You know you've exited the hopefulness of youth when you get the eyelash out of your eye and you just wipe it on your pants, no consideration of a wish.
youth
jan 26
I cried this morning, sitting in the same spot I was that morning,
it's been one full year
We tapped our phones like zombies all day, jumping from story to story, choking back the tears and disbelief, thinking about Vanessa
the grayest of gray in LA, the clouds were so thick outside. the same awful clouds. I cursed them. sludgy and frantic, This day. We broke our dry January that night and I cried through the egg rolls.
It's been a year and I still have yet to address it personally. It's hard for me to explain everything Kobe was for me. The best I can do is remember it all.
-=-=-=-=-
1996, I was 8 when Kobe started playing in the NBA. This means I was in 3rd grade still singing Bananas in Pajamas (are coming down the stairs!)
Juliette and I would watch Laker games standing in front of the tv. We'd pick the noses of the other team and flick them (smudge central on the face of that 2 ft deep television) and we'd scream for Kobe. he moved like Spiderman and I was in love.
1999 Phil Jackson became the coach, Kobe and Shaq, it was soon to become my everything.
2000 2001 2002. it was so exciting. I felt like a part of it.
I spent a large chunk of these youth years sitting 5 feet from the tv screen by myself in the living room, eating Kids Cuisine dinners, zoned IN to those games
I had a knack for attaching my sense of self to things outside myself. My disabled sister stood out everywhere, everyone knew her and everyone loved knowing her. My sense of personal identity was heavily tied to being her sister.
The Lakers were my team. and they were amazing year after year, so fun to watch, so reliable. I was proud that they were mine. Proud that we'd become so tight, the team and me.
When they won, we had won! It would then be a great night
When they lost, I'd go cold. as if I had lost something in my own life
Early 2000s. Middle school and High school, I was obsessive and emotional.
I’d write the schedule of games in my planner. I'd read the sports section in the newspaper the next morning, I'd memorize stats. I formed little mental relationships with the players.
I was so attached.
2003 Colorado. I was so upset/sad/mad/confused. I became engrossed in the case.
I was so angry at him. How could he do this to himself!? to Us?! He ruined it
I would continue to support my team. Kobe and I would take it one day at a time. It would take time to move forward.
2005. Junior year of High School. I didn't love school. Always an outlier type, that's where I was comfortable. I had a couple close friends, but in general felt terrible at connecting with people. Every day was another day to get through.
Joe and I exchanged our first words this year: "I have that shirt."
He was walking past my desk in AP Bio and was wearing a Cheeseburger in Paradise t-shirt. He responded, saying something about Hawaii, we looked at each other for the first real time and he smiled the most engaging nice smile and part of me melted.
He had a girlfriend.
I went to prom with one of his best friends.
2006. Senior year of high school. Joe comes out of nowhere. I'd later find out that he began to crush on me the previous year before we ever spoke, when he saw that I had the Laker game schedule written out in my planner. We'd hang out for the first time at Coffee Bean the night before Thanksgiving. It was instantly right, a "holy shit, I am going to be with this person now" kind of knowing. There was a lot of smiling, I was completely at ease with him.
Nothing so good has ever landed in my lap quite like that.
He invited me to a Laker game on our 2rd date and I met his parents. At this point in my life, I had been to 2 Laker games. His parents had season tickets. I couldn't believe this was happening.
I was in heaven.
it was the best year of my life. I felt fun and weird and wanted, secure for the first time.
2007-2010. the Laker love affair continues through our college years. Kobe was insane. the shedding of skin. the focus, the precision, the heroics, the face. we'd watch as many games as we could get on the east coast
2010. we've just graduated college and moved back to LA.
with an absurd twist of fate, we get tickets to Game 7 of the NBA Finals Lakers vs Celtics. It was one of the greatest days of life, We lost our goddamn minds
-=-=-=-
Years later when Kobe retired, my personal investment in basketball retired too. I had little interest in continuing to dedicate so much time to watching and following a team
It really was all because of Kobe for me.
20 years of his life, growth. drive. A force of nature
20 years of our lives, of being a constant in our homes and our memories. through our own growth.
20 years on one team, in one city.
Signed off with a poem and 60 points. his daughters cheering in the corner seats
It was all so special
house
This is the house i grew up in.
