As I’ve been wrapping things up over the past week, I get a lot of questions, and I welcome them all! I wanted to share some of them with you! (And, this congrats card from a friend’s sweet little lady is amazing. I’m thinking that’s a croissant!)
Favorite Recipe: This is hard, because I’m head over heels in love with so many of them. But, if it was Sophie’s Choice up in here and I had to pick one, like I had to kill the other recipes so this one lives (Is that what happens in Sophie’s Choice? I’ve never actually seen it) I’d choose the Apple Crisp. Paired with vanilla bean ice cream – now that’s heaven. (The apple nougatine tart and the caramel apples are close too!)
Least Favorite Recipe: Hmmm. Not the biggest fan of the chocolate almond toffee or the panforte. And I don’t think they don’t like me either, so I’m not breaking any hearts here.
Must Make: This is also really hard to choose, but I’m going with tea cakes! Any of them! They’re so quick and easy to make, and so incredibly versatile! Breakfast! Afternoon snack! Dessert! You can eat them like hobbits eat that Elvish bread.
Deceptively Difficult: A lot of the recipes involve making so many other recipes. For example, the banana cream pie. Seems simple enough, but it’s not! You make the tart shell, and caramel, and the chocolate, then the pastry cream. Then you’re putting it all together, slicing bananas, and whipping whipped cream. SO COMPLETELY WORTH IT!
Crowd Favorite: (according to Dan) “Any of the tarts,” and I must agree. People loved this one! Those are always done the quickest!
What’s better at the bakery?: It’s always a crazy realization to make things, then eat them and think, “This is it! This tastes just like it did at Tartine!” The devil’s food layer cake comes to mind. The one I made was good, but not nearly as magical as the cake I’ve eaten straight from the source.
Time Consuming: I’m not sure how much people think about the time and effort spent on croissants, but I want you to always think about the work involved the next time you enjoy one. So good, and not particularly difficult I guess, but the time involved beats anything.
Biggest Flop: Surprisingly, nothing was a total disaster! But, I think one of my biggest concerns was the brownies! Isn’t that crazy?! Out of all the fancy things I made it was the brownies that make me want a do-over. They were just SO gooey and raw, and I put them in the oven once they were cooled and it was such a gooey mess that I handed over to a bunch of toddlers! Can’t wait to make these again!
Most exotic ingredients: Rose geranium and fromage blanc – lots of phone calls hunting around for those gems, both with no luck!
The first thing I’m going to make again: Apple crisp and caramel apples are right around the corner since it’s fall again, and they happen to be a couple of my favorites! That brioche is amazing!!! I will be making that pastry cream forever, never need another recipe! Same goes for the caramel! Oh! And the almond rochers are magical!
What are you going to do next?
Oh, I’ve tossed around so many options in my mind. Early on, I even entertained the idea of baking my way through another cookbook – for a brief moment even thought about tackling Tartine Bread! While I am excited to make the Tartine bread and will most likely share about that adventure, I just can’t do another cookbook. I am so looking forward to the freedom of baking whatever I want, experimenting with my own recipes, sharing some family favorites, and some amazing recipes from friends. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to be sharing recipes (I often get asked “Where are the recipes?”) and focusing on the sharing of the food I make, posting some short stories, and other projects, art and collaborations that I’m working on. (There may be a shop down the line too!) I plan on including some guest posts too! Exciting stuff! All of this fun stuff is going to be on a new blog!
It was a little much finishing this project up and wrapping my brain around the past year to properly give the appropriate attention to designing a new blog. So, I’m going to take a break between now and then. I’ll be off collecting fall leaves, taking naps, and writing a lot. Not sure how long this break will be, but I’m so excited for the break as a time to refresh and get super inspired and launch the new blog with some magic. (*Literal magic!)
*Not really. I don’t know any magic.
Until then, I’ll still be on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, if you’re not already my social networking pal. I’ll probably post here on occasasion too! (I’ll be announcing the final winner of the Tartine cookbook giveaway on Friday, so go read how to enter to win!) So, that’s it for now. Thanks so much for loving this blog and cheering me along. It’s meant so much!
So much love,
Emily