"They're hella good – double cranberry – write that": (Double) Cranberry Orange Buns for my Husband

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Friends! It is I, Anne, here for my annual Linzers post!

Yeah...I can't really believe I've only posted three times in the past three years...I'm sorry. The truth is, I've been all over the place, literally and figuratively: in 2017 I moved to Washington with my fiancé, was desperately lonely and unemployed for a few months, then started working at David's Bridal – at least up here, the brides were pretty great on the whole – and as the year turned I was exhausted all the time and really too poor to bake much and too uninspired to write much of anything. Then I got what I thought would be a great job – a writing job! – in May 2018, and the six months that I worked there were a blur of hideous overworkedness and even more exhaustion (and even less writing), combined with wedding planning and accompanying family drama.

In September we had our wedding – there's a pic below, because I can't resist – and I baked a boatload of cookies but didn't have the wherewithal to post. That said, I made three recipes and all were loved by the guests, so here they are: snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, and the surprise favorite, oatmeal raisin.

After the wedding, we had two weeks to pack before moving into the house we closed on four days before the wedding, and two weeks after the move we went to London to celebrate our marriage with friends there – see? I told you things have been nutso! Here's a pic from that trip, when we took the Overground in our wedding finery:

Then, two weeks after we got back from London, I went down to SF for a week for my nephew's bar mitzvah and my friend's baby shower. So it wasn't until mid-November that I had a moment to breathe and bake, and honestly with the exception of pumpkin pie I didn't have the energy to do much besides loaf (pun not intended, but definitely enjoyed) on the couch and watch Netflix between bursts of unpacking/painting/cleaning/home improvement.

But surely, if nothing else, Christmas calls for setting aside life upkeep for a minute and forcing some cheer into the everyday – as an example here's a bonus pic of our repainted mantle covered in holiday nonsense:

And in the name of said holiday cheer, I determined to bake something special for my husband (it still startles me that I actually have a husband). Now, this is a man who enjoys baked goods but will never, ever, choose room for dessert over more bites of meat – really, he'd rather have salt and vinegar chips/crisps than chocolate any day – which can be challenging for me, as a sweet tooth who relies on her partner to share in the enjoyment of/save her from indulgences. He does an admirable job, though, so this time around I really wanted to make something he would get genuinely excited about; as usual, Smitten Kitchen came through for me.

If he's not going to be eating something sour or savory, my husband will veer immediately toward the tart (no comment on my chastity, please), so when I saw these cranberry orange buns I knew he'd love them. To further tweak them in favor of his preferences, I doubled the cranberries (don't do this – while it was delicious, it caused a lot of extra juice, which led to the extra step of pouring it out and I think also made them take longer to cook) and halved the icing (I do recommend this, if you're not into super sweet stuff).

Anyway, as you probably gleaned from the title of this post, my husband loved the buns (again, no comment) – he even insisted on keeping all 12 for our household, instead of letting me give some away to neighbors! The highest of praise.

(Double) Cranberry-Orange (Breakfast) Buns
   from SK

AHP Note: Deb's recipe calls for the second rise to be in the fridge overnight. That sounded perfect when my husband and I were planning to drive to California on Thursday morning. But when we learned he would have to work Thursday we pushed our early nuclear-family Christmas celebration up by 12 hours and there went my overnight rise. I recommend following the original instructions, since I'm certainly no yeasted-dough expert and I'm not at all sure my buns wouldn't have been much tenderer given a slower second rise, but if you do find yourself pressed for time it worked for me to let them rise on the counter for about 90 minutes before baking.

Make your dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer (if you don't have a stand mixer, check the SK link for detailed instructions), combine:
     4 large egg yolks
     1 large whole egg
     1/4c (50g) granulated sugar
     6 Tbsp (85g) melted butter
     3/4c (175 ml) buttermilk
     3/4 of the finely grated zest of 1 orange (reserving the last 1/4 for the filling)

Add, stirring until evenly moistened:
     2c all-purpose flour
     1 packet (7g or 2 1/4 teaspoons) instant dry yeast (AKA Bread Machine or Rapid Rise yeast)
     1 1/4+ tsp coarse or kosher salt, to taste

Switch to dough hook and work in:
     3/4 c flour

Knead the mixture on low for 5 to 7 minutes, until dough is soft and moist but not sticky, then scrape dough onto the clean counter or a plate while you oil the mixer bowl – put dough back into bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temp until doubled – 2-2.5 hours.