1990 Manhattan beach, CA my parents buy this shingly 1940s house on a culdesac street right up from the beach.
They were 38/39 years old. My mom had me at 36. Blair was born 2 ½ years later.
Due to a large fuck up when my mom was in labor, Blair’s brain was damaged from lack of oxygen and she came out with a whole lotta cerebral palsy.
i never felt proud to live in the house, it wasn’t a big nice house. It wasn’t a shithole, it was meh.
Behind the nice orderly living room, it was random, disheveled. piles of paperwork/mail/magazines. bulky wheelchair equipment everywhere. It always felt unfinished, an incomplete home.
After i moved back home after college, into my bare, former room space, I never decorated it. It felt pointless, makeup on a troll. I didn’t like anything about it, why try to make it look nicer, or worse- my own. No, I did not want this to be mine.
Besides, I was going to get my own place eventually.
we had become a family of isolationists, living together, existing in loneliness next to each other.
Everyone's shells so strong.
robotic tense purposeless interactions.
it felt darker than I remembered.
[I now see that]
My continuing to live there was like dropping myself into a bowl of
(thicc)
depression syrup, and every day not rescuing myself. letting myself flail around til I lost enough steam that I didn’t care about anything, let alone pulling myself out.
What a damn bowl, my special weird home bowl, extra slippery sides.
The other night I stopped over there to pick up my dog. It was the perfect time of eve, just past sunset pre-darkness, when you can really feel the ocean in the air. I was putting stuff in my car about to leave, and I stopped to look back at the house
And I loved the way it looked. Character and age, one of the last old beach houses that remain untouched. The red door has been there from the beginning, my dad built the deck when i was 6ish. I like how the shingles look now that the paint has worn off, it used to be dark gray.
My mom says the reason the house is still standing is because all the termites are holding hands.
It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve lived there.
[I now see that]
I had to step away from it to notice its value, to realize that there are things i actually like about it.
If only they’d let me help with the inside.
gather round, it's story time
one time, like 4-5 years ago I applied for a job at Hedley & Bennet, the colorful ampersand apron company headquartered in the arts district, where there's a zipline running through the warehouse office.
I had completed the first part of the application - making a one minute video and uploading it to youtube. I spent two days making a sweet graphic video that was awesome. I even made a little 'HB' cake pictured above for one of the slides and told them I'd bring it to them if they wanted.
It was met with enthusiasm and they asked me to come interview.
The interview was with a woman, their hr manager. It went incredibly well, we talked for an hour and it was all great and I've never felt more confident about an interview, etc.
she popped out of the room and came back with a packet. I was to complete this 200 question personality test, she leaves room.
she comes back in, gives me a second different (but same) 80 question personality test.
then a series of oddly basic "IQ" worksheets* where the woman sat in the room and timed me on her phone.
*like, drawing shapes
I was there for four hours.
the woman hugged me on the way out, told me she was excited, that I was perfect for the job, and that I'd be hearing from her very soon about next steps.
and then, never again.
ghosted my every message/email/phone call.
So, IT SEEMS MY PERSONALITY TYPE JUST DIDN'T CUT IT.
alas, I am less desirable on paper, for a FUN company.
or perhaps I matched my shapes wrong.
Anyway.
I started baking at Lodge later that year, so it all worked out as it should have
and I went back to the kitchen, where I rarely wear aprons.
muaha
just call me 'unprofessional slob with undesirable personality'
wow ............?
what in the heck
hi
everything is so strange and eerie and sad and frustrating.
i'm not certain what brought me here tonight
but I do know that this quarantine is making me face myself
it's very easy to be detached from yourself when you work so dang hard most of the day. pouring yourself into your work is a great distraction from actually looking at yourself. asking the hard questions, making the choice to rise to the challenge
and now I have this time, all this extra time that comes with the constant uncomfortable weirdness in the air.
I want to know what to do. I want to know what project to start with. intense indecision coupled with endless distractions coupled with harsh self-criticism is not a winning combo.
anyway. the nostalgia has been running high,
past trips and meals and good times, I've been looking at photos, sad happy, happy sad, trying to remember it all, relive the good stuff, tell myself there is so much more good stuff to come, eventually.
