Recipes

Avery’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Avery’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our friendship aside, Avery Ruzicka, the head baker and my partner at Manresa Bread, makes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use an electric hand mixer, just be sure to keep the speed low so as not to break up the walnut and chocolate pieces. The dough also bakes from frozen exceptionally well, so you can preemptively practice self-control and make yourself just a couple at a time. Simply form the dough into a log and store it, wrapped tightly, in your freezer for up to 1 month. When you find yourself in a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie kind of mood, slice off a disk or two of dough and bake them for a minute longer than called for below.
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Ingredients

Makes about 10 large cookies

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Combine the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
  • Mix on medium-low speed until just combined (not “light and fluffy”), 1 to 2 minutes.
  • With the speed still on medium-low, add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  • Turn the speed to low and add the flour.
  • When the flour has been incorporated, add the baking soda and a pinch of salt.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on low speed for 1 minute more to ensure the ingredients are fully combined.
  • With the speed still on low, add the chocolate, then the walnuts.
  • Mix until just combined.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and check the bottom of the mixer to make sure all the dough is homogeneous.
  • Using a medium-size ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet.
  • Press lightly on top of each ball to flatten it ever so slightly.
  • (The cookies contain a high filling-to-flour ratio, and flattening the top helps maintain a uniform shape and size as they bake.
  • ) Bake for 5 minutes, rotate the pan front to back, and bake until the cookies look just barely set, about 5 minutes more.
  • Transfer to a wire rack to cool, and serve warm or at room temperature.
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Course; Chocolate / Coockies / Biscuit

Cherry Clafoutis

Cherry Clafoutis

This is one of my all-time favorite traditional French desserts, especially for a long lunch party out on the deck. I’ve found that this clafoutis works best when the cherries are left intact (meaning, pits in). The juice comes out in the baking process and pitting them only results in mushy fruit. As an added bonus, not having to remove the cherry pits means this dessert is nearly effortless to make. Just be sure to alert your guests that the cherries have pits! This is also incredibly tasty with fresh sliced figs or apricots, so if you’re lucky enough to find some that are nicely ripe, use them in place of or in addition to the cherries.
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Ingredients

Serves 6

Instructions

  • It helps to know: This recipe requires an 8- or 9-inch baking dish.
  • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  • Grease an 8-inch or 9-inch baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.
  • Sprinkle the dish with 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar, then shake and tilt the dish until it’s evenly coated.
  • Turn the pan upside down and tap it to shake off any excess sugar.
  • Spread the cherries in a single layer in the prepared baking dish.
  • Beat the eggs and the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar together in a large bowl.
  • Whisk in the milk and flour.
  • Add the remaining 5 tablespoons melted butter and a couple of drops of vanilla extract and beat until combined.
  • Pour the batter evenly over the top of the cherries (don’t worry if some of the cherries poke through the batter).
  • Bake until the batter puffs up and begins to turn golden, about 30 minutes.
  • To test for doneness, stick a toothpick into the center of the batter and make sure it comes out clean.
  • Remove the dish from your oven and dust the surface liberally with confectioners’ sugar.
  • Slice and serve warm straight from the oven, or let cool and serve at room temperature.
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Course; Fruit / Pie

Olallieberry Crumble

Olallieberry Crumble

This old-fashioned crumble is homey, perhaps nostalgic, and incredibly easy to make. Serve it warm or at room temperature, on its own or with vanilla ice cream. This probably goes without saying, but it also makes a delicious breakfast the following day. Olallieberries are found at the farmers’ markets in California in the summer months, but you can substitute blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or a combination of your choosing.
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Ingredients

Serves 6

BASE

CRUMBLE

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  • Grease a large baking dish with the butter.
  • Sprinkle the dish with 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar, then shake and tilt the dish until it’s evenly coated.
  • Turn the pan upside down and tap it to shake off any excess sugar.
  • To make the base, stir together the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, the lemon zest, and flour.
  • In a separate bowl, pour the lemon juice over the berries, then very carefully stir them into the sugar and flour mixture.
  • Spread the fruit in a single layer in your prepared baking dish.
  • To make the crumble, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar.
  • Alternatively, you can use a wooden spoon to beat the butter and sugar together until incorporated (but before “fluffy”).
  • Scrape the bowl, then add the flour, salt, and baking soda and stir until a dough forms.
  • Crumble the dough between your fingers over the top of the fruit.
  • Bake until the topping is brown and the berries are bubbling, about 25 minutes.
  • Serve warm.
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Course; Dessert / Fruit

