Hello, and happy summer! We are now, I feel, in the full swing of it. Joy Cho makes this point in her column For Goodness Cake, accompanying a recipe for a strawberries and cream slab cake. She notes that the cake is great for its ability to both feed many people and travel well, and calls “each fruity, creamy bite a delightful reminder that summer is really here.” And I’d say there’s also something about fruit-based desserts in general, especially ones made for a crowd, that have this effect.
I felt it while making a pie at a holiday gathering last weekend. It was, everyone agreed, a particularly good pie. Maybe it was good because I was baking it away from my own home in a mercifully well-stocked kitchen. And I can say for sure that the pie looked especially nice in this Farmhouse Pottery pie dish. But I think it was mostly because of Dappled, the Nicole Rucker cookbook I’ll take any opportunity to recommend. Buy it, make a pie or other fruit-filled dessert for your friends, and embrace summer.
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A Hyun Jung Jun dome cake, Joy Cho's strawberry slab cake, and a blueberry and blackberry pie I made last weekend. |
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Dome cakes are another stellar group dessert, especially the ones you see on Instagram, covered in fruit and elaborate ruffles. Bettina Makalintal wrote about the trend, including the hemisphere cake pans you can buy to make your own.
Material has designed a picnic tote specifically to tote a big bowl, but I bet it could also carry a dome cake.
On the subject of goods with highly specific use cases: Blue Bell is making koozies for ice cream pints. They sold out almost immediately, but Blue Bell promised to stock more soon in their country store, which also sells other Blue Bell merch and ice cream accessories. In the meantime, this TikTokker has an ingenious solution for keeping your pint cold and your hands dry.
Urban Outfitters is selling a fun set of pasta sheets — as in bedsheets with a dried pasta pattern, not the things you use to make lasagna. Sleep in them while wearing these Rachel Antonoff farfalle pajamas.
The late designer Virgil Abloh partnered with Alessi, the Italian housewares company behind the bird whistle tea kettle, among other iconic designs. The result — Occasional Object — debuted at Milan design week and consists of an industrial-looking stainless steel knife, fork, and spoon, plus a carabiner that holds them together. You can sign up now to buy one of the 999 pieces, or shop Abloh’s other designs for housewares, including cups, plates, and even a $105 set of straws, from his label Off-White.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading. If you liked this email, please forward it to a friend. — Monica |
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