I baked at home for the first time in well over 2 years. (I would always always prefer baking at work)
I made the Loose Tea Yogurt Cake from Molly Baz, a solid lovely recipe. I knocked the sugar down to 200g, I wanna try it with coconut oil and olive oil. comes together so quickly, I was barely even frustrated making it in my apartment kitchen.
work/bakery baking and home/apt baking feel so different, and you know what, this was nice.
oh hola
hello old friend. how's it hanging?
low like fruit?
salted caramel & rye brownie
risked the car accident
I make a ton of pastries every day, but don't bake much at home anymore. sad!
my daily work attire is: look as baggy and grungy as possible
I feel like a mangey lil kitchen rat ALL THE TIME and i think it's fucking with my head
well, these are some photos from stuff.
and some from Vietnam.
hope you are doing great and enjoying your days on earth and making the most out of your life or not.
baked goods pictured, all at
: coffee cake / sour cream and espresso, salted caramel & rye brownie, sourdough cinnamon roll bread pudding
what has happened to me?
hey.
howareya? ..how to start this...?
well, I am still a person.
I'm still a baker, so that's good.
I bake at Lodge Bread in los angeles.
and I've continued to make lots of cakes.
it's been a strange time for me, a strange few years really.
I've struggled in lots of areas. energy, motivation, overwhelming mental paralysis. struggled with being nice to myself and treating a body the way bodies should be treated. I realized how hard I feel things. whatever things. how personally I take everything, criticism, scolding. how my head hangs onto those things with a claw grip. I've struggled with topics of mental health, with different diagnoses, with medications, with self-medication.
and honestly, that's the reason I slipped away from here. at whatever point, something had shifted in me. my writing was different, my voice had morphed. and it felt uncomfortable to make such a switch, to introduce such a swampiness to this thing I had worked on for years, the lighthearted place I created and loved.
I began to crave something new, a fresh start. somewhere I could feel free to be a depressing cynical little shit.
this leads us to wolfie cake. I started it with no expectations, and urged myself to a place of comfortable un-censorship.
there's lots of dessert. there's a lot of color
and I'm happy to say that it's turned into such a pleasant little space and greatest of all, it feels like me.
SO,
this is where you'll find me now
luv you.
julia
oat banana bread with bloobs + walnuts
food blog culture has gotten annoying right? i'm ready for the rebellion.
way over the uber styled stuff, not every dish that comes out of your kitchen requires a whole photoshoot with fancy spoons and decor stored in back closets.
real kitchens have shit all over the place.
i'm trying to embrace the messy chaos. as long as the light's good and there aren't bugs crawling in the background, then how bad could the picture be?
i make banana bread over and over again because i always want to eat more.
i know that internet has 2 billion recipes for banana bread, but i don't care. this one is mine and it was goooooood.
a simple banana bread made with buttermilk, some oats, blueberries and walnuts folded in. i topped it with a line of raw sugar and a line of sesame seeds
this loaf was moist business. like, perfection moist. finished in 2 days between 2 people, moist.
Oat Blueberry Banana Bread
1 3/4 cups flour (227g)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup rolled oats
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk (80g)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (110g)
1 cup mashed bananas (300-350g)
1 1/4 cup sugar (250g)
1/2-1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4c-1c frozen blueberries
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
preheat oven to 325 degreesF. grease a 9x5" loaf pan. mix dry ingredients in bowl and whisk. mix wet ingredients (eggs - vanilla) in another larger bowl. add dry ingredients to wet and use a spatula to stir just til combined. fold in the blueberries and walnuts. scrape into pan and bake for 1 hr and 10-20 minutes - just start checking after an hour.
let cool a bit before serving. it will get better after a day.
sup
offering myself as the sacrifice.
i wish this could be my linkedin picture.
but that would mean signing up for getting daily mom-calls - "please julia, you have to change the photo on your linkedin. this is not the place for that, i beg you. it's just not right.'
i hate LinkedIn
don't you just wanna punch everyone in the face?
swanky cake
(i made this cake for a bachelorette party.)
the innards were strawberry vanilla cake + chocolate whipped cream, and the cake skin was vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream. neapolitan mash up
in other news, i just mopped the floor and watered every plant. someone come give me a high five.
recipes:
use any simple vanilla cake and load it with fresh strawberries before you bake it
how to make
and this is simple formula i always use for
some vanilla bean + strawberry mini cakes
hey sugarplum fairies.
