Skye McAlpine Transcript
Jessie Sheehan:
Hi, peeps. You're listening to She's My Cherry Pie, the baking podcast from The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host, Jessie Sheehan. I'm a baker, recipe developer, and author of four baking books, including “Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes.” On each episode, I hang out with the sweetest bakers around and take a deep dive into their signature bakes.
Today is our last episode of the year, and I'm so excited for our guest. It's Skye McAlpine. Skye is a British food writer, cookbook author, and stylist known for her beautiful, effortless recipes and for highlighting the culinary culture in Venice. Her family moved from London to the Italian city when she was just six years old, and she's called it home ever since. Skye is the author of several cookbooks, including “A Table in Venice,” “A Table for Friends,” “A Table Full of Love,” and her latest, “The Christmas Companion,” which we talk all about. She writes a monthly recipe column for The Sunday Times, and has contributed to other publications, including Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, and Condé Nast Traveler. Skye has a tableware and home wares brand, Skye McAlpine Tavola, which is inspired by Italian craftsmanship and celebrates la dolce vita. She also writes a Substack, aptly named The Dolce Vita Diaries. Skye shares her journey with me from her move to Venice as a young girl, to university in England, to her life today, which she splits between Italy and the U.K. Skye and I talk about her early Venetian baking and sweets eating memories, as well as the panettone she ate on Christmas Eve growing up, how she first began entertaining while in university, using nothing but a toaster oven in her dorm room to host tea and crumpets for her friends. How she learned to cook by reading cookbooks, the tiramisu she made her husband soon after they first met, and how the blog she had while writing her Classics PhD led to her first cookbook. Then, she walks me through her Chocolate and Chestnut Yule Log recipe from the new book. It's a delicious, utterly whimsical treat, and she has so many good tips and tricks for those a bit intimidated by making one. And, her recipe and instructions for baking the log's decorative meringue mushrooms could not be easier. Skye was such a delight to interview, so stay tuned for our chat. And thank you for listening to our show. I'm wishing everyone the sweetest of holidays. You can find today's recipe at cherrybombe.substack.com.
Today's episode is presented by California Prunes. I'm looking at a bunch of bananas on my counter right now, just waiting to be turned into my chocolate, prune, and crème fraîche banana bread. The prunes get deliciously soft and jammy as they bake. They're one of my favorite secret ingredients. They're also super good for you, which is a bonus. Did you know that prunes are packed with dietary fiber? Okay. Yes, you probably did. But they also support bone health, which is extra important to me. And they're packed with vitamins and antioxidants. So much goodness. Whenever I am looking to add a little natural sweetness to something, from my morning smoothie to an oatmeal cookie, I know prunes will do just the trick. One of my favorite ways to use them is in my sticky toffee pudding snacking cake. Yes, I turned this beloved pudding into a snacking cake, and it's so good, peeps. I swap prunes in for the traditional dates, which adds a more intense fruitiness and aren't quite as sweet. The result is the perfect ratio of sweet, salty, and sticky, and it's so easy to assemble. Trust me, you'll want to make this dessert soon. If you're looking to add more prunes to your baking, know that they pair brilliantly with other deep, complex flavors, especially chocolate. Or chop them up to use as you would any other dried fruit in your granola or cookies. It's hard to go wrong. For more info and creative recipes, check out the California Prunes website at californiaprunes.org. That's californiaprunes.org.
Today's episode is presented by Diamond of California Nuts, the century-old nut brand you know and love. As we're gearing up for holiday baking season, my favorite season, make sure you're stocked up on all the baking nuts you'll need. And with Diamond, you know you're getting guaranteed fresh quality. You can really taste the difference. Diamond has us covered with all the nuts. Whole, chopped, sliced, and even in shell too, if you're ever in the mood to crack some walnuts. Hey, maybe you have a nutcracker. I'll go with the chopped walnuts, which I put in my crazy, delicious chocolate marshmallow walnut fudge. The pecans are a must in my chocolate bourbon pecan pie, and I also love using them to make candied nuts for holiday gifting. That's when I want to be using the best ingredients I can find. So when you're at the grocery store, look for the nuts in the white bag with the red Diamond logo in the baking aisle. That's your sign you're getting premium quality nuts that bakers have trusted for generations. Visit diamondnuts.com to find a store nearest you, and to explore their fan favorite recipes like walnut cutter cookies. Yum. Happy baking.
If you're looking for some excellent and unique holiday gifts, Cherry Bombe has great options for you. From now until the end of the year, you can get 20% off Jubilee tickets when you buy two or more. Jubilee is our annual conference happening on Saturday, April 25th, in New York City, and it's a beautiful day filled with talks and panels, networking, and great food and drink. What else? There's back issues of Cherry Bombe Magazine, a yearly subscription to the magazine, and a subscription to our Substack. There are fun benefits to being a paid Substack subscriber, like access to monthly virtual meetings featuring experts in the food, drink, and hospitality industries. These would all be great gifts for foodie friends, colleagues, loved ones, or for yourself. Head to cherrybombe.com to shop and learn more.
Let's chat with today's guest. Skye, so excited to have you on She's My Cherry Pie, and to talk Chocolate and Chestnut Yule Log with you, and so much more.
Skye McAlpine:
Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited for this. I'm such a fan of the show, so it's such a treat, and such an honor to be here today.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yay. So you moved to Venice from England when you were six years old with your parents, and although you guys intended to stay only six months, you actually never left. Can you please share an early Venetian, either sweet eating, or maybe a baked good eating memory?
Skye McAlpine:
Well, so many, but two quite sweet ones. And one is, I just remember, and this actually predates when we moved to Venice, because before we moved to Venice, we used to go there on holiday.
In Italy, one of the loveliest things about the country I think is how kind everyone is to children, and how much everyone loves children, which is sort of so nice and so different from how things were in the UK in the 1980s. And I remember we would go on holiday to Venice, and my parents would go shopping. Every shop we would go into, they would end up giving me sweets. You'd go to the lace shop, you'd go to the stationery shop, and they'd all had different kinds of sweets. And so sweetly, they'd give me a couple of sweets. And I don't remember this, but my mother says it was so mortifying, because when I came back to England, I'd walk into a shop and I would just put my hand out, begging for a sweet. Because I've always had a very sweet tooth.
One shop in particular, it was this amazing old lace shop, and I remember she'd give you sugar cubes. Which, actually, I just don't think anyone would do now.
Jessie Sheehan:
Right. Exactly.
Skye McAlpine:
So delicious.
Jessie Sheehan:
I love that. And were there any early, besides putting your hand out when you went to the shops with your Mom in London, were there any early English baked good memories, or sweets memories?
Skye McAlpine:
Well, when I was very little, before we moved to Venice, so my memory's a little patchy from that time. But I remember my mother used to do a lot more baking, actually, when I was really little. Before we moved to Italy, I think she did a lot more baking, when we lived in England. Maybe that's also to do with, especially in, again, going back to the '80s, it was very hard to eat well in England, and we didn't have a culture that we have now of amazing bakery. Which is so prominent on the continent, especially in Italy, of kind of wonderful bakeries, et cetera. So kind of if you wanted something delicious and baked, it was best to bake it yourself.
