Been a minute…
Jess, rolling out the pastry dough like a queen.
What can I say friends, life happens, and I’ve been away from this cozy little digital space. But, I’ve still been baking — always baking and ready to get back to working my way through more recipes together.
But, before I return to Dessert Person to try my hand at something new, let me first begin with a friendship appreciation post. I love a weekend of baking up a storm, but when you get to do it with a someone you absolutely adore, who is just as nerdy about baking as you? It’s the best.
My friend Jess and I had been talking about doing a baking weekend together for a while. Finally, we decided that we just needed to book a date.
Next, it was time for our list. We started with a massive one, and then whittled it down for the sake of time and sanity.
We finally landed on:
Roasted garlic focaccia
Sour cream chive rolls
Blueberry cream cheese Danish
Currants roll
Lemon cake with lemon buttercream
Now, as with any baking endeavor there were challenges. It turned out to be a pretty hot weekend, and when you add the fact that we had the oven on all day you’re bound to feel it — and so does the dough. Worked in our favour for the bread, but the Kouign-amann pastry got a little warm. There was also the moment where I mixed a whole egg (instead of just the yolk) into our sweet cream cheese mixture for the Danish and then wanted to cry when I realized we were out of cream cheese (it had already been many hours of baking). This is where Jess was an absolute hero, and zipped down the street in her apron for more.
Note: The reason why the whole egg didn’t work in our sweet cream cheese filling is that there is a lot of extra liquid in the white which throws off the balance and the filling would not have set the way we needed.
Also, when pastry gets warm you risk a bit of butter spillage when it bakes. Cold pastry is the key to flaky layers, but I have to say our Danish still had a great flaky texture.
Despite the challenges, we accomplished our full list and could both attest that we had made and created a delicious rotation.
You can follow my beautiful friend on Instagram: @bunchfacebakes for the most gorgeous cakes and other sweet and savoury creations.
And, I hope this inspires you to go after that recipe you’ve been wanting to make, and if you can get in the kitchen with a friend. It’s so worth it, I promise - for the bakes, for the conversations and all the laughs (and occasional tears!)