Sunday will be the one-year anniversary of Archestratus, Greenpoint’s very own cookbook shop/cafe/place of food-related treats and events at 160 Huron Street. Archestratus will be celebrating by having a day of comfort: they will be making and giving out spaghetti for free from 11am-6pm. Oh, and better yet: they’ll be playing spaghetti westerns (another source of comfort for owner Paige Lipari and her employees).
“It will be a day to say thank you to everyone who’s supported us this past year,” said Paige. “Sunday will be all about coziness and gratitude.”
Thumb Cookies' Rosemary Pecan & Apricot Pistachio Cookies
Especially with crafts like cooking and baking, our teachers are often those near and dear to us and the process takes us back to warm and happy days. Robyn Frank, Thumb Cookies‘ baker, who will be bringing delicious baked goods to our Valentine’s Market on Sunday, told us that her baking inspiration comes from the ladies in her life Continue reading →
Glugg? Gloog? Glerg? “Ö” is a difficult letter for me to pronounce, so when it comes to asking for this sweetly-spiced, Scandanavian mulled wine, I sometimes simplify my request to “I’ll have some of what’s simmering in that crockpot.” While spending the winter in Stockholm a few years ago, I regularly indulged in 3 pm glögg-fikas (glögg-themed coffee breaks), 5 pm jul-glöggs (glögg-themed Christmas parties?), after-work mugs-o’-glögg (i.e. happy hour)…and so on. It seemed that my Swedish friends were exceptionally good at coming up with reasons to drink glögg— reasons bound in traditions which were justified by statements like “Because. That’s just what we do.” Hard to argue with that when you can’t even pronounce an “ö” . And in the interest of keeping with tradition, you could always count on there being a plate of crispy, crunchy pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies) at the table to nibble on as you sipped your beverage. Let’s just say is was a gluttony of glögg. Continue reading →
Bakeri has been baking delicious small batch breads and dessertsin Brooklyn for over five years. Inside their bakery you will find amazing cookies, pastries, warm sandwiches, soups and great coffee. If you haven’t been to Bakeri yet, now is the time to come in and enjoy this friendly and authentic place where bread and baked goods are made daily with the utmost craftsmanship.
And now that the holiday season has begun, get your Thanksgiving Breads and Desserts made just for you by the ladies at Bakeri. Order by Sunday Nov. 24 to have your dessert by Wednesday after 4pm or Thursday before Noon. Enjoy classic Apple & Cherry Pies, Tarts, including a vegan version and my personal favorite, the Pumpkin Whoopie Pie with cream cheese and crystalized ginger filling!
Stuff your face at this gigantic bake sale and baking competition to raise money for City Reliquary, a not-for-profit community museum and civic organization located in Williamsburg.
Prizes will be awarded for Most Decadant Vegan, Best Sweet Slice, Best Booze-Infused…
There will also be live music and Henry O. Havemeyer will be there!
I’ve had this recipe for Rainbow Cookies on my fridge since last year and decided to make it. Working my first job as a counter girl at an Italian bakery in Queens and accepting collect calls from the grumpy bakery owner’s son, who was in jail for idiotic low-level racketeering, gave me have a distaste for Italian pastries, with the exception of a few things: Pignoli Cookies, Rainbow Cookies & Cannolis (but only the cannolis that the nuns from the San Carlo monastery on Erice, a medieval mountain town in Sicily make. God is in them.) The rest of the Italian pastries can burn in hell.
Rainbow Cookies are pretty pricey per pound and if you’re going to buy them around Brooklyn I would recommend Fortunata Brother’s on Manhattan & Devoe.
Making the rainbow cookies seemed pretty pricey, too. It didn’t help that I had to buy 3 half sheet pans at $15 a pop from The Brooklyn Kitchen, plus 4 tubes of Almond Paste at $8 a pop! I definitely came home grumpy.
“I should have just bought them at the bakery,” I said as I laid the ingredients on the counter. But the process and the end result were worth it, plus we got between 150-200 cookies out of it.
I cut the recipe out of New York Magazine from the chef of Torrisi Italian Specialties, a great Italian restaurants down on Mulberry, the walls lined with Manhattan Special: my favorite drink, espresso soda.
If you plan on making rainbow cookies, make sure you have an entire day off plus a partner with good hand-eye coordination. I am lacking in that area and Jon, who is mechanically inclined proved, to have amazing cake layering and chocolate spreading skills. Had I tried to take this endeavor solo, I assure you these cookies would not be so pretty.
When it comes down to it, “it’s a lot of work, Jane,” as Nonna, my Sicilian Grandma would say. There are many steps: beating the egg whites for stiff glossy peaks, splitting one batter into three for coloring, baking three cakes separately until just underdone so they stay moist, cooling the cakes then layering them using orange marmalade as glue, letting them set then spreading warm chocolate on the top and bottom. Start as early in the morning as you can.
While getting closer and closer to chocolatey soft almond cookie goodness, I was giddy. I remember saying, “this sure as hell beats last minute christmas shopping.” In fact, making these cookies is what the holidays are all about: slowing down, spending time with someone you love, making something you love, then giving to people you love.” These cookies put a truer smile on faces than anything you can unwrap and rip a price tag off of.
12 large eggs, separated
2 2/3 cups sugar
24 oz. almond paste
8 sticks butter, softened
5 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. red food coloring
2 tsp. green food coloring
16 oz. orange preserves, heated and strained
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 350. Beat egg whites in electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks. Add ½ cup sugar, beating until whites hold stiff, slightly glossy peaks, then refrigerate. Beat together almond paste and remaining sugar in mixer. Add butter gradually and beat until mixture is fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and beat until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour and salt and mix until just combined. Fold in egg whites. Divide batter equally among 3 bowls; wearing gloves,(1) whisk red food coloring into one and green into another, leaving the third batch plain. Spread each batter separately and evenly, about ¼-inch thick, onto 3 half-sheet pans, each greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake until just barely set, about 7 minutes. (2) When layers are cool, spread half the preserves onto the green layer. Invert plain layer over it and discard paper. Spread on remaining preserves, and invert red layer over it; discard paper. Wrap with plastic and top with a weighted baking pan. Refrigerate for several hours. Remove plastic and bring to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, and (3) spread thinly on top layer. Chill in freezer briefly until firm. Cover with wax paper, place another baking sheet on top, then invert cake onto sheet pan and remove paper. Quickly spread with remaining chocolate and return to freezer until firm. Trim edges, slice, and serve.
