retrolillies – Page 3 – seasonal eats + sweet treats

June 14, 2018

Peach, Goat Cheese and Mint Crostini

When I worked in the bakery, I started off on the pastry station. I lasted around one month before I switched to bread. Pastry, it turned out, was awfully repetitive, much too boring for me. While I loved baking scones and weaving lattices at home, that love simply didn’t translate to large-scale baking. Bread baking, […]
June 4, 2018

Snap Pea, Radish and Orchid Salad

One of the things I love about this season is how easy it is to throw together a great salad. I know, I know; you thought I’d say something about berries and pies. Well, surprise! I like vegetables too! In fact, I can’t get enough of them. Come spring, I toss peas into pasta, roast […]
May 30, 2018

Pretzel Challah Dogs

Here’s a list of things I don’t understand: math. Drake’s latest rap beef. Hot dogs. Here’s a list of things I DO understand: Challah. Pretzels. Sausages. The big three. The holy trinity! Today, we’re combining all three of those things to make Pretzel Challah Dogs. Get ready, because you know what happens when you combine […]
May 16, 2018

Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake Bars

I like cheesecake bars. They’ve got all the creamy-ness of a big round cheesecake, but require less effort. They serve a crowd. They’re lowkey, but they don’t look it. So! Let’s talk about these! These cheesecake bars came about on a whim. I wanted to make coffee cheesecake but I didn’t want to make a big […]
May 13, 2018

Salted Chocolate Rye and Vanilla Bean Olive Oil Ice Cream Sandwiches

Ice cream wars! Who else had them as a kid? Chocolate or vanilla! Strawberry or chocolate, vanilla or both?! I always chose chocolate, and I got a fair amount of flack for it. But vanilla never held a candle to chocolate for me. It was boring, tasteless and way too basic. I’m still not much […]
May 10, 2018

Spelt and Pistachio Rhubarb Cake

My mom begs me to stop baking. “Please Chaya, no more cake!” she pleads, as I pull another one from the oven. And I have to admit, I understand where she is coming from. The cake in question, topped with shiny, lacquered chunks of rhubarb, smelling deeply of orange and vanilla, is one in a […]
May 6, 2018

Everything Bagel Feta and Spinach Bourekas

When I was a kid, cinnamon raisin bagels were my bagel of choice. A friend introduced me to the flavor as we were picking up lunch on the way to school one morning and it totally blew my mind. Add a thick schmear of cream cheese, she told me, and you’re golden. I loved the […]
April 29, 2018

Strawberry Sour Cream Rugelach

Hi everyone! How are you all enjoying this Spring weather? The weather and the flowers make me giddy every year, but I also love that the advent of Spring means Shavuot is right around the corner. In honor of Shavuot, I made these beautiful little rugelach for The Nosher. Rugelach are a classic Jewish pastry, made […]
April 25, 2018

Berries and Cream Sponge Layer Cake

A cake takes a lot out of me. It requires planning ahead: the softening of butter, the warming of eggs, the buying of ingredients. Often, I realize I am low on sugar, or an egg too short, once I have already started the mixer. Somehow, I always manage to dirty every utensil in the kitchen. […]
April 13, 2018

Strawberry Brioches with Orange Almond Cream

It’s Spring! Well, not really. There’s not a flower in sight, and the trees are as bare as ever. But it’s starting. Slowly. I’ve begun to hear the faint chirping of birds again, music to my ears, and one morning when I stepped out, it was misty and cool and it felt like Spring was […]