WHAT'S CRACKIN?
lately, i've been making cake, drinking yerba mate, and doing that thing where you question your entire existence.
millenials can be such pains in the asses, you know?
new yorkish
whoa whoa whoaaaa, hey!
i've just concluded the 2015 summer wedding madness lineup.
several of my loveliest friends got married in these past two months, so pretty much my liver and my bank account are all like, Fuck You.
but it's been such fun, and all worth it, and i've put those chicken cutlet boob things on twice now.
i got back from new york, after a 6 hour flight next to a girl who had food poisoning. that was unfun.
my college roommate whom i lived with in the same room for 3 years got married to the dude who used to be her chemistry study pal, and then they eventually professed their obvious love to each other, putting me in the position of Head 3rd wheel.
this was the first wedding i've ever been in, if you don't count the time when i was 4 and the only flower girl who forgot to drop the flowers.
it's cool though, we have alcohol.
the festivities were so fun and they were so cute and she looked so insanely beautiful and bridal.
when i talked to her a few days before the wedding, her main concern was that people would be scared to talk to the bride, because everyone knows they only get like 2 minutes, so what do you say!? you've gotta cram in anything you've got, so it's basically: Hi! You look so incredible! This is so amazing, the ceremony was so beautiful, look at this place! We're having so much fun. Ah! Well...how nice. You two....Just so happy to be here...
here's the problem when you're tight with the bride. she's finally over by our table and we get to say some words to each other! i give her a hug and make weird faces at her and try to say a thing, and i can see that it is just distraction overload in her eyes. she smiles and says "hang on, one minute" and then she goes and talks to another friend.
cue tequila voice telling me to get worked up and butt hurt,
but then my rational voice comes in and is like dude, chill, you can't be upset with the bride.
and then i stayed in manhattan for a bunch of days after and everything was great
(except for the fact that my entire system shuts off in 'hot/humid as balls' weather.
i have 20 separate layers of dried sweat covering my body, i complain, i don't process sentences as quickly..)
but other than that, new york, your streets make me feel alive and i love you.
places gone to eat/drink: (i was there for 9 days, no judgements.)
el rey
no fun
the wythe rooftop
bedford cheese shop
di fara
el sombrero: frozen margaritas
russ and daughters cafe
grand banks oyster bar
bread
officina latina
the butcher's daughter
the meatball shop
three's brewing: featuring food by granny's
van leewen
jack's wife freda
mimi's dumplings
schiller's liquor room
dos caminos
the gold medial winners: di fara, grand banks oyster bar, and russ and daughters cafe.
blackberry oreo cake
i made cake.
i have no photo of cake innards.
but i like the top enough that i don't care!
it's a blackberry oreo cake - 3 layers of dark chocolate cake, filled with stabilized whipped cream laced with chunks of oreo, and covered with blackberry swiss meringue buttercream.
i've been quite into decorating cakes lately. it's fun to start with no decoration plan and just go after it, and keep on adding random shit until i like it. i was walking to the 99cent store to see what kind of birthday candle situation they had, and i spotted bougainvillea poufs laying on the sidewalk, all purple and pretty.
sometimes i feel like i live for those moments when inspiration really does just fall into your lap. (or sidewalk.)
Blackberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
150g egg whites (about 5 egg whites)
1 1/4 cups sugar (250g)
3 sticks + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cool but not cold
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup blackberry puree
pinch salt
to make blackberry puree: throw a thing or two of blackberries in a blender or food processor (i always do more than what i need so that i can freeze some extra puree for whatever next kind of blackberry thing i feel like making, so my measurements on this one are not so helpful. i believe i pureed two 6oz containers of berries.) then pass through a fine mesh strainer to separate the juices from the finicky seeds.
put egg whites and sugar in a pan or bowl set over simmering water. (double boiler situation) whisk constantly until the temperature reaches 160 degreesF, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved.
transfer the whites/sugar concoction to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high speed until the meringue is glossy and thick, and the bowl is cool to the touch (about 9-10 minutes.) Once the bowl is totally cool, switch to the paddle attachment and on low speed, begin to add the butter, a tablespoon at a time. until each is incorporated. if the mixture begins to look weird and curdle-y, don't worry! this is good, just keep it going and it will eventually come together.
we are essentially forcing fat into a mixture that isn't typically used to so much fat, so it acts weird at first, but eventually everything will emulsify. also, if the mixture seems too runny, refrigerate it for 10 minutes and then continue. sometimes temperature can be a huge factor with buttercreams.