So she did a lot of baking then, and I remember she was really into proper, old-fashioned British puddings, which have now kind of what they call a spotted dick, or a roly-poly pudding, or these kind of often steamed puddings. Quite stodgy, very rich, but delicious. And very unfashionable now, actually. It might be worth revisiting-
Jessie Sheehan:
Bringing back-
Skye McAlpine:
... old genre.
Jessie Sheehan:
... bringing back. Although the names, I'm not sure how the names would go over.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah. Like the spotted dick.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, the spotted dick.
Skye McAlpine:
And revisit it.
Jessie Sheehan:
We might have some problems here in the United States, at least.
Skye McAlpine:
Even the roly-poly pudding, I think, is kind of on the edge there.
Jessie Sheehan:
It also seems like growing up in Venice, which is a city within a country of food lovers.
Skye McAlpine:
I think everyone loves food, it's just Italy that gets it right, that kind of recognizes that everyone loves food. I think sometimes, in England... In England, we have this expression, which is "a foodie," which is what you call someone who likes food. And I always think it's the most annoying-
Jessie Sheehan:
Me too.
Skye McAlpine:
... expression in the world, because I just think everyone loves food. That's just a basic human instinct. It's not some grand title to wear with pride. It's just the state of being, a universal state of being. And I think that's one of the things that's so lovely about the Italian attitude to food, is its emphasis on universality. I quite often joke, but I think it is true, that in England, when you have an awkward silence, or you meet someone new, or you're sort of struggling for conversation, you chat about the weather. It's kind of like, "Oh, it's cold today." Or, "It's raining again, meant to be nice tomorrow," et cetera. And in Italy, you just talk about food. What you had for lunch, what you're going to have for dinner. "It's porcini season. They've been really good this year, they haven't been really good. They were expensive at the market." And this is kind of very cross-generational, very cross-class, and can be cross-nationality and cultural identity. Because on an instinctive level, we all enjoy eating. So think what's so lovely about Italy is that they really celebrate that.
Jessie Sheehan:
We'll be right back. Cake lovers, did you see the new issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine? It's all about cake, and features three incredible self-taught cake artists on the covers: Lucie Franc de Ferriere of From Lucie, Aimee France, aka YungKombucha420, and Amy Yip of Yip.Studio. All three discovered their passion for cake making and design out of necessity during the pandemic, and transformed their hobbies into thriving careers. You'll love getting to know these women in our cover stories. What else is in this issue? A bounty of delicious cake recipes, profiles of even more incredible cake artists, stories of nonprofits, using cakes for a good cause, an inspiring bake sale, and so much more. To snag the mag, head to cherrybombe.com, or find a copy at your local bookstore. You can find us in some great places across the country, like Kitchen Arts & Letters in Manhattan, Books are Magic in Brooklyn, Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco, and Book Larder in Seattle. For a full list of retailers, visit cherrybombe.com. Now back to our guest.
Since your new book is about Christmas, and we're going to talk about it, can you tell us about your childhood Christmases, that your... I think it sounds like more like your mom, but I'm sure your father played a role, too. Just this combo of the Venetian Christmas Eve, and then the more English Christmas Day. And the food that you guys ate.
Skye McAlpine:
Both my parents always loved Christmas and always made a big fuss of it, which I think I'm very grateful for because now I love Christmas. I think, pretty much as a direct consequence, I'm completely obsessed with Christmas. And one of the great advantages of being from one place and growing up in another is that you kind of get to pick and choose your traditions, and your customs, and what you make part of your life in a way. So I feel very lucky that I get to double Christmas, because in Italy, the big deal is on Christmas Eve. And you have a big feast that night, we'll usually do that kind of more in the Italian style, and then go to Midnight Mass afterwards. Which is always really magical, and really nice.
And then the next day, we kind of do things the English way, which is stockings first thing in the morning. And then, what we call a proper Christmas lunch, which I don't know if this is similar in the States, but it would be traditionally like turkey with stuffing, and roast potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, and red cabbage. Sort of, I'd say are the core elements of it, then you might add in as you like. And then that's when you would have your Christmas pudding, or your Christmas cake.
Jessie Sheehan:
For the Venetian Christmas Eve, very seafood driven, yes?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes. So it's all about fish and seafood. So we used to always spend Christmas Eve with Italian friends in Venice, and they would do a delicious dinner. And it would usually be several courses of seafood, maybe like scallops, and then a kind of prawns, and then this, and then that. Lots of dressed crab, and what have you. And then often we would have a pasta, sometimes with truffle, like white truffles. So you might have a tagliolini, just with butter and shavings of white truffle as a special treat. After that, you'd have usually a whole baked fish. So a baked sea bass, or a turbot. Some kind of fancier, special occasion fish.
Jessie Sheehan:
I was going to say, there would be panettone. And then I also read, Pandoro?
Skye McAlpine:
Pandoro. So panettone originally comes from Milan, although it has really become the sort of universal Italian Christmas food. But originally, it's from the region of Lombardy, or from Milan. And Verona, which is a town quite near Venice, their answer to the panettone, which is almost as popular across the country as panettone, just not quite as popular. It's like the cousin of the panettone, is something called pandoro, which is a very similar kind of dough. It's a little bit drier, and then it doesn't have the raisins and the candied peel, it's plain. And then it's sort of shaped, it's a strange shape, it's a bit like a star, a cross between a star and a pyramid. And then you douse it in icing sugar, a whole thing in icing sugar. And the dough is vanilla scented, I would say. So it's kind of got this lovely vanilla-y, or a traditional one, has a lovely vanilla-y flavor to it.
And one thing that quite often people do, that's quite cute is, you cut across its body in three or four places, and then you kind of twist the pieces, if that makes sense. So then you end up with almost like a Christmas tree. And you can layer that with a cream, or a custard, or just eat it just plain like that, and just have it be like a Christmas tree.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. So you left home at 18 to go to university, to go to Oxford. I thought it was so interesting to learn that neither of your parents went to college, despite your father being this prominent politician, and advisor to Margaret Thatcher, and all of the things. It's just, we can't ever tell our children any of this. Because we like to tell them like, "Oh, you must go to university."
Skye McAlpine:
My great act of rebellion was to go to university.
Jessie Sheehan:
And you studied classics, mythology, Ancient Greece and Rome. And I loved learning this. Your PhD was about 17... And you joke, at least when I was sort of researching and learning about it. You always joke like, "Oh gosh, I don't even want to tell people what I studied. It's like a conversation killer," but.
Skye McAlpine:
It is such a conversation killer.
Jessie Sheehan:
But you said it.
Skye McAlpine:
Do it now, and watch the conversation die.
Jessie Sheehan:
Well, I love this piece of it. So it was 17th and 18th century translation of Ovid's “Art of Love.” And I know that one Christmas, I think Margaret Thatcher gave you a copy of some poetry?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes.
