Joy Wilson's Blog, page 77

22 of the Best Gifts For Bakers!

This time of year I get all sorts of questions, usually from really thoughtful significant others eager to buy their baker-loves the best baking present they can for the holidays.  It’s so sweet and thoughtful and I can’t help but think that it’s also motivated by their desire for cakes and cookies and the smell of fresh bread in their house.  If you’re dating a baker… it’s definitely a hobby you want to encourage with gifts.  

Here are a few of the items I treasure in my kitchen everyday, but especially on baking days.  I hope this list inspires some generous gifting to the baker in your life.  Ya get what ya give, ya know?  I’m mostly talking about cookies, so… 

BOOKS and things:  some of the books and magazines I reach for most often in my kitchen these days.  I find all of these books to be great technical and creative recourses for the home baker. 

•  Fearless Baker by Erin McDowell – traditional technique and a pep-talk with just about every solid recipe.  It’s a book every baker should have on their shelf. 

•  Layered by Tessa Huff – a beautiful and creative cake book with flavors and frostings I always find myself looking back to. 

•  Sweet Laurel Bakery by Laurel Gallucci and Claire Thomas – a grain free book that uses simple ingredients and techniques.  This book also contains my absolute favorite Snickerdoodle Cookie recipe and is worthwhile for that recipe alone! 

•  Sister Pie Cookbook by Lisa Ludwinski – I talk about this book a lot because the pies are so unique (but still live in the land of comfort), the crust technique is gold, and there’s a whole section about handpies and cookies that are both tremendous! 

•  Food52 Genius Desserts by Kristen Miglore – a compilation recipe book with the best of the best recipes from the best of the best bakers and pastry chefs! 

•  A subscription to Cherry Bombe Magazine : beautiful and important stories of women in food.

Continue reading 22 of the Best Gifts For Bakers! at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 198!

Hello sweet friends! 

Wow wow wow – it’s one of the best weekends of the year.  The days feel long and the fridge feels like it will always always be full of turkey. I hope you had a memorable Thanksgiving.  Memorable in the way that you laughed so hard it hurt and someone helped you with the dishes.  I’m taking time this weekend: with friends, on long drives, at home putting up my Christmas tree.  There’s a calm in this weekend as we stretch towards the last month of the year and I’m savoring it!  I hope you have too.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 198! at Joy the Baker.

Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie – 2 New Ways!

I made the season’s first Sweet Potato Pie this past weekend and got tears in my eyes.  That’s a true fact.  Some things just always taste the same and always taste right.

If you’ve been around this humble corner of the internet for long enough, you know that my Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie is near and dear to my heart – meaning that at least a third of my heart is actually made up of this pie.  It’s our family recipe and a major part of our holiday traditions, but beyond that – it’s just a solid gold recipe.

Continue reading Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie – 2 New Ways! at Joy the Baker.

Southern Panzanella Salad

The word is ‘bread salad’.  Inclusive of greens and such.  Present with many a chunk of bread – of any sort – in this case CORNBREAD.  

This dish is somewhere between a cold salad and a warm side.  It’s rare that I crave a lettuce-y  salad this time of year.  If it’s not roasted in some form… let’s just not.  I’ve found that this warm-ish salad meets all of my chilly weather needs with the added bonus of  an aggressive amount of toasted cornbread.

Continue reading Southern Panzanella Salad at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 197!

Hello sweet friends. I’m glad it’s Sunday. I’m glad you’re here.  Today I’m teaching a Sweet Potato Pie workshop at The Bakehouse.  It’s my favorite time of my year and my favorite kind of pie so it’s going to be a pretty sweet day.  I hope it feels that way for you too.  

This weekend I’ve also learned the wonders of the Falafel Waffle, a recipe in the book Food Wine.  Andrea and Dana stopped by The Bakehouse yesterday to make brunch for a bunch of us.  Overall – it’s a full weekend of gathering and connection. 

Gathering and connection are the spirit of this time of year.  Let’s remember.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 197! at Joy the Baker.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Step one:  clean the refrigerator.  Wow… truly a strong place to start.  

(We’re mentally starting our lists for Thanksgiving, right?  I’m in the business of making brain-space, fridge-space, counter-space, belly-space, and entertaining-space for this holiday and it all starts in the mind and in the fridge.)  

Again.  Step one:  clean the refrigerator.  

Step two, order the turkey or order the protein or figure out which giant gourd you’re going to roast and enjoy in place of a bird.  Step three is something else important.  Step four involves cleaning the guest bathroom and finding a nice candle for that space.  Step five might be name cards.  Step six might be assigning mac and cheese to the right person.  Step seven (though it should be step two) is assigning pie duty to the right pie-knowing people.  

