Welcome to the first edition of Midweek Morsel, a thread to reach out and share more of our food lives.
Picture us all sitting around a communal table, each holding a glass of water or wine, lounging under a shady tree, with all the time in the world to share and listen and connect.
I want to hear from you this week about your favorite/go-to summer desserts. Please share!
Do you have no-bake desserts in your repertoire?
Do you just eat as much ice cream as possible?
If you read this week’s newsletter, I’m happy to report that I did make that trifle.
I do love ice cream!!! I'm too lazy and lack patience to bake much, particularly in the summer. I have 6 cake recipes that I know work perfectly with my GF flour - so besides the occasional cookies or muffins, that's about it! But....for Summer entertaining....I'm kinda the Queen of Affogato! It's probably one of the most simple things you can make - but people ooh and ahh over it and ask for seconds. I usually purchase a quality gelato - vanilla or chocolate or blood orange. I use my Moka Pot from Ikea on the stove, with Lavazza Italian espresso. It makes about 5 shots of espresso - and I make back to back portions, because they WILL want more. I use my mini scoop to place 3 small scoops of gelato in a pretty rice bowl from a set that I collected from Chinatown in LA on a business trip years ago. I give everyone their small cup of espresso (another vintage find from when I was a child - Continental airlines china coffee cups and saucers) and then walk around and sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top once poured before everyone digs in with big smiles on their faces. It's a little interactive and honestly people think it's magical - and I've literally put in minimal work! #score! Since I'm the #masterofdesserttricks , another one I keep up my sleeve is spiced orange slices with yogurt. Peel and slice orange across the supremes so it looks like a flower and add a squeeze of honey, pinch of Ceylon ground cinnamon and fresh ground black pepper along with the juice from the ends you cut off. Let them sit in the fridge overnight or 2 days. Serve it over some quality vanilla Greek Yogurt (which I mix in a touch of clover honey and some vanilla bean paste so you can see the flecks - and whip it with a whisk to get it flowing.) Serve in a small pretty bowl with the yogurt, then a few orange slices and a drizzle of honey or more yogurt drizzled on top. Just a small portion - for that touch of sweet. You can also add chopped toasted pistachios or your favorite nut for a little bit of crunch. People who don't like yogurt - told me up front, I don't eat yogurt, but I'll try a bite....and then they licked the bowl. It's the perfect sweet, tart, spice flavor to end a meal refreshingly. I love making fruit trays with fresh summer fruit and serving it with a cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, whipped cream dip - if I'm taking a dessert somewhere. It transports very easily and is usually well received when I arrange it colorfully in a large crystal shallow bowl I found thrifting years ago for $2 - you know...to fancy it up! It gets wows every time.
Ohhhhhh it is ice cream - just anywhere that has so many flavours I cannot decide - ultimately getting a double scoop (in a waffle cone) and eating ice cream until I explode.
Blackberry cobbler is our fave! Simple Strawberry shortcake made with pound cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream. S’more’s around the campfire. And yep touring the ice cream shops around town.
Made a zuccotto last weekend and really loved it. Zuccotto means 'little pumpkin' in Italian, because it looks like a pumpkin, made by lining an upside down bowl with plastic wrap, then pound cake slices, brushing with kahlua, brandy or creme de cacao, and filling with two whipped creams. The first layer -- around the inside was garnished with chopped toasted hazelnuts and almonds and chopped semi-sweet chocolate. Leave a hollow in the middle, to be filled with chocolate whipped cream mixed with the same garnishes. Top with more cake slices, seal with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Unmold by inverting the bowl on a platter, removing the bowl and plastic wrap and dusting with cocoa powder. It's cool and creamy. The recipe I used was from a Marcella Hazan cookbook. I have no photos, but if you google 'zuccotto cake' there are lots of photos and different recipes. // I also recommend making a summer pudding -- this fabulous British dessert is a delicious, fruity wow!
I remember making no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies with my mom as a kid but these days I mostly eat fresh fruit throughout the summer. I’ll occasionally make a crumble or something along those lines, but the seasonal fruit this time of year is so good that I feel like just the fruit itself is a treat!
Jul 22, 2022·edited Jul 22, 2022Liked by Kimberly Nichols
Summer is for no-bake desserts, fresh fruit and ice-cream. Baked fruit galettes and crumbles look absolutely incredible, but they're not part of our eating habits for the hotter months. I do turn on the oven for roasting eggplants, peppers and tomatoes, though!
We do eat a lot of ice cream in the summer! We like to go around finding creameries during our adventures and sample unique or seasonal flavors. Cinnamon is my favorite!