Jessie Sheehan:
And was that because of what you were studying, or did it inspire your studies?
Skye McAlpine:
So that would have been when I was maybe 18, 17, 18, something like that. It was a very thoughtful gift, because it was obviously something... I think she picked up on my interest, but I wasn't formally studying it.
Jessie Sheehan:
We can't say that it was all due to Margaret Thatcher.
Skye McAlpine:
Probably not. But I'm sure she played a part.
Jessie Sheehan:
So while you were at university, is where you discovered that you love to cook, and to entertain, I loved learning this. In the first two years of school, you had a toaster in your room, and that was it. So you were hosting tea and crumpets. I want to know-
Skye McAlpine:
Great combination, by the way. Tea and crumpets-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yes. Oh my gosh.
Skye McAlpine:
... is very good.
Jessie Sheehan:
But, tell me about the crumpets. Were you literally making... Okay.
Skye McAlpine:
No. I didn't have, I was buying the crumpets, and I was warming them in the toaster. Which you probably wouldn't say qualifies as cooking, but kind of in college where no one cooks anything, it was basically the equivalent of studying at the Cordon Bleu.
Jessie Sheehan:
Well, also I just love that that was sort of the beginning of you hosting, and having, even if it was-
Skye McAlpine:
That was, I think, what I took away from it. Was the joy of having courage, bringing people over and offering them food, and bringing them together in a setting that feels kind of cozy, and warm and welcoming. And relaxing. Because I mean, I love going to restaurants, we all love going to restaurants. But there is a very different mood and feel, I think, to eating in someone's home, and eating... Even with close friends, it's one thing to go out to a restaurant, and that's a certain mood and vibe, and that's great. But actually, there's another very magical mood and vibe, which is eating in someone's home. And somehow, I think you relax in a home setting in a way that, however fabulous the restaurant, I just don't think you ever quite do in the same way.
Jessie Sheehan:
I totally agree. In your third year of school, you actually had a kitchen, and that's when you-
Skye McAlpine:
That was very exciting.
Jessie Sheehan:
... and that's when-
Skye McAlpine:
I mean, let's call it a kitchen. In retrospect, I'm not sure it... Definitely, I doubt it passed many health and safety checks.
Jessie Sheehan:
An unsafe kitchen.
Skye McAlpine:
An unsafe kitchen.
Jessie Sheehan:
But that's really when you fell in love with cookbooks, and the tea and crumpets turned into actual sort of dinner parties. Tell us about which, because I know you've said that you sort of taught yourself to cook from cookbooks, or cookery books. Do you remember which ones?
Skye McAlpine:
I mean, I had quite a few favorites. I'd say, real favorites I had, Skye Gyngell's “How I Cook,” was one of my favorite books, that really inspired me and I absolutely loved. And I had another book by someone called Joanna Weinberg, a lesser-known book, and it was called “How to Feed Your Friends with Relish.” And actually, it was a beautiful, beautiful book. It so captured the spirit of what I wanted to do. And it's a really cute book. It's a smaller format, and very few photos, it's mostly just little illustrations. But she just talked in such a sort of charming, and warm, and inspiring way about the joy of having friends over, and gave very practical advice. And her recipes were all delicious things that you wanted to eat, and that were relatively easy, matter of fact, very easy to replicate.
Jessie Sheehan:
You actually met your husband at university. Tell us about, I think maybe he might have won your culinary heart with some crepes, and maybe you made him a tiramisu?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes. So, well. When we first met was what's called Fresher's Week, I don't know if you guys have Fresher's Week in the States. But it's sort of this carnage of a week, where all the newbies start in college, and then kind of get thrown together in a series of social settings. And it's a lot of debauchery, and drinking, and quite overwhelming if you're at all kind of shy like I was, in coming from sheltered Venice.
But one of the people that I met was my husband. Well, he wasn't my husband then, but my now husband. So we sort of met, and then he said that he was hosting a party in his accommodation, like in the building that he was at. And so I thought, and I said I'd go, and I thought, "Oh gosh, I mustn't turn up empty-handed." So I actually made a tiramisu, and I made it my... I didn't have any cooking... I had my toaster, but I didn't really have anything else. But there was a sink in my bedroom, and I used that sink, and I kind of whisked the eggs over the sink. And I made the tiramisu, and I turned up at the party of this massive tray of tiramisu, and literally, everyone else came with beer.
And I was the kind of muggins with the tiramisu, but I think it left a lasting impression, one way or another. And then, not long after that, we started dating. And in the early days, still in that kitchen, because he did have access to a kitchen, he used to make pancakes for breakfast on Sundays. Which I love. I love pancakes. But the sort of English pancakes, which are... Well, I mean, I would've loved the American pancakes, as well. I'm very grateful for any kind of pancakes, but the sort of thin, as you say, crepe.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. So you were cooking and hosting through pursuing your master's, and your PhD work. And then I think during your PhD studies, you took a food writing class at Prue Leith's, and Prue was a guest on the podcast. So hi, Prue, if you're listening. Anyway. What was interesting about that experience for you, among I'm sure many different things, is that you sort of realized that, "Oh, food writers and other people in this industry, not everybody went to culinary school."
Skye McAlpine:
100%.
Jessie Sheehan:
"There are more paths to getting to maybe where I'd want to be than I thought."
Skye McAlpine:
100%. Because I mean, and I kind of wish I'd known that sooner, because I think my life... Well, not that I regret in any way, and the path has taken me where I want to be. But I definitely, for a long time, didn't think it was possible for me to do what I do now. And what was so lovely about that course was seeing that there's not just one way to write about food, and there's not just one way to be in a position to write about food. So that was very inspiring for me, and very helpful.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, those barriers to entry sometimes are imagined, do you know what I mean?
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah.
Jessie Sheehan:
And once you can understand that, you feel either less afraid, or in a positive way, braver about making a decision-
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, 100%.
Jessie Sheehan:
... when at first you thought, "I can't do that."
Skye McAlpine:
And those sort of words, "Fake it 'til you make it." On one hand, of course, wrong. But in some way, is sometimes just believing that something is possible, and then you will actually find a way.
Jessie Sheehan:
It was sort of that class that you took at Prue's school that inspired you to start a blog. And then the blog actually led to your first book, “A Table in Venice.”
Skye McAlpine:
It really-
Jessie Sheehan:
Also, I love this, and I want you to tell us about it. But I love it also, because I do think there are these things we do in life, and we have no idea how they're actually a staircase somewhere, or a path somewhere. I just love how that all worked.
Skye McAlpine:
It really worked out. I started a blog. I was determined. I think also in... Well, I'm still quite determined, but I was especially determined in those days. I knew, all I wanted to do was publish a cookbook. That's all I could see. That was the pinnacle, that was as far as I kind of got. And I thought, if I could do that, then I'd done what I really, really wanted to do.