When your dough has risen, make the filling. Melt and set aside:
     1 1/2 Tbsp (20g) butter


In a food processor or with a large, sharp knife, dice into 'coarse rubble' (Deb's exact words):
     1c (115g) fresh cranberries

Butter a 9x13 ceramic or glass baking dish and turn your dough out onto a clean, floured counter or large cutting board (if your counter is never clean enough, like mine). Do your best to roll it into an 18x12 rectangle (evidence of my consistent failure to roll out neat edges or tidy my work space is below) – the long side should be nearest to you. 

Brush the dough with your melted butter, then sprinkle on:
     1c (190g) packed light brown sugar

Add your cranberry rubble and the last of your orange zest.

Roll the dough tightly along the shorter edge, resulting in an 18"-long spiral log. Cut with a very sharp, serrated knife into 1 1/2-inch wide discs. Place the buns (there should be 12, but I got 13) in the prepared baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight (up to 16 hours).

Bake the buns. Allow buns to warm up to room temp for 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350F/175C. Bake until the buns are puffed and golden and a thermometer inserted into the dough reads 190F (for me, this meant the corner/edge buns were a little dry – but again that's probably down to the additional moisture from cranberry overload).

When buns are cooked, place pan on cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Then whisk together and pour over the top (again, I halved these measurements):
     3 1/2 Tbsp (55 ml) strained orange juice
     2c (240g) powdered sugar

Serve and enjoy!

We Cooked Seafood By the Seashore – Sicilian Mussels and Rolled Sardines in Sicily

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When we were planning our epic European summer trip, my boyfriend and I chose to stay mostly in apartments – we did this partly because it was cheaper than staying in hotels and more private than staying in hostels (which we did in Naples, and that was a weird flashback to my twenties), but only partly.  The other reason we chose apartment living was, as ever, food-related: we wanted to be able to cook, ideally making use of local ingredients we wouldn't have access to at home.

So, given that information, you might be surprised to learn that we didn't cook in our own place once for the entire trip – not in Berlin, or Bologna (where we did cook in someone else's home), or Rome, or any of the other cities where we had access to our own kitchen.  Oh, sure, we made coffee, and ate cheeses and meats which we bought at markets and grocery stores, and drank wine...but we didn't actually cook a meal.

Cocktails or Cake – Why Not Both? Limoncello Birthday Cake with Campari Frosting

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Remember when I made that adorable ha-cake for my friend's half birthday?  Well, luckily for me, despite generally preferring savory to sweet, K does love a good celebration cake, so when her full birthday rolled around this year she requested a cake that incorporated one of her favorite things: booze.  Specifically, Campari, which she fell in love with during a trip to Italy a couple years ago and which has been so well-loved as to have spawned its own hashtag.

Even better than suggesting (I won't go so far as to say demanding) a specific cake for her birthday, K suggested we bake it together, at my parents' house in the Napa Valley.  K is a food blogger too, although she focuses more on savory dishes and wine pairings, and while we've cooked together (we lived together for a while and we made some delicious dinners) we've never baked.  Plus, since she moved to Napa last year we get far too little bonding time, and this sounded like an excellent way to get some 'us' time (plus our assistant, but he's good at respecting our girl time).

So without further ado, to the cake-baking!  Of course, we started with booze: Negronis (a classic Campari drink), natch, mixed by our handsome assistant (to whom also goes credit for all the photos herein and on Flickr).