The one thing, make it’s number eleven or twelve down the list, is to root through your spice cabinet and take out all of the warming holiday spices that might make up a Pumpkin Pie Spice.  There’s no need to buy a jar of the labeled stuff from the store – I surely bet you have what you need to make it.  

Let’s see about it!  

Pumpkin Pie spice is a mixture of lots of autumnal warming spices.  Things like ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg.  

Cinnamon is the base.  Cinnamon is the root spice.  

Nutmeg is another important factor in pumpkin pie spice.  

I sing the praises of freshly grated nutmeg seed.  The seed and a microplane are all you need to unravel the most delicate fragrant spice.  Don’t settle for the pre-ground stuff.  

I also add a dash of mace to pumpkin pie spice.  Spicy and warm – mace comes from the seed covering of the nutmeg.  

Ginger is important for a bit of back-throat spiciness.  A dash of clove – not too much but just enough to keep everything warm.  Allspice for base balance.  Cardamom for brightness.  

Here’s a few fine things you might consider whipping up with your newly made spice.  

Tis the season!

Continue reading Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice at Joy the Baker.

Holiday Host Gift Guide, 2018!

Gift-giving is my love language and I’m jumping into this holiday season with both feet.  Gift-giving comes in all shapes and sizes this season.  It might be a little homemade treat you bring to the host of holiday dinner, it might be a sweetly fragranced candle, or a box of decadent chocolate.  Some of my favorite gifts are the ones that last for months to come in a thoughtful subscription so there’s a surprise in the mailbox every few months!

Continue reading Holiday Host Gift Guide, 2018! at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday, 196!

Hello dear friends!

How are we?  It’s been a full week.  Has it just been a week?  I feel like we’ve carried enough for at least a few.  This week I went to Memphis for the Saveur Blog Awards, for the ribs, for the MLK National Civil Rights Museum.  My flight back to New Orleans got wonky so I rented a car and drove myself back home from Memphis.  I like to keep it moving, and everything about this week called for a good long car-think while driving.  

I hope you’re staying steady this week.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 196! at Joy the Baker.

Vegan Carrot and Zucchini Harvest Muffins

I’ve been thinking a lot about harvesting.  It might have something to do with the fact that I’ve had a tragically underused backyard for the last two years.  The word tragic is dramatic, but.. just let me have that one.  

My backyard hosts a fig tree that really is doing is best but feels mostly confused by New Orleans weather, and a satsuma tree that I nurture through the rainiest, steamiest summers.  Every Autumn I step into the backyard hopeful, as if despite my lack of planting, there might be a carrot in the ground, a patch of zucchini, or a sack of potatoes.  Nope.  And off to Whole Foods.  And off to the farmer’s market.  And back to the garden drawing board for next spring.  

These muffins, vegan in fact, give me all the vibes of  a fall bounty, without the actual gardening.  They’re tender little cakes, super easy to assemble and substitute, and I would very much like for you to make them, take them into your heart, and also consider some garden life along with me.  

These vegan muffins are one-bowl / super-simple / decidedly moist / really-truly delicious.  

We’ll start with oil.  I used vegetable oil though if you like the more bold flavor of olive oil – now is a great time to go for it! 

To the oil we’ll add a Flax Egg – ground flax seeds (all of the good fats plus a bit of binding!) and water.  The moisture will activate a lightly gelatinous quality to the flax seeds which is exactly what we need.  

We’ll also add a dash of apple cider vinegar to add an acidic quality which will help activate the baking soda. 

Every ingredient adds a touch of science. 

Instead of milk we’re adding apple sauce.  Moisture and a touch of sweetness, too. 

Whisk until the wet ingredients are well combined and the flax seed flecks are suspended in the mixture.  

We’ll add sugar to the wet ingredients – two kinds:  granulated sugar and brown sugar.

Continue reading Vegan Carrot and Zucchini Harvest Muffins at Joy the Baker.

Peanut Butter Cream Pie with Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips

Are you ready to make your sweet and salty dreams come to life?  All in one pie? With peanut butter and chips?  

The answer is a resounding YES, I can hear you yelling from here! 

We’re making a barely-baked, chilled refrigerator pie that’s the fluffiest sweetened peanut butter topped with lightly whipped cream and an audacious amount of dark chocolate dipped salted Kettle Brand Potato Chips.  The combination is literally what my dreams are made of.  

Here’s the thing about this pie, it hits all the marks: crunchy, salty, sweet, creamy, fluffy, and gosh it bears repeating: it’s TOPPED WITH CHOCOLATE COVERED POTATO CHIPS.

Continue reading Peanut Butter Cream Pie with Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips at Joy the Baker.