pistachio butter pudding pops

/

“dirty pop” has been stuck in my head all weekend, except all of the dirties have been replaced with “puddin” because it’s #popsicleweek and our lunch table* made pudding pops!!! 

*the imaginary lunch table of stephanie, lily, alana, michelle, and me. and by lunch table i mean group text thread, which is kind of the same thing when you spend all of your time at home in matchy sweats. 

we’re making pudding pops because pudding is a delicious, underrated food, and it’s kind of like grapes in that it’s good right out of the refrigerator but great right out of the freezer. the change color popsicles and those siamese popsicles were super cool but i’ve always always preferred creamy pudding pops, so i’m extra excited about this popsicle week. and if one side effect of our flooding the internet with pudding pop recipes is that bill cosby isn’t the first result when you google image search “pudding pop,” i’ll consider that a victory. 

this recipe is based on these peanut butter graham cracker pudding pops from a few years back and inspired by my favorite jell-o pudding flavor growing up. does anyone else think it’s kind of quirky that no matter how basic the grocery store is, the jell-o mix section always has the very non-basic flavor of pistachio? it’s like chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, and butterscotch. the four main flavors in life. stoop was all about butterscotch. i liked green. and when i got my wisdom teeth out i was mad that i couldn’t have the nutty bits in the pistachio pudding so mum made me basil infused pudding. i was so drugged up but i remember that as being a great consolation pudding!

this pistachio pudding is special because it is made with pistachio ~butter~, something that is always left out of the nut butter aisle. (how is it that the nut butter aisle is less hip than the pudding aisle?) but it’s ok because that’s what food processors are for. you put the pistachios in, you turn it on, you check instagram for 5 or 10 minutes, and then magically all of the nuts have let their oils out and what was once a pile of nuts is now a creamy butter. it makes these pops so creamy that they don’t really want to let go of any popsicle molds, so my solution is to make them in little paper dixie cups that you rip off right before enjoying. chocolate dip is optional. sprinkles are not. and a good food processor is required. if you don’t have one you can try and hunt down pre-made pistachio butter or simply sub the pistachio butter for 1/2 cup of another nut butter or…tahini????

anywho, happy #popsicleweek everyone!!! thanks to billy for putting together yet another fantastic celebration of summer!! check out all of the participating popsicles here, and definitely check out the other pudding pops at our lunch table:

stephanie made carrot cake pudding pops with cream cheese pudding which sounded so good and made me want to put labneh in mine but then i ate all the labneh in the house. 

lily made banana pudding pops which i am not going to eat because bananas are the devil but i want you to eat them if bananas are not your devil.

alana made matcha azuki pudding pops which she swore would turn out ugly but i knew that they would not be.

michelle made strawberry pudding pops that have yellow cake in them!!! gotta hide these from eggboy otherwise he will start foaming at the mouth. 

pistachio butter pudding pops

makes 6 (3 ounce) pudding popsicles

ingredients

1 c (128g) roasted unsalted pistachios

1 tb cornstarch

1 1/2 c (340g) + 2 tb whole milk

3/4 c (150g) granulated sugar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

Zest of 1/2 a lemon

 

Sprinkles (i used these)

 

Optional: melted chocolate stirred with a bit coconut oil for dipping 

clues

First, make the pistachio butter. In a food processor, blend the pistachios, scraping the sides occasionally, until very creamy and spreadable, about 5-10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of milk to make a slurry. Set it aside.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the remaining milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract, and pistachio butter and heat over medium heat, whisking often. When it begins to steam, whisk in the cornstarch slurry and continue whisking for a few minutes until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Stir in the lemon zest and remove it from heat. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes, whisking occasionally.

Spoon into 6 (3-ounce) paper cups. Top with sprinkles, place popsicle sticks into the centers and freeze until firm, about 5 hours or overnight.

Optional: once popsicles are frozen, melt about a cup of chocolate chips in a double boiler and stir in a tablespoon of coconut oil. Let it cool to room temp. rip the paper cups off of the popsicles and dip them in the chocolate. Serve or stick em right back in the freezer. 