So I did. I just started writing a blog, and it was kind of terrible, and that was fine. That was part of the process. But over time, I kind of gained in confidence. And I do think sometimes, especially in these creative professions, it's just about doing something. And if there isn't someone who's going to pay you to do it, or there isn't someone who's going to commission you to do it, or whatever. I just think putting things out there helps generate opportunities. And as you say, it might not be directly from that first thing that you do, but everything is sort of part of a journey. And if nothing else, you're doing something that you absolutely love in the meantime, and also you're getting better at it. Because practice makes, if it doesn't make perfect, it definitely makes for better. The more you can work on doing what you want to do, the better you'll get at it. And in the meantime, there's a lot of satisfaction and joy to be drawn from just the actual process of writing, or whatever it is that you want to be doing.
So it kind of was just stabs in the dark, just kind of going for it. And somehow or another, by the time, sort of did that for about two years, and then roughly when I was wrapping up my PhD, I'd had a cookbook commissioned. Which was great. And so it kind of felt like I had something, a raft to leap onto. I had something that I could kind of hold onto. I was like, "This is a tangible thing. Maybe this could be a thing." And so I did that, and then that's led to further books, and my column, and other bits and bobs.
Jessie Sheehan:
The first three books that you've written are all, I think of them as like The Table Series.
Skye McAlpine:
The Table books.
Jessie Sheehan:
“Table in Venice,” “Table for Friends,” “Table Full of Love.” I even wondered if there was any talk of it being called “The Christmas Table.”
Skye McAlpine:
Oh, there definitely was. There definitely was. My publisher was very, very keen on “The Festive Table,” or “The Table at Christmas,” or whatever. And I just felt strongly that this book is different. It's a continuation, the spirit is similar, the style in many ways is similar. But the character of the book just felt like so standalone, that I just felt like the title needed to reflect that as well. We had a to and fro over it, and then we settled on “The Christmas Companion.”
Jessie Sheehan:
I love that. “The Christmas Companion: Simple Recipes and Creative Ideas for a Magical Festive Season.” I love that your editor, when she first suggested the idea to you, had suggested it be a small book.
Skye McAlpine:
Yes, she did. And I thought, "That sounds great."
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, exactly.
Skye McAlpine:
And I started writing it, and it grew and it grew and it grew, and we actually ended up cutting the manuscript down by about 20%, because it was just like a hell of a door stopper. I mean, it was sort of overwhelming.
Jessie Sheehan:
Can you describe-
Skye McAlpine:
Turns out, there's a lot to say about Christmas.
Jessie Sheehan:
I know, right? And I also love, it also includes Thanksgiving.
Skye McAlpine:
Yes.
Jessie Sheehan:
I mean, even though yes, it's very Christmas-focused, there are also so many tips, and so many different tools that people can use and embrace for entertaining.
Skye McAlpine:
100%. I mean, I do think Christmas, I mean, Christmas is Christmas. And as I said, it's its own sort of standalone holiday, and its own moment in the calendar year. And we definitely go all out, in a way that we don't throughout the rest of the year. But the spirit of Christmas is one that's alive throughout the year. Every time you host a supper party, or have friends over for Sunday lunch, or whatever it is, that's essentially the spirit of Christmas. Which is, you bring people that you love to have a special meal. So I think there's a lot from the book, particularly if you like hosting, there's a lot that's applicable from this book that might feel acutely relevant over the holidays, but actually it's useful throughout the year.
Jessie Sheehan:
Before we jump into the recipe from your book for the Yule Log, can you tell us about your tableware company, Tavola?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes. Well, that, I launched almost five years ago now. That kind of came about, I worked on a tableware collaboration with Anthropology just before that, and that was really, really fun. And I really enjoyed it. And it kind of gave me the confidence, and kind of inspired me to take it a step further, and now I have my own, we're a small business. Almost everything is made in Italy. And we do a lot of hand-painted ceramics, and a lot of the designs are kind of inspired by vintage pieces that I've collected.
But the idea is, I think the tableware, the table is an important part of eating. Hence all the table books, hence my general obsession with tables. But maybe beautiful is too strong a word, but having a setting that sort of sets the tone, which is one of warmth and sense of occasion. I think to eat together is a big thing, and it's a privilege and a special moment, and it's nice to celebrate that. So I think the table for me, is the foundation in a way, for the recipes and for the cooking. And I also think for those who like eating, which is all of us, but perhaps don't love cooking, or don't feel that they have the time to cook, or lack the confidence. Then a good stepping stone is kind of getting comfortable with setting your table really beautifully.
And it doesn't have to be over the top, but the plates that you love, and the glass that you love. And a nice, what my mother would call "a proper napkin," and so on and so forth. And then thinking, "Well, actually all I need to do now is just put some nice mozzarella and some nice tomatoes on one dish, and maybe I could toss a salad. Yes, I feel confident I can do that. Maybe I buy a cake from the bakery, and I serve it on this nice cake stand." And it kind of, I think gets you comfortable with this idea of hosting. And then, baby steps from there, you build up. And then one time you think, "Do you know what? I'm going to be a bit more adventurous, and I'm going to try and bake the cake myself," or whatever it is.
But everything I do, I feel like my big thing that drives me in what I do and that I'm always keen to share, is this idea of making it easier in some way or another. Encouraging people to have people, have their friends over, and have a nice meal together. Because I just think that's such a source of joy in life, so any way that I can kind of support and encourage and help with that, I'm very keen to.
Jessie Sheehan:
So now I want to talk about the Chocolate and Chestnut Yule Log. I love the sort of introduction to this recipe in the book, you sort of give us some tips and some words of support. And you tell us, "A Yule Log or a Bûche de Noël takes time, patience," but you tell us, "You make it in stages, none of them are tricky or lengthy." Encourage us, if we want to purchase meringue mushrooms, we can do that, we don't need to make them. Although I have to say the recipe is very easy, and we're going to go through it.
Skye McAlpine:
It genuinely is easy. I think it's quite a nice one. If you want to move into ambitious, what feels like more ambitious baking, I think this is quite a good one. Because like you say, it's an easy recipe. And then I think what you have at the end, you're going to be like, "Wow, I made that."
Jessie Sheehan:
And you say, "The recipe might seem laborious, but it's worth it, because we're going to have this pillowy, light, chocolatey, not overly sweet, whipped cream, sugar, chestnut glossed in a fudgy, bittersweet ganache cake." And just the magic of, which is so true, of a cake that looks like, you call it-
Skye McAlpine:
A log.
Jessie Sheehan:
... "An enchanted woodland log."
Skye McAlpine:
I mean, what is not to love? What is not-
Jessie Sheehan:
It's so good. It's so good.
So first things first, we're going to make the cake. And essentially, like a chiffon cake, which means there's, rather than an angel food cake, which is just egg whites, we're going to have yolks, and some oil. And we like a chiffon cake for this job, because it's light, moist, and flexible. So we'll heat the oven to 350. We'll grease a jelly roll pan, which is about 50 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches. We're going to grease the pan with vegetable oil. Are we brushing it on? Do you put it on like a paper towel?