Almond & Oat Crisp with Mixed Berries

Almond & Oat Crisp with Mixed Berries

This is a wonderful way to use an abundance of fruit in the summertime. Choose one type of berry or keep things colorful by using a variety—I even throw in some sliced peaches when they look particularly enticing. Don’t worry about buttering your baking dish: you’ll find yourself scraping up every last bit of the stuck, gooey, caramelized fruit from its sides.
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Ingredients

Serves 6

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  • Wash and fully dry the berries.
  • If using strawberries, wash and hull them (see this page) and cut the larger ones in half.
  • Toss the fruit in a bowl with the granulated sugar, corn starch, and a pinch of salt.
  • Spread the berries in an even layer in a medium ovenproof dish.
  • In a large bowl, combine the flour and butter.
  • Rub the mixture between your palms until the two combine to resemble coarse sand.
  • Add the almonds, brown sugar, and oats and stir to combine.
  • Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons water over the crumble mixture and shake the bowl until the water adheres to the flour and larger pebbles start to form.
  • Scatter the crumble mixture over the surface of the berries.
  • Don’t press down; you want to keep the mixture loose.
  • Bake the crisp until the top is golden and the fruit begins to bubble up to the surface, about 45 minutes.
  • Serve warm
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Course; Fruit / Nuts

Lost Bread with Apples

Lost Bread with Apples

Pain perdu, or French toast, literally translates to “lost bread,” so named because you use dry bread that would normally be thrown away. The dry, firm bread soaks up the egg mixture without getting mushy. Far from lost, this toast is best served as a late-night dessert or even a (very) decadent breakfast. Sweet, yes, but also boozy, which strikes a good balance in my opinion.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, milk, rum, and cinnamon until combined.
  • Whisk in the sugar and a pinch of salt.
  • Pour the mixture into a rimmed baking sheet or casserole dish and lay the bread in the liquid.
  • Set aside, flipping the bread every so often until it’s soaked through, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Place a cooling rack over your sink and set the bread on top.
  • Allow any excess liquid to drip out of the bread.
  • Meanwhile, in a small pot on medium heat, reduce the apple cider to a syrupy consistency, swirling the pan every so often to prevent it from boiling, about 30 minutes.
  • Whisk in 6 tablespoons of the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until melted and combined.
  • Whisk in the apple cider vinegar.
  • Set aside.
  • Preheat your oven to 325°F.
  • Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large ovenproof pan on medium heat until it starts to sizzle and foam.
  • Lay the bread slices in the pan and cook until they’re nicely browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Flip and brown on the other side, 3 to 5 minutes more.
  • Place the pan in your oven and bake until the bread is crisped through, about 15 minutes.
  • Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool for 2 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium pan on medium-high heat.
  • When the butter starts to foam, add the apple and cook, stirring and flipping often, until it caramelizes, about 10 minutes.
  • Divide the bread among serving plates or bowls and top with the caramelized apples.
  • Drizzle on the apple syrup and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
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Course; Bread / Fruit

Rich Chocolate Cake with Sea Salt

Rich Chocolate Cake with Sea Salt

This recipe is best described as a chocolate pound cake—it’s just as rich as it is delicate. The flaky salt sea brings out the flavor of the chocolate in a way that reminds me of salted caramel, my favorite combination of salty and sweet. Though you can make this dessert using a round cake pan, I prefer to use a loaf pan as an allusion to the pound cake. Feel free to make it up to a day in advance and reheat it just before serving.
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Ingredients