Work/Life Balance and Lemon Sugar Cookies

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Life has been manic lately.  I know every third post for the last two years has probably started that way, but this time it's really true (or maybe life just gets more and more manic as we get older, and manic takes on a whole new meaning every year??  Oh god, I hope not...).  Anyway, work has gotten increasingly more intense, and as of next week I'm going to be working in the office every day (as opposed to my current schedule of half-in, half-out), and things with the book are heating up too – the relevance of all these facts to you lovely sweet-toothed readers is that posting may be a bit sparse in the coming months.  I'll definitely do my best, as this little corner of the internets is one of my favorite places to spend that in-between time (not quite free, as in time to stuff my face and watch Downton Abbey, but not quite work, as in bust my butt and get paid a little bit for it), but these days I have little time to bake, and even littler daytime to photograph.

Nonetheless, we all know I'm not going to stop baking altogether, and between my usual stress-baking tendencies and the fact that we're doing our own Thanksgiving over here this year, there should still be plenty of fodder for posts.  But you may have to forgive me if I'm not super creative; when I'm stressed and pressed for time, all I want to do is throw together something I'm pretty sure will taste good.

And that was the plan with these cookies.  Lemon + sugar + butter = obvious choice.

A Tart and Tasty Birthday Treat: Lemon Cream Cupcakes

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It was my mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and since I was in town for it for once (had you guessed that the past 6 weeks of radio silence had something to do with me reveling in the delights of the Great Bay Area?), I wanted to make her a little treat.  Of course, my mom being the healthy lady that she is, I knew nothing rich or heavy would be up her alley, which made for a slightly tricky situation when, without thinking, I suggested that my nephew and I should make and decorate cupcakes together...  My mom is so not into buttercream, or cake, really – she prefers fruit tarts and crisps and maybe the odd cookie (just one).

Still, I figured there was one way I could still have bonding time with my nephew (who's nearly 7, and a boy, and not so into grown-up baking like tarts) and serve my mom a dessert for her birthday that she'd actually enjoy: when in doubt, make it citrus.  My mom, like me, loves anything lemon.  And when I found a recipe, it came with an accompanying recipe for a whipped-cream-based frosting, which I figured would be much lighter than a buttercream, not to mention easier.

Going Native: Lemon Drizzle Cake

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There are some very American things I will never give up, no matter how long I live in England – peanut butter, Trader Joe's chocolate, and Peet's coffee, among others – but recently I've been forced to admit that, despite my best efforts, some English traditions have gotten under my skin.  For example, the BF and I spent the Jubilee weekend in Devon with his family, and after a long, cold, rainy wander through one of the nearby towns (gotta love that British summer), I crouched through the door of the little thatched cottage where we were staying and headed straight for the kettle, mumbling incoherently about how badly I needed a cup of tea.  Then, this morning, the BF made coffee in our stovetop espresso pot and I had one cup, relishing the flavor of Bay Area-roasted beans, and then made another cup of tea.  Yup, I'm totally addicted to a good old English brew.

I also use words like 'bin', 'lift', and 'post', and never ask where the bathroom is in a restaurant anymore, preferring the colloquial 'loo' (less graphic somehow than asking for the toilet!).  But if there's one area of life in which I staunchly support America's superiority, it's the kitchen.  Not that I can't appreciate a good Sunday roast or a nice slice of banoffi pie, but given the choice I'd always rather stick with a US favorite, like lasagne or pumpkin pie or brownies or banana bread... the list goes on. 

An Offering: Lemon Ricotta Muffins

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I come to you, much like a suburban neighbor, with an offering.  A basket of muffins (or a cyber-basket, really), handed sheepishly over the doorstep in the feeble hope that my neglect will go unnoticed in a rush of fluffy and crunchy textures and bright citrus and sweet almond flavors.  Trust me, one bite of these muffins and you won't even remember that I haven't posted in over a week (there are plenty of excuses, but for now let's just focus on the muffins).

Travel, Family, and Meyer Lemons – Does It Get Any Better?

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Look at that.  Just...look at that.

Now do you understand why I checked out for so long while I was gone?  I know, I know, there are bloggers far better than I, who schedule posts to go up while they're away – there are even some bloggers, like the Energizer Bunny Pioneer Woman, who write and post while on vacation!  Alas, I am not one of these bloggers.  I am weak, and as much as I may know I should write a post while I'm home in SF, I cannot resist the temptation of an offer to walk along Crissy Field instead.