Skye McAlpine:
I often put it on paper towel and then just rub it in, but I don't know why I do that, I just do that.
Jessie Sheehan:
We could also use softened butter, or cooking spray, or do you just like to use the oil because the oil is what's called for in the recipe? Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, exactly.
Jessie Sheehan:
And then we'll line the bottom with paper. But we don't need to grease the paper, right?
Skye McAlpine:
No. No, no, no, no.
Jessie Sheehan:
Then we're going to sift together some all-purpose flour, some cocoa powder, baking powder, fine sea salt. So we're going to sift together these ingredients in a mixing bowl, just because I know you care about bowls, and we're always curious too. Do you love a ceramic bowl, a glass bowl, a metal bowl?
Skye McAlpine:
So I love my KitchenAid, that comes with the regular aluminum kitchen bowl. Although on my Christmas wish list this year is the copper.
Jessie Sheehan:
So nice.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah.
Jessie Sheehan:
Oh my gosh.
Skye McAlpine:
So I'm hoping Father Christmas obliges.
Jessie Sheehan:
Okay, good. I feel like he's going to. I'm just getting a feeling.
Skye McAlpine:
I'm really manifesting.
Jessie Sheehan:
And I wondered why you sift rather than whisk? Is that just so that it's sort of a bit lighter?
Skye McAlpine:
I think it's a bit lighter and airier, I think. Just because you want to keep the cake, as you said-
Jessie Sheehan:
As light as possible.
Skye McAlpine:
... as light as possible.
Jessie Sheehan:
In a second large mixing bowl, we're going to whisk some egg whites until frothy. Are we using our stand mixer? Are we using a hand mixer, at this point?
Skye McAlpine:
No, we're going to use the hand mixer. I've now got two KitchenAids, so I have a big and a smaller one. And so I'm just really lazy, and I just always use that.
Jessie Sheehan:
I totally understand. And also, if you're bringing whites to stiff glossy peaks, which we're about to, that's a lot of work if you're just-
Skye McAlpine:
You could definitely. If your mentality is, "Do you know what? I'm going to get a workout in before this cake, so that I can really enjoy the cake," then 100%, do by hand. But in the absence of that, I would just say definitely. And the KitchenAid, I got to say, is amazing. Because it does its thing, and you can potter around the kitchen-
Jessie Sheehan:
100%.
Skye McAlpine:
... doing whatever else you want. And it's a brilliant piece of kit.
Jessie Sheehan:
So we'll whisk our egg whites until frothy, then we'll add some super fine sugar. And if we can't find, I feel like super fine is sort of the standard for you in England, yes?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes. So we call it castor sugar-
Jessie Sheehan:
Exactly.
Skye McAlpine:
... in the U.K., which is what I always use. I'm not really sure what that translates to.
Jessie Sheehan:
We have a super fine sugar, actually, so it's labeled correctly for an American baker. But I also know that sometimes we can take granulated sugar, and just grind it up in like a spice grinder, and then we'll get-
Skye McAlpine:
Oh, interesting.
Jessie Sheehan:
And then we-
Skye McAlpine:
And you basically get castor sugar from that.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yep. So we'll add some super fine sugar, a spoonful at a time, until stiff, glossy peaks form. And are you, at this point, is your mixer on pretty high when you're-
Skye McAlpine:
I always just max it out. I don't know if that's the right thing to do. I just feel like-
Jessie Sheehan:
I think it is.
Skye McAlpine:
... it's good.
Jessie Sheehan:
And so we do that, bring our whites to stiff, glossy peaks. And then in a third mixing bowl, we'll whisk our egg yolks, some more super fine sugar, a little bit of oil, vanilla, and we'll whisk that together until pale and fluffy, and voluminous.
Skye McAlpine:
I love that, how egg yolks just kind of completely change.
Jessie Sheehan:
Oh my gosh, they transform.
Skye McAlpine:
Do you know what? It feels more magical than the egg whites.
Jessie Sheehan:
It does.
Skye McAlpine:
I think you get quite sort of used it. But the egg yolks, it's like, "Oh my God, this is amazing."
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
And into a custard-
Jessie Sheehan:
I agree. I agree.
Skye McAlpine:
... there's no comparing that.
Jessie Sheehan:
Then we will fold our whites into our fluffy yolks, then we'll fold our sifted dry ingredients, one third at a time. At this point, we're sort of folding by hand with a flexible spatula?
Skye McAlpine:
Definitely. Yeah. And trying to keep as much of the air in there as possible, even though it's quite tempting to sort of smoosh out the sort of-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
... lumps. Don't do that. Just keep folding lightly, and hold the faith.
Jessie Sheehan:
And then we'll spread the batter evenly into our prepared pan. We'll gently bang it on the countertop a couple of times, we'll pop any air bubbles.
Skye McAlpine:
That's quite important, that step.
Jessie Sheehan:
Because?
Skye McAlpine:
I think it's an easy one to skip over. But the air bubbles, I mean, it's not the end of the world because you're going to cover the whole thing in ganache, anyway.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
But the air bubbles make it less stable when it comes out.
Jessie Sheehan:
And then you say, and this is also, "We're banging to level it out." Do we also spread it with an offset spatula, or you don't need to? Sort of the banging?
Skye McAlpine:
I think you don't need to. If you just sort of drop it, I literally just drop it from a low height onto the set a couple of times, and that does kind of typically... But I mean, if for some reason you see a massive kind of dip or something, then you might want to nudge it along. But I don't think you'll need to.
Jessie Sheehan:
So we're going to bake for a short period of time, just 15 minutes. Do you like to rotate at the halfway point to avoid hotspots in your oven?
Skye McAlpine:
I don't bother, typically, and that probably is one of those ones about knowing your kitchen. If you have a more temperamental oven, and you know it does that, then I definitely-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. Then you should rotate.
Skye McAlpine:
... do the rotating.
Jessie Sheehan:
So we'll bake for 15 minutes, until the sponge springs back lightly when we press on it with our finger. And while the sponge is still warm, and I was going to ask you, is this still warm like we just took it out, or do you like to let it sit for about five minutes?
Skye McAlpine:
I mean, I wouldn't give it very long, because it will cool down very quickly, because it's-
Jessie Sheehan:
So thin.
Skye McAlpine:
... so thin, and a wide surface area. So I'd probably, if you can bear to touch it, I would pretty much-
Jessie Sheehan:
Do it right away.
Skye McAlpine:
Lift it out, straight away, and then roll it up.
Jessie Sheehan:
While the sponge is still warm, we're going to lift it out of the pan. How are we lifting? Are our parchment handles a little bit-
Skye McAlpine:
Oh, the parchment, I just would probably put a little knife or something under the parchment to lift up a corner, and then kind of just-
Jessie Sheehan:
And then lift it up. Yup.
Skye McAlpine:
If you are handy with the parchment, maybe allow, or just allow a little bit extra. You know, coming just-
Jessie Sheehan:
To come off on the short sides-
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, and then you can-
Jessie Sheehan:
... and then you can lift it up.
