Bake from Scratch January/February 2021

Across the world, people had to adapt to exponential change and upset. Despite all of this, the good can’t be forgotten. During the early days of the shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, people who had never considered themselves bakers found themselves elbows-deep in dough, trying everything from cake to sourdough for the very first time. Then, on June 19, 2020, thousands of bakers—including myself and many of the Bake from Scratch team—banded together to host a global bake sale for Bakers Against Racism, an organization that encourages home bakers and professional pastry chefs to raise funds for local and national charities through bake sales. Each cookie, cake, and blondie sold has helped contribute to their current tally of $1.9 million, making this the most successful bake sale in history. To me,…

RECIPE INDEX BARS AND COOKIES Benne Wafers 109 Cakey Brownies 91 Cheesecake-Swirled Fudgy Brownies 92 Fudgy Brownies 92 Orange-Chocolate Brownie Cookies 64 Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Cakey Brownies 91 Tiramisù Frangipane Thumbprint Cookies 81 BREADS Banana-Peanut Butter Biscuits 48 Cinnamon-Swirled Banana Loaf 13 Frangipane-Jam Buns 84 Peanut-Jalapeño Cornbread 52 Zingy Lemon Roll Biscuits with Lemon Cream Cheese Drizzle 33 CAKES Berry Frangipane Cake 83 Coffee-Peanut Meringue Cake 53 Layered Grapefruit Cake 62 Mama’s 7Up Pound Cake 34 Mixed Citrus Curd Crumb Cake 60 Peanut Butter Cake 27 Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream 23 FROSTINGS, FILLINGS, GARNISHES, AND GLAZES Brown Sugar Candied Peanuts 28 Candied Orange Peel 64 Candied Pecans 44 Caramel Sauce 44 Cheesecake Layer 92 Cinnamon-Ginger Streusel 60 Citrus Glaze 60 Coffee German Buttercream 53 Hazelnut-Almond Frangipane 84 Mascarpone Buttercream 81 Mixed Citrus Curd 60 Peanut Butter Frosting 27, 91 Peanut Praline Filling 28 Praline Cream Filling 44 Rum Frangipane Filling 81 Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream 23 Vanilla Glaze 44 Vanilla Streusel 84 Vanilla Whipped Topping…

PRODUCTS WE’RE CRUSHING ON KITCHEN MUST-HAVES ENVIRONMENTAL CHIC House Helper Treeless Linen Towels are made from the same luxurious, natural linen that makes Linoto products unsurpassed in quality. As part of the company’s vow of sustainability through its Zero Waste Program initiative, these perfectly sized tea towels utilize leftover fabric pieces. Lining your breadbasket, covering baked goods, or simply cleaning up after a day of culinary inspiration has never been so refined. Available at linoto.com, $8, multiple colors available SIMPLY CHIC STONEWARE Tracie Hervy is the master ceramicist behind these elegant Shallow White Stoneware Trays. Tracie’s simple yet sophisticated designs are the perfect backdrop for any baked good. Use these platters for cakes, pastries, or cookies and bars. Beautiful and chic, the stoneware trays will add superior elegance to your creations. Available at bloomist.com, $108 THE ONLY UTENSIL…

BAKERS AGAINST RACISM ARLEY ARRINGTON RICHMOND, VIRGINIA How did you get involved with Bakers Against Racism? AA: “When I first saw the Instagram post announcing Bakers Against Racism, I was immediately on board. I’ve been running an online bakery, Arley Cakes, for a while, and I’ve always brought my beliefs and activism to my baking. For the Richmond, Virginia, fundraiser, I baked little cookies with “Black Lives Matter” frosted on top. Since then, I’ve been auctioning cakes to the highest bidder and hosting other bake sales, donating the proceeds to a variety of causes, from a local fundraiser for school supplies to Spread the Vote, which boosts voter registration. Basically, since the first bake sale, I’ve strived to do one bake sale a month. Even if the donations are small, I love the opportunity…

It’s hard to imagine that the world-famous peanut lives in a constant state of identity crisis. While it has the flavor characteristics of a nut, boasts the nutritional content of a seed, and develops underground like a tuber, the peanut actually belongs to the same plant family as beans and peas, called Leguminosae. As a legume, it is like no other in its class. Roasted, it releases aromatic oils and becomes undeniably crunchy; boiled, the peanut turns soft and creamy. It can be ground into peanut butter, pressed into cooking oil, and milled into flour. The peanut may forever struggle with the existential question, “Am I a pea, or am I a nut?” Whatever the answer, it remains the perfect baking companion in every way, shape, and form. The peanut was…

My wife, Deborah, is from Perry, Georgia, and came from a very close-knit family. She had five aunts, and standing on her front porch, you could see four of the five aunts’ homes. Big Annie was one of the aunts. She was 97 when I met her, living comfortably and independently by herself. As she greeted us, that classic Southern hospitality kicked in, and she took us to her porch freezer. She pulled out this brown cylinder, tightly wrapped in plastic. I thought, “This is interesting.” We headed back to the parlor, talked for 45 minutes, and then Big Annie excused herself and returned saying, “I thought you might like to try my peanut butter cake.” She served us cake wedges thick enough to choke a horse, but I have…