-yeh!

p.s. shoutout to pudding skin singles. 

chocolate chip rosemary scones + eggsister's bridal shower!

/

alright, we defrosted the princess cakes successfully and pulled off a super fun scandinavian woodland tea party bridal shower for eggsister!!!! we held it out in the woods behind our house last weekend and showered eggsister with love and giggles before it actually showered raindrops. organizing showers might be my new favorite hobby so i told eggsister and eggsisterfiancé this weekend at the twins game to get to werk on miniature humans asap so that i can plan a baby shower.

here was our menu!

rhubarb princess cakes

rose petits fours- from erin’s book which will be out this fall. they were so good and rosy and moist, that recipe alone would make buying her book worth it so go preorder it right this second (and zomg watch the trailer on her preorder page it's so hypnotizing and satisfying).

sprinkle cookies and elderberry jelly thumbprints- used this dough for both

strawberry oreos 

chocolate chip rosemary scones (see below)

a little woodland cake- vanilla cake with nutella frosting, decorated with crushed cookie "dirt," buttercream succulents, fresh rosemary, dala horse cookies, almonds, sprinkles, shaved rhubarb roses, a marzipan sign painted with food coloring, and marzipan mushrooms. yes, i went wild with the toothpicks to make sure everything stayed in place. 

tea sandwiches- egg salad, pimento cheese, baloney (eggsister’s idea not mine but you know i jumped at the opportunity to buy baloney)

chopped veggies with yogurt ranch- i’m putting that recipe in my yogurt book!

my mom’s quiche! and i even used homemade pie crust (sarah’s crust!) the quiche recipe is on a super old newspaper clipping that my mom put in a homemade cookbook for me a long time ago, but one of our shower guests was asking for it so here it is: pre-bake a pie shell for 10 min at 375. combine these: 5 eggs, 1 1/2 c half and half, 1/4 tsp dry mustard, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/16 tsp cayenne, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/4 c grated gruyere or swiss, 1 c finely chopped onion (softened in a skillet for 5-7 min), 8 strips bacon or 1/2 c ham. pour into pie shell, bake at 375 until set (begin checking for doneness at 45 min). 

rhubarb hibiscus tea- from shelly’s book and everybody loved it! it wasn’t too sweet and the color was such a pretty shade of pink that the clear glass bottles of it were like decorations themselves. 

here are some make-ahead tips in case you’re planning a shower: pretty much all of the sweet things could be made ahead. the princess cakes, cookies, and scones are able to be fully assembled and then frozen for up to a couple of weeks in advance. defrost in the fridge the day before and then bring to room temp the day of. i made the cake and the petits fours a few days before and stored them in the fridge. i prepped the sandwich fillings the day before and assembled the sandwiches the day of. and the quiche i also made the day before and then stored in the fridge until it was time for the party. 

for decorations, we referred to melissa’s book, scandinavian gatherings. that book is so stinkin cute. eggboy and i made the mushroom felt garland, the polymer clay mushroom sandwich picks, and the teacup terrariums using vintage teacups that have been in the eggfamily for generations. and eggboy made the tiered tree trunk stands from trunks in our yard! 

we also made flower crowns! we used pipe cleaners instead of floral tape since they were easier to distribute to all of the guests, but they came out so beautifully and convinced eggsister to have flower crowns at her wedding. our surprise decoration/activity was a homemade dala horse piñata. his name was bojack horseman. we made him a few weeks ago out of cardboard and a whole lot of packing tape (no need to do the paper mache thing, it turns out!) and hid him in a closet until the party. every so often we’d take him out and admire our work, which up close looked a little *rustic* but still we were really proud. i actually got kind of sad when it was time to whack him with a stick. luckily only his belly broke to let out all of the gummy bears and ring pops and the rest of him stayed in tact. no one except for little eleanor the flower girl went for the candy, everyone was sugared out. so our job was complete!

happy almost wedding, eggsister!!!!!!!!!