However, I am not entirely useless – I also cannot resist an opportunity to bake, and the overflowing bowls and bags of Meyer lemons in my mother's house were just that.  Her trees in Napa were heavy with fruit, and she was running out of ideas for what to do with it.  So I bring home for you: Meyer Lemon Quickbread (and some bad phone pics, sorry).

Buon Natale di Roma!

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Ciao, tutti!  I'm on a much-needed vacation in Rome right now, but I couldn't neglect the blog during the bakingest season of the year, so I'm leaving you with this recipe for fabulously easy, majorly impressive homemade biscotti.

I made these guys for a dinner party back in early November (more on that to come, as it was my first time doing a full-on dinner for a vegetarian-inclusive crowd), and everyone was so surprised to hear that I'd baked them from scratch.  I just brushed off the oohs and aahs with a shrug: no biggie.

Stodgy Summer in a Bowl

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The New York Times is a great recipe resource.  I forget that sometimes, and then one day, in my 'Recommended For You' sidebar, up will pop a link to a recipe, and I'll just happen to have the ingredients on hand, and I'll be struck with a desire to try that recipe then and there.

And boy, am I glad I decided to try this leek and lemon chicken soup.  It's so good, and so...unexpected.  Fresh and bright, creamy but without any cream, and super healthy to boot!  It was delicious.  I was seriously really proud of myself.

Last-Minute Dessert, Anyone?

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What do you do when you've invited a friend over for lunch, but you forget to plan a menu?  Well, soup is always a good start... especially if it's this delicious pozole:

Other good things to have: an organic grocery store within ten minutes' walk of your flat, which, if you're lucky, will have fresh wheat bread on sale; a head of organic lettuce from your weekly veg box; the most amazing salad dressing in the world, imported from the good old US of A; and Greek yogurt.  For making a lemon yogurt cake!  Oh, and a nice servant boy is always good to have on hand as well.

Pretty in Pink: Thomas Keller's Gorgeous Grapefruit Cake

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Sometimes it's nice to try something new.  I mean, I love me my lemon bars and  cakes and cookies, every now and again I read a recipe for something kind of out there and think 'hells yes, this must be made immediately.

And that was exactly the response I had when I read the recipe for grapefruit cake in Ad Hoc at Home.  Now, granted, pretty damn near everything in that book sounds delicious– I think I've spent more time drooling over it than the bf has, and it was his Xmas gift from me!– but this one definitely caught my eye.  Because, really?  Grapefruit?  In a cake?

Um, yes.  Really.   Ooooooh yes really.

Forced to bake with buttermilk!

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Sometimes, at our lovely new(ish) flat, we like to host dinner parties.  And sometimes those dinner parties become a bigger production than is absolutely necessary. 

Little Lemon Drops of Heaven

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I love the internet.  I never really got into 'surfing' the net until I moved to London and started trying to find new ways to keep from writing my book, but now that I'm into it, I spend most of my time hating myself for spending my life online instead of outdoors.  Except.  Except when a startup headhunter finds my old coffeehouse review page and contacts me.  Except when my old babysitter who I haven't seen since I was 10 reconnects with me on facebook.  Except when I stumble across an amazing recipe for Lemon Drop Cookies.  Have I mentioned that I love the internet?

Who's a gal got to kiss around here to get a little SUCCESS?!

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Yes, technically this is a spoiler: I did finally succeed.  But it's the journey, not the destination, that matters.

Yeesh, this week has been rough.  I planned on making caramels for the boyfriend's families, and you all know how that went down.  Then I decided on toffee, which I was promised could be "super easy," and lemon bars, which I've made a few times and had few problems with (jest you wait, 'enry 'iggins).  Now it's the day before my birthday, and we're leaving for the States in 3 days, and today was my last chance to get the gifts to the bf's dad, so things have been escalating for a while.  And the end result is that I'm exhausted, so I'll let the photos and captions speak for themselves.

It's a long-un, so just jump to continue.