once it comes together, add in the vanilla extract, pinch of salt, and then the puree, a bit at a time.
yay done. frost yo stuff.
ricotta pound cake with cherries
this feels hard.
like that awkward small talk you cannot avoid when you make eye contact with an old high school acquaintance at jamba juice.
except that it's only awkward on my end.
i don't think many of you come by these internet parts anymore, and understandably, i did that annoying thing of dropping off the planet, leaving my poor site lonely and unloved.
i used to be so bothered when a blog i loved to read on the reg suddenly started posting less and less and then ... gone.
that is such a bummer and i so don't wanna do that.
because i still cherish you, site! you've been here for me in many difficult times, smiley times, and why-can't-i-fucking-sleep-again times.
the truth is i haven't been baking or cooking much of anything. and i know that most of the people who used to stop by this site were in it for the goods, the recipes and gooey close-ups.
this ricotta pound cake is as good of a place to pick up as any.
because i love it and it's a quick mix.
it's got the wet custardy crumb vibe going on, which is something i'm into. and also i have a hardcore thing for things flavored with almond paste or extract. so, i win
if you don't have a cherry pitter, than don't make it with cherries. that'd be too annoying. no fretting though, because it'd be good with a slew of other fruits - any berry, plums, nectarine, apricots..
or make it with no fruit at all
Ricotta Pound Cake with Cherries
slightly adapted from Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano
1 1/2 c cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 stick butter (6 oz)
1 1/2 c whole-milk ricotta
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest (or citrus zest)
1 tsp almond extract
cherries, pitted and quartered
preheat oven to 350 degreesF and place rack in center. grease and flour a 9 inch loaf pan.
in a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or hand beaters) cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until smooth and light. beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl, then add the vanilla and almond extracts. on low speed, beat in dry ingredients til just combined, scraping sides of bowl again. gently fold in the cherries (or whatever fruit)
Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. tap the pan on the counter to knock out some of the air bubbles. put the cake in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then turn the pan for even browning. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degreesF and bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, and the sides have pulled away from the pan a bit, about 25-35 more minutes.
allow cake to cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
(the flavor is best the next day!)
hello weener heads. i'll be bock.
( THEY ALWAYS COME BOCK )
oh hey
since i last type-blabbed on the internet, i've:
i've eaten 200 english muffins, one side apricot jam, one side something else.
i drove to monterey and back.
i drove to palm springs and back. where i attended my first drag show and my favorite lady was named Pandora Box.
i've thought about making a lot of dinners. and then didn't follow through.
i've eaten many pints of McConnell's mint chip.
i've done a lot of (unhelpful) contemplating.
i bought a swell harlequin rug via chairish
i spent the new year at jason mraz's house, catering his nye/engagement party. they had a major amount of avocado trees that supplied their local chipotle with avocados.
i've gotten fully settled into a new apartment. i have more house plants than i have friends, and far more cookbooks than any 26 year old should have in their possession. i've developed a dust buster addiction, and i like it all very much.
are you ready for february? onward and upward, i say! hope everyone is being nice to themselves and and making sure to breathe.
and i hope it continues to rain in LA.
love, julia
pistachio ice cream
worst things:
too much rice in a burrito.
dark parking lots
cantaloupe.
and no, don't even think about doing the "what?! well maybe you've just never had a really good cantaloupe?!" no.
best things:
swimming around in a pool or ocean when it’s hot
house plants that you haven't killed.
pistachio.
pistachio everything.
cake. ice cream. salad. bread. pie. snack.
this time there was pistachio ice cream, and it was phenomenally fantastic and definitely the best.
i don't have any pictures of the churned and finished ice cream because it was night time and also it was eaten at almost lightning speed. that's fast
(Cantaloupe chunks in every fruit salad, go fuck yourselves!)
Pistachio Ice Cream
from Bon Appetit 1999 (via epicurious)
1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
4 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup unsalted shelled pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
finely grind 1 cup pistachios with 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor. Bring milk and ground pistachio mixture to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. remove from head. mix in the almond extract.
whisk the egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium heat-proof bowl. gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return custard to saucepan and cook over low heat until custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Strain into a large bowl and chill until cold, about 2 hours.