Skye McAlpine:
... kind of pull it up that way.
Jessie Sheehan:
Perfect. And then starting with the shorter side of the cake, we're going to gently and slowly roll the cake up, and we're using sort of the parchment to assist us. And the parchment literally gets rolled up with the cake.
Skye McAlpine:
Yes. So it feels wrong, you think that you're doing it wrong-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, it feels very weird.
Skye McAlpine:
... but you're not. You're doing it right.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought this was interesting too, because sometimes people do this with a dish towel, and sometimes there's a lot of, if it's a vanilla cake, there's a lot of confectioner's sugar.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, a dusting, and I kind of don't love doing that, because it just makes the kitchen really a mess.
Jessie Sheehan:
I know. I hate that.
Skye McAlpine:
But it makes the kitchen really messy. It's all over my clothes, and it just feels like a fat. And I think for this one, I think if you're doing a Swiss, what we call a Swiss roll, where it's more exposed or a traditional roulade, then you might want to be a bit more delicate and fussy over it. But this, you're going to cover the whole thing-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yup.
Skye McAlpine:
... in ganache, anyway. So if it splits a little bit, or whatever, it really, actually-
Jessie Sheehan:
It's fine.
Skye McAlpine:
... doesn't matter.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. No, it's so nice to not have to be so fussy about the rolling.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, I think so. Because always, it is a bit stressful.
Jessie Sheehan:
Well, particularly-
Skye McAlpine:
I find a Swiss roll a bit stressful.
Jessie Sheehan:
I cannot agree with you more. And also, to your point, if you're making a chocolate roulade, or a chocolate Swiss roll, or even a chocolate Yule log and it's a different kind of recipe, you might have a dish towel that you then, covering in cocoa powder, and then you're putting the cake-
Skye McAlpine:
And then you've got to wash it.
Jessie Sheehan:
... and then you're covered in cocoa powder. I'm just agreeing, wholeheartedly. So we're going to roll up, paper is rolled up in the cake, and we'll let that cool completely, just leave it rolled up sitting on the counter. We don't put it in the fridge at this stage.
Skye McAlpine:
No, because I think also, the sudden jump in temperature wouldn't be very kind-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yes.
Skye McAlpine:
... for it.
Jessie Sheehan:
And it would probably, it could crack if it got too cold, I bet.
Skye McAlpine:
Just let it cool to room temperature.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. So now we'll make the fillings. So we'll whip some heavy cream and some confectioner's sugar in a large mixing bowl until soft peaks form, we don't want to over-whisk. And then we're going to fold in some chestnut puree. Can you tell me about chestnut puree? Should I picture almost chestnuts that are brown, for lack of a better description, ground? Like, what makes it a paste?
Skye McAlpine:
No, actually, chestnut puree is ... So I buy this French brand called Clément Faugier. You can get it easily here in the UK, and it comes in these really pretty tins with little drawings of chestnuts on them, and that is already sweetened. But it's basically, to make your own, and I have done that, you would buy vacuum packed chestnuts, or this is how I would do it, anyway. And then you blitz them, probably in a food processor. I think I used a handheld thingy, but a food processor would probably be better, until you get something that resembles a cream. But then you need to sweeten it, so then you just keep adding icing sugar, until it tastes genuinely... Because the kind that you get from a tin, the already sweetened Clément Faugier kind, it almost tastes like fudge. I mean, it's insanely yummy.
Jessie Sheehan:
And is it almost-
Skye McAlpine:
It's very, very, sweet.
Jessie Sheehan:
... almost like, spreadable?
Skye McAlpine:
It's spreadable. You could have it on toast, if you want, I guess if you... It's the same sort of chestnut puree as you'd use for a Mont Blanc, I guess.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, yum. So we'll fold in some chestnut puree, and then gently and slowly, we will unroll our room-temperature sponge cake. And does it cool down relatively quickly?
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, pretty quickly. I mean, you can tell if it's cool by just touching it. I would give it more time rather than less, because you don't want to add the cream to it.
Jessie Sheehan:
If it's still warm, you mean.
Skye McAlpine:
You don't take the chestnut puree whilst it's warm, because it would melt and get very...
Jessie Sheehan:
And we'll spread the chestnut cream all over the cake, leaving just about a 3/4 inch border around the edges, then we'll gently roll the sponge back up. This time without the paper.
Skye McAlpine:
No paper.
Jessie Sheehan:
That would be so sad.
Skye McAlpine:
If you've got the paper in this time, that is wrong.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, that'd be so sad. And I love this. You say, "If the sponge splits a little as you roll it, don't worry, you're really not going to notice once it's covered in ganache."
Skye McAlpine:
No prizes for the un-split sponge in this instance.
Jessie Sheehan:
No. Then we'll carefully lift the cake, after we've rolled it, and place it on a cutting board or a serving dish. And you say-
Skye McAlpine:
Yes, this is key, because once you ice it, there's no turning back, you're not going to be able to move it. So think where you want to create your scene, and particularly if you want to go really over the top with the little meringue mushrooms, or whatever, then you probably want a nice... I think the board is quite nice, actually, because you have that surface to work on. And you might want to travel a little bit further than the actual thing.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. When you try to lift it, I've used, we call them fish spatulas. Almost like a big metal spatula that sort of has, I want to say tines.
Skye McAlpine:
Oh, I know what you mean.
Jessie Sheehan:
Do you know what I mean?
Skye McAlpine:
I know what you mean. I actually don't have one, but I've seen them.
Jessie Sheehan:
What do you use to lift?
Skye McAlpine:
I think I use my kind of cake slice-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, that's-
Skye McAlpine:
... and I just shuffle it over.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yep.
Skye McAlpine:
But I basically just use whatever implement I feel like it's going to be, like you say, get, scoop under.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
And then, you can use your... I mean, it's pretty solid and compact at this point. I mean, I wouldn't hold it just on one side or anything, but. It's quite heavy.
Jessie Sheehan:
I think you could also maybe use, you know like a very large offset spatula, that you might frost the cake with like?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes, something like that-
Jessie Sheehan:
Like if you had two of those.
Skye McAlpine:
... would be, and of course, we say "lift." But I mean, if you've got your board here, and it's there, I'd bring the board close to it. And you could do quite a sort of shuffle, you don't have to do a whole-
Jessie Sheehan:
Totally, totally.
Skye McAlpine:
... up.
Jessie Sheehan:
Cover it with plastic wrap, set it in the fridge to chill. So, another thing for people to remember, whatever you're placing it on, make sure it'll fit in your refrigerator.
Skye McAlpine:
A hundred percent. Yes.
Jessie Sheehan:
I've been there, done that.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah.
Jessie Sheehan:
I've been like, "No."
Skye McAlpine:
"Now we're just going to have to move it again."
Jessie Sheehan:
Exactly. Then we're going to set it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes, but it could go up to two days, which is another great reminder about planning, and figuring out how to everything is going to come together.
