardamom extract (optional)
generous pinch saffron threads
pinch salt
2 1/2 c. heavy cream
1. Beat egg yolks with sugar until smooth and foamy.
2. In a medium thick-bottomed pot on medium-low, heat the milk to boiling while stirring. Add vanilla extract, rose extract, cardamom extract, saffron threads, and salt.
3. Slowly and carefully, pour the foamy egg/sugar mixture into the fragrant milk, using a whisk vigorously while pouring (to avoid scrambling the eggs).
4. Turn heat to low and continue heating, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard thickens. (It should thinly coat the spoon).
5. Pour custard mixture into a bowl, and refrigerate until well chilled (at least 4 hours, and overnight is not unreasonable.)
6. Churn in an ice cream maker (be sure bowl has frozen for at least 4 hours, overnight is likely better), or hand-churn (stick in freezer and stir every 30 minutes to break up the ice crystals, until it is well-mixed).
7. When ice cream is at soft-serve consistency, stir in chopped pistachios, then freeze until hard (about 2-4 hours).
Gooseberry, Rose, and Violet Iced Fairy Cakes
I didn’t write up a recipe for this, because all I did was use a standard fairy cake recipe, add a little rose to the batter, and then divide the icing and flavor it with gooseberry + citrus, rose, and violet. But they’re charming, no? Would be fun for a tea party, or a kids’ birthday party.
Honestly, the rose ones and the violet ones are a little sweet for me, but I love me the tang, so gooseberry+citrus is my jam. These would also be good with jam.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fairycakes_93711
For the Spring/Summer Patreon boxes — alas, it is too late to sign up for those now. New sign-ups will get the Autumn box, probably somewhere around November.