here is the recipe that i used for the chocolate chip rosemary scones. they are a basic buttery scone that have been infused with fresh rosemary. i added a bit of orange zest too because i always feel like that helps accentuate the rosemary flavor in the way that espresso boosts cocoa and cinnamon boosts tahini. great aunt ethel said that these were the best scones she’s ever had! i’ll take it, especially from ethel because she is a baking queen. 

and like all things that i infuse with one herb, i suddenly want to try them out with other herbs. mint chocolate chip scones? basil chocolate chip scones????

chocolate chip rosemary scones

makes 15 scones

ingredients

for the scones:

2 c (240g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 tb baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

6 tb (75g) sugar

zest of 1/2 orange

1/2 c (113g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2" cubes

6 oz (170g) chocolate chips

1/2 c (113g) rosemary cream (recipe below)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

for the glaze:

3 tb (40g) reserved infused rosemary cream

1 c (120g) powdered sugar

pinch of kosher salt

clues

for the scones:

preheat the oven to 400ºf. line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and orange zest. pulse to combine. add the butter and continue to pulse until butter is pea-sized. 

pour the mixture into a large bowl and then add the chocolate chips.

In a medium bowl, whisk together rosemary cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.

Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and roll it out to 1" thick. cut out 2" circles using a biscuit cutter and place on baking sheets, 1 1/2" apart. bake until bottoms are lightly browned, beginning checking for doneness at 12 minutes.

let cool for 10 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.

for the glaze:

Combine reserved cream with the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix until spreadable (if it’s too thick, add a bit of water or additional heavy cream bit by bit until it’s spreadable).

spoon the glaze over the scones while they’re still warm. enjoy!

infused rosemary cream

ingredients

1 c (227g) heavy cream

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

clues

add the heavy cream and rosemary springs to a small saucepan. bring to simmer over medium high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often. let cool then strain out the rosemary. store in the fridge until ready to use. 

-yeh!

rhubarb short ribs

/

ok show of hands, how many of you did your homework and pickled rhubarb last weekend? it's ok if you totally slacked, this short rib recipe actually tastes its best when you take the full 48 hours to make it, which, coincidentally is the minimum amount of time that you want to have your pickles go for. so get started today for a badass supper on sunday. or! spend a week mentally preparing and then go for it, just in time for father's day. cause dad's love meat!!!! and if your dad is anything like my dad he also un-ironically likes the color of rhubarb (pink).

(aside)

pops, why are you wearing a pink shirt??

pops: pink is my favorite color!

pops, why is your collar popped?

pops: it keeps my neck warm!

…was a real conversation that we had in the early 2000s, right around a time when pink popped collars were making their rounds in the preppy crowds of suburban american high schools. but pops doesn’t have an eye on trends, he’s just logical in his fashion choices and undoubtedly literally thought, “pink’s nice, warm necks are also nice, ok time to start my day!” before he cleared his entire wardrobe to make way for 70 different bernie sanders t-shirts, he had a large quantity of ahead-of-his-time millennial pink garments.

(end aside) 

so my dad likes pink! which is part of my explanation for when you ask why we're sprinkling our father's day meat with hot pink pickles. the other part is that we have shit tons of rhubarb and rhubarb with short ribs, it turns out, is the chrissy teigen and john legend of braised meat land. 

this recipe is heavily inspired by the pomegranate molasses braised lamb that i just about died over at zahav last month. they're a multi day production where you cure, braise, rest, reheat, inhale, exhale, and the only smells that really come close to as good all are freshly baked challah and santal 26. these short ribs pull sweet and sourness from a sticky rhubarb jam situation and then get some additional sweetness from their bed of onions that over time get caramelized down to almost an onion jam. the amount of flavor is a lil absurd. to the point where i had to actually pump the breaks a bit with the braising liquid by watering down my chicken stock. but paired with crispy persian rice and a bright pink sour rhubarb pickle, you basically have a perfect dinner. it's actually the dinner i had on my birthday right before eggboy’s cake!

i've done all this with bone-in and boneless short ribs. boneless was easy to pick up in town, while bone-in i had to call around about and then special order which yielded some gnarly grocery store phone holding music. i didn't necessarily find that the flavor (in this recipe at least) was sacrificed by having boneless, so i'll say that you should go with whatever route you'd like since i'm already asking a lot of you by requiring 48 hours for this thing.