My favorite homemade dessert this year has been blueberry scones. I bake the recipe in a round cake pan and just slice them like cake. We went picking blueberries twice this season and I made it each time!
Midweek Morsel #1
I do love ice cream!!! I'm too lazy and lack patience to bake much, particularly in the summer. I have 6 cake recipes that I know work perfectly with my GF flour - so besides the occasional cookies or muffins, that's about it! But....for Summer entertaining....I'm kinda the Queen of Affogato! It's probably one of the most simple things you can make - but people ooh and ahh over it and ask for seconds. I usually purchase a quality gelato - vanilla or chocolate or blood orange. I use my Moka Pot from Ikea on the stove, with Lavazza Italian espresso. It makes about 5 shots of espresso - and I make back to back portions, because they WILL want more. I use my mini scoop to place 3 small scoops of gelato in a pretty rice bowl from a set that I collected from Chinatown in LA on a business trip years ago. I give everyone their small cup of espresso (another vintage find from when I was a child - Continental airlines china coffee cups and saucers) and then walk around and sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top once poured before everyone digs in with big smiles on their faces. It's a little interactive and honestly people think it's magical - and I've literally put in minimal work! #score! Since I'm the #masterofdesserttricks , another one I keep up my sleeve is spiced orange slices with yogurt. Peel and slice orange across the supremes so it looks like a flower and add a squeeze of honey, pinch of Ceylon ground cinnamon and fresh ground black pepper along with the juice from the ends you cut off. Let them sit in the fridge overnight or 2 days. Serve it over some quality vanilla Greek Yogurt (which I mix in a touch of clover honey and some vanilla bean paste so you can see the flecks - and whip it with a whisk to get it flowing.) Serve in a small pretty bowl with the yogurt, then a few orange slices and a drizzle of honey or more yogurt drizzled on top. Just a small portion - for that touch of sweet. You can also add chopped toasted pistachios or your favorite nut for a little bit of crunch. People who don't like yogurt - told me up front, I don't eat yogurt, but I'll try a bite....and then they licked the bowl. It's the perfect sweet, tart, spice flavor to end a meal refreshingly. I love making fruit trays with fresh summer fruit and serving it with a cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, whipped cream dip - if I'm taking a dessert somewhere. It transports very easily and is usually well received when I arrange it colorfully in a large crystal shallow bowl I found thrifting years ago for $2 - you know...to fancy it up! It gets wows every time.
Ohhhhhh it is ice cream - just anywhere that has so many flavours I cannot decide - ultimately getting a double scoop (in a waffle cone) and eating ice cream until I explode.
Blackberry cobbler is our fave! Simple Strawberry shortcake made with pound cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream. S’more’s around the campfire. And yep touring the ice cream shops around town.
Made a zuccotto last weekend and really loved it. Zuccotto means 'little pumpkin' in Italian, because it looks like a pumpkin, made by lining an upside down bowl with plastic wrap, then pound cake slices, brushing with kahlua, brandy or creme de cacao, and filling with two whipped creams. The first layer -- around the inside was garnished with chopped toasted hazelnuts and almonds and chopped semi-sweet chocolate. Leave a hollow in the middle, to be filled with chocolate whipped cream mixed with the same garnishes. Top with more cake slices, seal with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Unmold by inverting the bowl on a platter, removing the bowl and plastic wrap and dusting with cocoa powder. It's cool and creamy. The recipe I used was from a Marcella Hazan cookbook. I have no photos, but if you google 'zuccotto cake' there are lots of photos and different recipes. // I also recommend making a summer pudding -- this fabulous British dessert is a delicious, fruity wow!
I remember making no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies with my mom as a kid but these days I mostly eat fresh fruit throughout the summer. I’ll occasionally make a crumble or something along those lines, but the seasonal fruit this time of year is so good that I feel like just the fruit itself is a treat!
Summer is for no-bake desserts, fresh fruit and ice-cream. Baked fruit galettes and crumbles look absolutely incredible, but they're not part of our eating habits for the hotter months. I do turn on the oven for roasting eggplants, peppers and tomatoes, though!
So far I have only made a peach, apricot and mulberry crisp. I am usually too busy eating fruit out of hand to do anything to it.
We do eat a lot of ice cream in the summer! We like to go around finding creameries during our adventures and sample unique or seasonal flavors. Cinnamon is my favorite!
My favorite homemade dessert this year has been blueberry scones. I bake the recipe in a round cake pan and just slice them like cake. We went picking blueberries twice this season and I made it each time!
Yum!
I do love ice cream but rainbow sorbet is so refreshing! Tart, like me! Heehee 😉