Patriotic Picnic

 

Although I've lived in the city for twenty plus years I've never been to any of the free outdoor summer concerts at Stern Grove, mainly because I was normally abroad.   But this year was different since I wasn't going overseas for the summer...thanks COVID.  The San Francisco Symphony was performing at the festival this year on the 4th of July and luckily I was able to secure some tickets.  

 

 

 

Stern Grove is one of those venues where bringing a picnic is expected and encouraged and I was totally on board with that.  Lately I've been really into picnics and I love planning out the different kinds of food and drinks that can be enjoyed outdoors.  Food always seems to taste so much better al fresco, doesn't it?   While yummy food and drink is a requirement I also like to make sure the picnic is visually appealing by using nice serving ware.  As the saying goes, we always eat first with our eyes. 

Since the concert was on the 4th of July I wanted to create a Patriotic Picnic to celebrate the red, white and blue holiday.  [Full disclosure: the food wasn't necessarily red, white and blue, but the decor was!]  When assembling a picnic I like to bring a mix of homemade and store bought items and have a variety of offerings.  Tuna fish sandwiches and some of the desserts (buttermilk panna cotta, Mackles'mores  cookies) were made by yours truly and the rest of the foods (cheese, charcuterie, dip, fruit, crackers) were store bought. 

 

 

No picnic is complete without a cocktail and the one that epitomizes summer to me is a Pimm's Cup.  A British classic, it's one of my favorite summertime drinks and always reminds me of England and Wimbledon.  If you've never had it before it's made with Pimm's, a gin-based liquor, which is mixed with lemon-lime soda, fruits and ice.  I usually tell people it's like a British sangria because it's so light and refreshing.

 

The symphony concert and patriotic picnic were a great success (several guests sitting nearby even commented how impressed they were with the spread!).  If only the temperatures hadn't been in the low 60s and overcast, but that's a typical San Francisco summer for you!

Picnic Basket: Anthropologie

Picnic Blanket: Old Navy

EnamelWare: Cost Plus  

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis and Fresh Berries

 

This is the third post on my blog featuring panna cotta but I think it might be the best tasting one yet.  My friend Maria recently hosted a pre-4th of July bbq at her house and I volunteered to bring the dessert.  Knowing that the main lunch was going to be heavy on proteins, think steak and sausages, I wanted to end the meal with something that was delicious, light and refreshing.    Cue this Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis and Fresh Berries.

 

 

The recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated and couldn't be simpler to make with heavy cream, buttermilk and unflavored gelatin.  My favorite way to serve panna cotta is in mini Weck jars, a dessert presentation I first learned from Ad Hoc restaurant.   Sometimes panna cotta can have a rubber-y texture if there's too much gelatin used, but you won't have that issue with this version.  The cooked cream is silky smooth with just the right amount of firmness.   Delicioso!

 

The recommended way to finish off the dessert is to drizzle the top with honey before topping with fresh berries.   Since I had an abundance of San Joaquin Valley strawberries from my hometown on hand I decided to make a coulis instead.   The strawberry sauce tasted absolutely delicious with the panna cotta and berries.   I'm planning to bring the mini panna cotta to a 4th of July outdoor concert and picnic.  

Rainbow Flag Cookies

As an ally to the LGBTQ+ community I wanted to show my support during Pride Month by making these Rainbow Flag Cookies.  While they may look complicated to make they really aren't.  These cookies are essentially a slice and bake cookie.  I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe and divided the dough into six equal portions which were tinted the colors of the rainbow.  Here's an easy acronym to remember what the colors are and the order they're placed in: ROYGBV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet).

 

To shape the I dough into a flag I used a long, rectangular box that was 12" L x 2 3/4" W x 2" D in size. Each portion of color tinted dough was spread into the box and flattened as evenly as possible before adding the next layer.   An hour-long chill in the fridge ensured that I could easily slice the dough before baking.  I just love how the rainbow flag cookies turned out.  The colors are so vibrant and cheerful.  

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

 

Chocolate Chip Cake

 

This Chocolate Chip Cake came about because of a recent baking failure.  But I've learned that out of defeat one can find victory.  I had seen a post on Instagram for a chocolate chip cake that looked so delicious and was super easy to make, i.e., no appliance needed, so I gave it a go. Sadly I was disappointed with the results.  Instead of chocolate chips that were evenly distributed among the cake I got chips that sunk to the bottom of the cake like an anchor.  On top of that, the cake part was nothing to write home about.  

 

Never one to give up I persevered and decided to apply the chocolate chip concept to a tried and true cake recipe that I've made before.  The three layer cake you see in this blog post is the end result of that adaption and it tastes amazing!   

 

 

The recipe for the white cake and American style vanilla buttercream comes from Cake by Courtney.    If you've never heard of Courtney before I highly recommend you follow her.  Her cakes not only look beautiful, but they also taste incredible.  I think her white cake is the best "from scratch" one out there with an amazingly tender and tight crumb.  My only update to her recipe was the addition of chocolate chips to the cake batter. 

 

While I normally frost my cakes with Swiss meringue buttercream, for this cake I went with Courtney's American-style whipped vanilla buttercream.  American-style buttercream contains no eggs and is made with butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla and salt.  Due to good amount of beating using a stand mixer the texture of the frosting is light and fluffy, similar to SMB. Be forewarned though it is a lot sweeter than European buttercreams.  Moderate application of this buttercream was key to avoid a sickeningly sweet cake.