the tahdig (crispy persian rice) is a great companion to this!! if you’ve never had it, there are great directions here. it’s just really delicious good rice with a crispy saffrony shell that, when all mixed up with short rib juices, adds some nice texture to the perfect bite. (i made minis in little cocottes and simply cut the cooking times down by a few minutes.) we also had these short ribs in tortillas one night with fresh herbs and a pile of pickled shredded carrots and it was mad good too. you really can’t go wrong. at all. which is what i like about short ribs. they taste so good even if you’re out of shape in the meat department and have to google dumb things like how to cut them. 

rhubarb short ribs

serves 6

ingredients

Kosher salt

1/2 c + 2 tb (125g) sugar

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp ground allspice

Black pepper

5 pounds bone-in short ribs or 4-4 1/2 pounds boneless short ribs

4 c (500g) rhubarb, chopped and divided

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 head of garlic, peeled, cloves smashed

2 tb olive oil

about 2-3 c chicken stock 

about 2-3 c water

 

for serving:

pickled rhubarb

tahdig (optional: top with crushed pistachios, chopped dates, and rose petals or ana)

clues

day one: in a small bowl combine 2 tb salt, 2 tb sugar, the fennel, allspice, and a bunch of turns of pepper. rub it all over the short ribs and place them in a big pan. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

(get your pickled rhubarb going)

make the rhubarb sauce (this can be made on day 1 or day 2): combine 2 c (250g) of the chopped rhubarb, the remaining 1/2 c (100g) sugar, and a good pinch of salt in a saucepan and heat over medium high heat, stirring often. when the rhubarb softens and collapses into a purée, reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring often, until it reduces to 2/3 c (200g). this should take around 25-35 minutes. stir in the lemon juice, let cool, cover, and refrigerate until further notice.

day two: preheat the oven to 475ºf. place the onions, garlic, and remaining 2c (250g) chopped rhubarb in a roasting pan and toss with the olive oil. if you’re using the same roasting pan that you cured the short ribs in, give the pan a little rinse first to get rid of any excess salt. place the short ribs on top of the onion mixture and roast uncovered for 20 minutes, until browned. 

take it out of the oven and reduce the oven’s heat to 325ºf. pour in the rhubarb sauce and then add the stock and water until it comes halfway up on the short ribs. i do this by pouring in one cup of stock, and then one cup of water, and then another cup of stock, and another cup of water, etc., and stopping once i reach the halfway mark. (you could also just dilute your stock before pouring it in but then you run the risk of having leftover diluted stock.) cover with foil and then bake for 5-6 hours, until the meat is very soft and falls off the bone (if you're going with boneless use your imagination to imagine if they would fall off the bone or not). taste it, add more salt if you feel like it needs it. at this point you *could* give in and eat it, but it’ll be better if you let it sit over night. so let it cool, cover it, and stick it in the fridge.

(oh also on day two, you can get your tahdig rice soaking)

day three: preheat the oven to 350ºf. scrape off the layer of fat that’s accumulated on your short ribs and discard it. cover the pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until heated through. 

make your tahdig. 

slice your pickled rhubarb.

slice and serve your short ribs, spooning some of the juices on top. top with pickled rhubarb (and fresh herbs for greenery if you'd like), serve with tahdig!

leftovers can be frozen! 

-yeh!

mini rhubarb princess cakes

/

our house right now is covered with decorations that fall into one of five categories that altogether make up the theme for eggsister’s bridal shower next weekend:

-cute objects from the woods

-tea parties

-floral things

-scandinavia

-things that are supposed to look like they fall into one of the above categories but because eggboy and i have limited crafting skills they create a category all on their own

we’re actually really proud of our work so far though and have our trusty hot glue gun to thank but we still have a lot of decorations to make before the big day. we’ve been referring to my friend melissa’s book, scandinavian gatherings, for inspiration because it has a whole chapter on creating a woodland tea party, complete with teacup terrarium and mushroom felt garland tutorials. so kewt. i’ve been looking forward to throwing this party since i got the book last year so when eggsister got engaged and i connected the dots that eggsister likes tea and the woods and is scandinavian, i got very (!!!) excited!! since she also loves all things floral, we’re going to be making flower crowns. i’ve been lightly stressed about this because navigating real flowers is even more intimidating than buttercream flowers and i don’t know the protocol for ordering them. is it appropriate to just say: i want a lot of different colored flowers, i don’t know the difference between a petunia and a daisy? maybe we should simply pipe buttercream flower crowns to our heads? that’s got to have some moisturizing benefits…

i can’t tell you the other big activity that we have planned because it’s a surprise. but i can tell you that it is not a game where you guess the date of the bride and groom’s first smooch and it is not the thing where you sit in a circle and watch the bride open presents. it’s way more violent than that. i’ll tell you next week!

the menu is obviously filled with lots of pretty colored tea cakes and crustless tea sandwiches. i’ve got petits fours in the making and little sandwich picks with tiny clay mushrooms on the end, and eggboy is making tiered plates out of tree stumps from the yard. since princess cakes are scandinavian and adorable, i thought they would be perfect for this occasion. i love making mini princess cakes (well, since this whole thing they’ve been referred to as “boobie cakes” in our house.) and i figured that if ikea sells them in freezer section, then i too can make them ahead and keep them in our freezer until sunday. fingers crossed that this works.

our rhubarb patch is currently bursting at the seams so rather than the traditional raspberry jam i’ve gone with a basic rhubarb jam which adds a nice springy sour note. i also made one batch that subbed the almond flour for hazelnut flour, which was great. ooh i bet pistachio flour would also be great! the fun with princess cakes is endless. honestly how could it not be when there is all of that marzipan?

mini rhubarb princess cakes

makes 20 mini cakes

ingredients

for the cake:

1 1/4 c (150g) all-purpose flour

3/4 c (84g) almond flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1/2 c (113g) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c (145g) sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 c (112g) buttermilk

 

for the assembly:

1 c (227g) heavy cream

1/2 c (60g) powdered sugar

a pinch of kosher salt

 

1/4 c (90g) rhubarb jam, store bought or homemade (Recipe below)

 

13 oz (370g) marzipan

food coloring

Powdered sugar, for dusting

clues

for the cake:

preheat the oven to 350°f. line a quarter sheet pan with parchment and set aside.

combine the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a separate large bowl, use an electric or stand mixer to beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. add the egg, vanilla, and almond and beat well. add 1/3 of the the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. then add 1/3 of the buttermilk. repeat with another third of each, and then the final third, mixing until just combined.

spread the batter out evenly in the quarter sheet pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 18 minutes.

let the cake cool fully in the pan (the cake can be made in advance and frozen) and then use a biscuit cutter to cut into 20 2" circles.

for the assembly.

make whipped cream by beating the heavy cream, sugar, and salt to stiff peaks.

spread each cake circle with a layer of jam, and top with a small mound of whipped cream. stick in the freezer while you prep the marzipan.

prep the marzipan by kneading food coloring into the marzipan, dusting your work surface with powdered sugar if it’s sticky. knead a majority of it with blue or green, and then color a small ball of it with pink for the roses and leave another small ball uncolored for the petals. roll the marzipan out to 1/8" thick. cut out a large circle, and then press it down around each of cakes, trimming off edges and re-rolling scraps. 

make little marzipan roses with pink marzipan by making little flat snakes and rolling them up in a swirl, add little petals, and place on top of the cakes.

serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a day or two until serving. enjoy!

rhubarb jam

ingredients

2 c (250g) chopped rhubarb

1/2 c (100g) sugar

a pinch of kosher salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp rosewater, optional

juice of 1/2 lemon

clues

in a saucepan, combine the rhubarb, sugar, salt, vanilla, and rosewater (if using). cook over medium heat until the mixture gets bubbly and then reduce the mixture over medium heat until thick and sticky, stirring often, about half an hour. stir in lemon juice, let cool and store in the fridge. 

-yeh!