Stir 1 cup heavy cream and chopped pistachios into custard. process mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. transfer to a container and freeze (or eat all of it right there on the spot)
bills coconut bread
earlier i woke up at 4. my brain was turning and my heart was racing in that anxious way it does. i knew there was no going back to sleep.
it took me back to my bakery mornings, my waking-up-at-3am-is-normal days.
while the nostalgic thoughts always seem to join in, i must say..it is extremely nice to have a break from that. i was cut off from everything those years.
"want to go out to dinner?" "what time? anytime past 6 is tough for me..."
"we could do something chill like go to a movie, it's at 7." "hmm..no."
being hungover working in a hot kitchen is the worst
...Why did you do that again!? i yell and bitch at myself
do you know what a hangover looks like when its 3am? it looks like still drunk.
hungover poaching pretzels in a large pot of boiling lye water. jesus
i remember when i started i didn't know what lye was. i was told, "remember that scene in fight club when poured on the hand and his hand just started melting fucking off? that was lye. always wear gloves."
ANYWAY. i knew i wasn't gonna sleep. and in what seemed like the quickest and easiest decision i've made in awhile, flipped on the light, put on shoes, and went on a run.
wouldn't it be the best world if you could sleepwalk-excercise? wake up at 7 as usual, and have had already spent 45 minutes on the elliptical.
and you'd also showered before you got back into your bed?
and you ate fried eggs with buttered toast every morning.
yes, it would be the best.
i made coconut bread one evening. and the next morning i sliced it thick and toasted it and ate it with salted butter and had it for breakfast instead of eggs.
and did it again the next morning.
you know the loaves that call themselves bread but are really a soft/lighter/cakey texture? this is not that.
this is coconut Bread, deliciously sweetened. heavier and sturdy. i want it hot and toasty and a little crisp on the edges and able to spread dabs of butter on each little piece i pull off.
bread is for toasting. not cake. i don't want my loaf cake toasted.
i want my cake moiiiist.
the butter amplifies the greatness of bread and the bread amplifies the greatness of butter. i'm not surprised at all that this bread is so famous.
the time i took this picture i was eating it with leftover salty caramel.
Coconut Bread
from bill granger, recipe posted everywhere
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (315g) ap flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp (10g) baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup (200g) sugar
5 ounces (140g) sweetened flaked coconut (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, melted and browned
heat oven 350 degreesF. in a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.
in a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add sugar and coconut, and stir to mix. Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture, then stir in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. add butter, and stir until just smooth - be careful not to over mix.
butter and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan or coat with nonstick spray. spread batter in pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, anywhere from 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, before turning it out onto a cooling rack.
serve in thick slices, toasted, with salted butter. yay, all is right in the world before your slice is finished.
this is where i wish to be.
although...those pastries were mediocre at best.
things + a banana coconut bundt
OH I KNOW, i could write a blog post.
you know something, keeping up a blog on the reg is tres difficile.
i wish i had the gusto to post every 3 days.
alas, the time, the energy, where has it gone!? life is so weird.
to be perfectly honest, this year has felt extra weird. i've had to take deeper breaths more often, a lot of the time i don't sleep, i've eaten a lot of jammy toast and edamame.
and in the past 1 month, i've traveled to 3 other places in the world.
i was in the caribbean, then big sur/pacific grove, then seattle. with about 5 days in between each one.
(not to sound like a braggart, usually my life is as exciting as a paper clip.)
i took a bunch of pictures, as one does in cool places, and the idea of starting to tackle my lightroom photo library is entirely overwhelming.
but i'm starting. i'm going to guess it'll be a slow process as i try to balance all the other dumb life things.
one of the last things i baked was a banana coconut bundt with an oddball baking process. it bakes at 275 degrees for almost 2 hours, then you throw it in the freezer immediately to cool. want the recipe? have a great day.
Banana Coconut Bundt
adapted from this recipe via my baking addiction
1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp lemon juice
3 cups ap flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup dried shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, up to you)
preheat the oven to 275 degreesF. thoroughly grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
in a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with the lemon juice; set aside
in a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt.
in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. add the vanilla, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing until combined. stir in banana mixture and then the coconut.
pour batter into greased pan and bake for about 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
remove from oven and place the pan directly into the freezer for about an hour. remove cake from freezer to a cooling rack. when ready to serve, invert and dust with confectioner's sugar or whatever glaze you prefer.