Serves 6 to 8

Instructions

  • It helps to know: This recipe requires a scale and a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.
  • Preheat your oven to 325°F.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over high heat.
  • Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with 2 teaspoons of the butter.
  • Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the flour into the pan, then shake and tilt the pan until it’s evenly coated in flour.
  • Turn the pan upside down and tap it on the counter to remove any excess flour.
  • Combine the chocolate and the remaining 115 grams butter in a large heatproof bowl set over the simmering water.
  • Stir until the chocolate has melted and combined with the butter.
  • In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until the mixture lightens in color.
  • Add the remaining 50 grams flour and stir to combine.
  • Add the melted chocolate mixture along with a pinch of kosher salt; mix until an even paste forms.
  • Do your best not to overwork the batter or the cake will lose some of its density.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
  • Set the pan on a baking sheet (which acts as a barrier from the heat and avoids a mess in your oven if the batter spills over).
  • Bake until the cake starts to pull away from the edges of the pan, and the top is browned and caramelized, about 25 minutes.
  • Remove the cake from your oven and let it cool until it’s just slightly warm.
  • Turn the cake out of the pan and cut it into thick slices.
  • To serve, top each slice with a generous sprinkling of flaky sea salt and a dollop of whipped cream.
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Course; Cake / Chocolate

Special Butter Cake

Special Butter Cake

This is a simple, rich, and moist cake for which you should choose your butter (and your friends) wisely. Easily made in California and a handful of other states, the number of which are increasing every four years or so, it’s perhaps a dessert best enjoyed at the beginning of the meal. In the words of Alice B. Toklas describing the Haschich Fudge in her 1954 bestseller The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book: “This is the food of Paradise—of Baudelaire’s Artificial Paradises: it might provide an entertaining refreshment for a Ladies’ Bridge Club or a chapter meeting of the DAR. In Morocco it is thought to be good for warding off the common cold in damp winter weather and is, indeed, more effective if taken with large quantities of hot mint tea. Euphoria and brilliant storms of laughter; ecstatic reveries and extension of one’s personality on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected.”
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Ingredients

Serves 6

Instructions

  • It helps to know: This recipe requires a 9- to 10-inch round cake pan.
  • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  • Grease a cake pan with 2 teaspoons butter.
  • Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the pan, then shake and tilt the pan until it’s evenly coated in the sugar.
  • Turn the pan upside down and tap it to shake off any excess sugar.
  • In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir together the remaining butter and sugar until combined.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each with the wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.
  • Grate the zest from the orange and lemon over the bowl and then add the juice (no need to strain).
  • Mix until smooth.
  • Sift the flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt into a small bowl and stir to combine.
  • Fold the flour mixture into the batter and mix until just combined.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap the pan gently on your countertop to settle the batter into an even layer.
  • Bake until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and turn golden, about 25 minutes.
  • Remove the cake from your oven and let it cool until it’s just slightly warm.
  • Turn the cake out of the pan, cut it into thick slices, and serve.
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Course; Cake

A Stone Fruit & Basil Compote with Mascarpone Cream

A Stone Fruit & Basil Compote with Mascarpone Cream

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Ingredients

MASCARPONE CREAM

COMPOTE

  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups chopped apricots or peaches 4 to 6 medium peaches or apricots
  • 6 to 8 small basil leaves or large leaves halved with kitchen scissors

Instructions

  • To make the mascarpone cream, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until creamy and pale in color.
  • Add the mascarpone and whisk until just incorporated.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.
  • In other words, when you lift the whisk, the egg whites hold their shape.
  • Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture along with the orange juice and zest.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator to firm for at least 30 minutes or up to I hour.
  • Meanwhile, to make the compote, in a small pot over medium-high heat, stir together the sugar and ¾ cup water.
  • Simmer, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the fruit, bring the mixture back to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and simmer until the fruit is completely soft, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the basil to taste.
  • To serve, scoop the compote into bowls and add a dollop of mascarpone cream on top.
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Course; Cheese / Fruit

A Cherry Compote with Lemon Verbena

A Cherry Compote with Lemon Verbena

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Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6

  • 2 cups sweet cherries halved and pitted
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 5 lemon verbena leaves

Instructions

  • In a small pot, combine the cherries and sugar.
  • Add ¼ cup water and the lemon verbena.
  • Set the pot over low heat and stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a simmer.
  • Simmer until the cherries are completely soft, 6 to 8 minutes.
  • Remove the pot from the heat and discard the lemon verbena.
  • Serve warm.
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Course; Fruit

A Mixed Berry Compote

A Mixed Berry Compote

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups mixed berries blackberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, and so on
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions

  • In a bowl, stir together the berries and sugar.
  • Pour the mixture into a pot and set over low heat.
  • Stir gently until the fruit begins to release its juices, about 2 minutes.
  • After the mixture starts to bubble and break down into liquid, simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Serve warm.
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Course; Fruit