Skye McAlpine:
Yes, if you feel like you've met your fill, at this point, of the whole baking palaver, that's great, because you can take two days off and revisit.
Jessie Sheehan:
So now we'll make the ganache topping. We'll gently warm some heavy cream in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Bring to just before the boil, so we'll see those teeny tiny bubbles at the edges of the pan. We'll take the pan off the heat, add some chopped bittersweet chocolate. Is there a favorite brand that we might share?
Skye McAlpine:
I'd say the best kind you can afford.
Jessie Sheehan:
Makes sense.
Skye McAlpine:
Honestly, I think it's somewhere where money is well spent.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yes. Because of that flavor.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah.
Jessie Sheehan:
The flavor will really come out. So we'll add the chocolate to the warm cream and stir until completely melted. Then we'll set the ganache in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes until it thickens. I love this descriptor, "until the consistency of thick honey." Do we do any kind of stirring or checking in on it, so it doesn't... You know how sometimes ganache gets cold around the edges, but the-
Skye McAlpine:
Edges. I mean, again, it probably depends a little on your fridge. If your fridge is on the coldest, some people have their fridges are kind of cold, like you put something in there and it almost freezes.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yep.
Skye McAlpine:
I would probably be a little bit more acutely aware. I wouldn't bend over backwards, but if you're pottering in the kitchen anyway, every now and then-
Jessie Sheehan:
Give it a little stir.
Skye McAlpine:
... just give it a stir. Also, just out of curiosity, to see what point it's got to. If it's a bit quicker, or a bit slower.
Jessie Sheehan:
Now we're going to make the mushrooms. We're going to heat the oven to 275 degrees. We'll line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a spotlessly clean bowl, we're going to whisk the egg white. And this is just one egg white, which I also love, like a tiny amount.
Skye McAlpine:
A tiny amount. I know. It is actually quite annoying to do with your KitchenAid, so maybe this one you want to do-
Jessie Sheehan:
Do it with your hand.
Skye McAlpine:
... if you have a hand-held. Otherwise, I just lift the bowl up, a practical way of doing it. And then one trick that I have, I mean, it's not my trick, but I think it's quite useful. If you are worried, especially with meringue, if you are worried about the bowl not being 100% spotlessly clean, I just rub it with a lemon. Sometimes I do it anyway. Just rub it down with half a lemon.
Jessie Sheehan:
And then you know for sure.
Skye McAlpine:
Because that kills off the grease. I mean, it probably doesn't matter so much for this one, because there's only one egg white. But I've definitely had occasions where I've tried to make meringue with, I don't know, six or 12 egg whites, and then it-
Jessie Sheehan:
And it just won't.
Skye McAlpine:
... it just won't.
Jessie Sheehan:
It's so frustrating.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, and it feels like such a waste.
Jessie Sheehan:
So we'll whisk the egg white, maybe by hand, with a little cream of tartar until frothy. Remind us why the cream of tartar, that's going to-
Skye McAlpine:
You could skip it, if you don't have it, it's not the end of the world. It just gives you a glossier meringue, and I find it stabilizes it a little bit. I just think, I find my meringue, when I put the cream of tartar in, it's more consistently good, if that makes sense.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
But again, if that's the only thing that's missing, I wouldn't have it stop you making the meringues.
Jessie Sheehan:
Then we'll add some super fine sugar, half a spoonful at a time, whisking constantly until we have stiff, glossy peaks. We're going to spoon the meringue into a piping bag with a round tip, about 1/8th of an inch in diameter.
Skye McAlpine:
If you don't have that tip, if you get the plastic disposable bags, you could just cut the end of it.
Jessie Sheehan:
Perfect. We sometimes just say, those zippered plastic bags? Like a Ziploc.
Skye McAlpine:
You could also use that.
Jessie Sheehan:
Use one of those and-
Skye McAlpine:
You can cut the corner of that, 100%. And then cut it. So again, don't feel like you need to go out and buy all this kit for this.
Jessie Sheehan:
Right. So we're going to pipe blobs, technical term, blob. Of various sizes, ranging from a nickel to a quarter. I love all of the, like this is clearly the-
Skye McAlpine:
It's so fascinating, because I've only really properly paid attention to the English version. And I'm like, "Ooh, a nickel. A dime."
Jessie Sheehan:
I know. That's what I was thinking when I was reading it. I was like, "Oh, I know what a nickel is. I know what a quarter is." With a piping bag held directly above the area where you're piping, and then you're pulling up on the bag quickly to make little pointed-
Skye McAlpine:
Tops.
Jessie Sheehan:
... pointed tops. And these will be our mushroom tops. So is the idea that our little mushrooms will have sort of a little tiny pointy hat?
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah. I think it makes them, because I did it as well, where I did it as sort of circles, like pennies, I guess. But it doesn't look as good. Whereas I think when you pull up a bit, then you get that sort of the mushroom in Fantasia, which is what I love, as the Platonic ideal of a mushroom. It kind of has, it's not a pointy hat, and this won't be pointy because you're not going to be able to get a point. It's not flat. It's not a disc.
Jessie Sheehan:
I love that. I love that. And then we'll-
Skye McAlpine:
And you can also just wet your finger, and use your finger to shape it a little bit if you want to, on the top. If you want something that's flatter, you can just press it down.
Jessie Sheehan:
Then we'll lightly dust those tops with cocoa powder. And next, we're going to pipe the stems of the mushrooms by, again, pulling up gently on the piping bag as we apply even pressure. We're basically trying to create little towers, or stems, on which we can balance those mushroom tops.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, that's right.
Jessie Sheehan:
And we're going to pipe them to different heights, just so that-
Skye McAlpine:
You have a different height. It's quite nice, if you can. And probably will anyway, because unless you're an incredibly precise baker, which I mean, I certainly am not. It would be very hard to get exactly the same height, anyway. So I think it's quite nice in a way to make a little virtue of that, by having them be different heights.
Jessie Sheehan:
And we're basically, we're piping them so that it's almost as if they're standing up on the sheet tray. We're not like, piping lines.
Skye McAlpine:
No, no. Exactly. You're piping it to be, effectively, like a little tower.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. Then we'll bake for one hour, we'll turn our oven off, and we'll leave in the oven to cool for the second hour.
Skye McAlpine:
Do not open the oven-
Jessie Sheehan:
For that second.
Skye McAlpine:
... I mean, actually, it doesn't really matter for these ones.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
But for meringues, generally, you do the sort of baking for an hour, and then you switch off the oven and you leave them in for at least another hour. And then just to have that leap of faith, of not opening the oven in between. And these it won't matter so much, because they're little, and they're more decorative. It's not, but it's good if, a little...
Jessie Sheehan:
Do you ever do that thing? I feel like sometimes people will put the handle of a wooden spoon or something in the oven, to keep it ajar for that second hour?
