Book Launch | The Crown’s Game

| Other Celebrations

TheCrownsGame00018-banner “Imagine, and it shall be. There are no limits.”

I love that line from The Crown’s Game, as I think it captures what Milo’s Bonbons offers, and what I enjoyed so much about catering the dessert table for the book’s launch party this week. This young adult historical fantasy is set in 19th century Russia and the colorful imagery in this book includes mouthwatering descriptions of Russian desserts. I was tasked with bringing some of these desserts to life. What a fun challenge and opportunity to get creative!

We decided on cream puffs and swans (something I never thought I’d get to make outside of pastry school), individual mini apple sharlotka cakes, bird’s milk cakes and Russian Cream (I’m not sure this one is actually Russian in origin, but the name fits).

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Apple sharlotka is a light souffle-like cake, made mostly of diced apples, with just a little bit of batter holding it all together. I dusted these with cinnamon and powdered sugar, and then added a little brown butter icing.
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Bird’s milk cake is also uniquely Russian, and is made of sponge cake layers with a light meringue-based filling flavored with condensed milk, and a chocolate ganache coating. I also made little nests with chocolate and shredded wheat, topped with peanuts to mimic eggs.

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Finally, Russian Cream is a delicious take on a panna cotta, using heavy cream and sour cream — not exactly a light and healthy dessert, but does it really matter when the cup is tiny? I topped these with raspberry compote and chopped pistachios, as inspired by The Alison Show blog.TheCrownsGame00023

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It was a privilege to get a peek inside a writer’s world — what a blast!

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Corn Cherry Scones – The Bay Area Co-Op Staple

| For Friends & Family, Recipe

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I was introduced to corn cherry scones at the Arizmendi cooperative bakery in Oakland, and vowed to learn how to make them. Fortunately, I learned that this scone is quite the popular one at Bay Area co-ops, and blogger Nicholas Day has already done the legwork to adapt a recipe from The Cheese Board in Berkeley. It is my duty to now share this wonderful pastry with you!

NOTE: This is not your normal scone recipe. You will not be able to form a flat circle and cut into wedges. This dough spreads and flattens as it bakes, so you will need to form round balls. I learned this the hard way!

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Corn Cherry Scones
Makes 14 small round scones

  • 250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 133g (⅔ cup) sugar
  • 195g (1½ cups) cornmeal (medium or fine grind — I use about a 40:60 (medium:fine) ratio)
  • 227g (1 cup or 2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • ¾ cup dried sweet cherries (tart works too)
  • 1 cup buttermilk (higher the fat the better)
  • Sanding sugar

1. Heat the oven to 425° F (this works better for a convection oven — if you don’t have one, heat to 375° F). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the salt, sugar, and cornmeal and mix together.

3. With a pastry cutter or a couple of butter knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of peas. Mix in the cherries, and then make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Mix briefly, just until the dough comes together; it should be stiff and still a little sticky. Let rest for 5 minutes.

4. Form the dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter and place them on the baking sheets a couple of inches apart. Brush with buttermilk, milk or cream and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Place in the oven and immediately turn down the temperature to 375° F (or keep at 375° F if that is what you pre-heated to). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the scones are golden. Cool on a wire rack.

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Happy Admin Day!

| Holidays

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It was my pleasure to make this cake for a friend who was throwing an Admin Professionals Day lunch party for his team at the VA Hospital. What a nice guy, and what a nice thought! With a taco bar for lunch, I decided to make a cake featuring dulce de leche, to go along with the cuisine. Inspired in part by this light dulce de leche chiffon cake by Williams Sonoma, and this much richer dulce de leche cake by Momofuku Milkbar, I created a cake with chiffon cake layers, homemade dulce de leche and spiced (cinnamon and cayenne) dark chocolate ganache filling, a cheesecake middle layer, and milk crumbs.

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I kept the decoration relatively simple, with Swiss meringue buttercream and more milk crumbs. I didn’t get a chance to eat the entire combination of flavors myself, but the bites I had here and there along the process from trimmings were yummy. Lots of fun creating this!

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