Skye McAlpine:
I know people do that, but I just leave it in the oven to cool. But then again, I'm not sure if that's to do with my oven. But I find that works really, I must say, I don't want to jinx things, but touching wood, that gives me pretty consistently great product.
Jessie Sheehan:
And do you do the same thing if you're making like a pavlova, where you want the center to be-
Skye McAlpine:
I do.
Jessie Sheehan:
... chewy, and marshmallow-y?
Skye McAlpine:
So with these guys, because they're so little, you won't get an especially chewy center. But if you use that exact same recipe, but instead of shaping it as mushrooms, you just sort of did it all, like you say, as a nest for a pavlova. That would give you the kind of nice, chewy meringue.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. Now we're going to assemble our mushrooms. So we'll create a makeshift double boiler. We'll bring a sauce pan of water to boil, melt some bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl over this simmering water.
Skye McAlpine:
But also, if you have a microwave, you could just microwave your chocolate to melt. It's just that it's less of a science, and more of a just, go 10 seconds at a time until you get to the right place.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. I'm very microwave-forward. I will be melting my chocolate in the microwave, but you could also do it in this double boiler. And then we'll dab a little bit of the melted chocolate on the center base of each mushroom top, and then carefully stick the stem to it.
Skye McAlpine:
And that bit is the bit that's a little bit fiddly, and just have the patience, and stick with it. I find I usually end up propping the mushrooms up against tins, or bits of... Just to hold it together. Or if you have the patience of just holding it. I don't understand why, but some it feels like they stick together really easily, and some they don't.
Jessie Sheehan:
Less so.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah, less so. But just keep-
Jessie Sheehan:
Is the-
Skye McAlpine:
... especially if you're doing it in the microwave, just keep remelting your chocolate. Do you know what I mean?
Jessie Sheehan:
Yes.
Skye McAlpine:
Just kind of, you-
Jessie Sheehan:
Keeping it hot.
Skye McAlpine:
And you don't actually need a huge number, either.
Jessie Sheehan:
Is the idea that we would place the stem onto our base, and then sort of hold it together for a few seconds or for a minute-
Skye McAlpine:
Yes.
Jessie Sheehan:
... until it sort of adheres?
Skye McAlpine:
Yes.
Jessie Sheehan:
And then we can let it gently just sit by the counter, or leaning against the can.
Skye McAlpine:
Exactly. Leaning against the tin, or leaning against something, to sort of help it stay together.
Jessie Sheehan:
The chocolate hardens and sets usually about 30 to 60 minutes, to be completely set, and you say we can put them in the refrigerator.
Skye McAlpine:
In the fridge. Yes. If you want to speed that process up, 100%, just pop them straight in the fridge. Especially if you're making this somewhere, like it's cold here right now, so it's less true. But if you're somewhere warm. And this is actually quite a nice pudding to eat for Christmas, because it's not actually hot and heavy.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
It's chocolate-y, and maybe it's not light, but it's in the sort of light pudding family. So then you could, fridge, or presumably even freezer if you need to, just very quickly for sort of 10 minutes or something.
Jessie Sheehan:
Now we're going to assemble the cake. We'll take the cake from the fridge.
Skye McAlpine:
This is the fun part.
Jessie Sheehan:
I know. I always love this about bûche de Noël, which is so easy, but it's magic when it happens. But you just diagonally slice, like four inches across.
Skye McAlpine:
There's that moment where you just think, "Oh God, this is wrong, this is wrong." But it's the right thing to do, because otherwise you have a log that looks quite artificial, but you need the branch-
Jessie Sheehan:
The branch. Yeah. I love that.
Skye McAlpine:
And you create that. And then you can really play around. The branch can be, the log can be whatever you want it to be. You can keep cutting off little slivers and popping them along the actual log, as much as you like. It could be a twig. It could have a sort of, two ends like a V, if you wanted.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah. No, I just loved the first time I ever did that. I was like, "Oh my gosh, it looks like a branch." I couldn't believe it. But you basically will diagonally slice about four inches from one end, and place that angled piece against the side of the roll to make a little branch. We'll slowly spoon the ganache, which is now sort of this consistency of thick honey, over the cake. Spreading it evenly, covering the whole thing, including the ends.
Skye McAlpine:
And this can be a bit messy-
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
... and there's nothing you can do. And I just use, you just have lots of kitchen towels on hand, and kind of scoop up and wipe up around the base, if you need to. And know that icing sugar will cover a multitude of sins.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yes.
Skye McAlpine:
Yes, yes, yes.
Jessie Sheehan:
So we can use like a damp paper towel, let's say, to clean away the messy chocolate, or a dish towel, from the board or the serving dish. Then we'll set it back in the fridge for about 30 minutes, just so the ganache can set, harden a little. The cake can stay this way, now, for three days. I love that you give us all the stages where we could stop and do something else.
Skye McAlpine:
Yeah. Move on.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yep.
Skye McAlpine:
Do something else.
Jessie Sheehan:
So now we'll decorate the cake. We'll use a toothpick, but I wondered, do you ever use a fork?
Skye McAlpine:
You could use a fork, 100%, like a toothpick, fork.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
Whatever. Even a knife, whatever you want. But you're basically just tracing ridges, because at this point it looks quite blobby, I would say.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
And you want to create a little bit of texture that in some way replicates bark, even if it's not an accurate replication, at least the kind of cartoon-like click.
Jessie Sheehan:
So we'll create these textured lines, like tree bark, all over the cake. And we'll gently prop our little meringue mushrooms against the cake. We'll add a few sprigs of red currants, maybe some rosemary here and there, and then before serving, we'll dust with a little confectioner's sugar.
Skye McAlpine:
And icing sugar is kind of a magical moment, because that bit really brings it, I think, to life.
Jessie Sheehan:
Oh my gosh.
Skye McAlpine:
The wow moment.
Jessie Sheehan:
Do you try to do the confectioner's sugar right before serving, or does it not matter?
Skye McAlpine:
I think it doesn't matter too much, but I always think with icing sugar, the closer to serving you do it, the happier it is.
Jessie Sheehan:
The better, the better.
Skye McAlpine:
But I think it doesn't matter too much with this one, because it'll be fine. Also, you can always do it, and then have a little bit of icing sugar out to one side.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah, to do it again.
Skye McAlpine:
I mean, to just do another quick toss.
Jessie Sheehan:
Yeah.
Skye McAlpine:
If it gets blown away, or absorbed, or something.
Jessie Sheehan:
Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today, Skye.
Skye McAlpine:
Thank you.
Jessie Sheehan:
And I just want to say that you are my cherry pie.
Skye McAlpine:
Aw. This has been so, so fun.
Jessie Sheehan:
That's it for today's show. Thank you to California Prunes and Diamond of California Nuts for supporting our show. You can find today's recipe at cherrybombe.substack.com. Don't forget to follow She's My Cherry Pie on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and tell your pals about us. She's My Cherry Pie is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Our producers are Kerry Diamond, Catherine Baker, and Jenna Sadhu. Thank you so much for listening to She's My Cherry Pie, and happy baking.