sweet potato biscuits and my favorite warming apple dessert ☃️

plus, new videos at last!

Hi friends,

It’s Monday, February 17th, and I’m on set for a film shoot in Massachusetts. It’s been a minute since a kitchen dispatch, and I thought I’d take advantage of a little downtime to say hello.

Here’s all the news that’s fit to newsletter.

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sticky apple pudding on no expert

No Expert has two new episodes out since the last time we talked, starting with a tasty treat perfect for the recent snowstorms here in the Northeast.

Meet my family's sticky apple pudding recipe! This is a warming, spiced bundt cake studded with apples and dates and served with a decadent sweet and salty toffee sauce, something between a gingerbread cake and a sticky toffee pudding. It’s a holiday favorite in my house, but tastes just as good all winter long.

Keep scrolling for the recipe or grab it from the YouTube video.

sweet potato biscuits with baker Aaron Porchia

Another cozy treat perfect for cold weather, my friend Aaron’s sweet potato biscuits are light, fluffy, and flavorful, spiced with nutmeg and lightly sweetened with maple. They pair perfectly with everything from savory stews and soups to a little cream cheese and jam for breakfast. If you’ve been watching the channel or subscribed to the dispatch for a while, you’ll recognize Aaron from his lemon blueberry cake recipe and his appearance in the No Expert summer potluck last year (which also featured these biscuits!).

As well as being a comedian and the sweetest person, Aaron has a small but mighty home baking business based here in NYC called Le Frooty Baker where he makes cakes and other baked goodies to order.

homemade vanilla extract on protocooks

I was thrilled to be back on Chef Frank Proto’s channel ProtoCooks in December, accompanying him as we make his homemade vanilla extract. It’s an easy process, makes a great gift (as long as you remember to start it a few months in advance!), and can help save money on vanilla for those that love to bake.

sticky apple pudding recipe

This is a dessert we make at my family’s house just about every Christmas, but I happen to think the warming spices and fruit-heavy batter make it just as delightful any time the weather gets chilly and gloomy.

The process might seem a little mystifying at first glance – it has some of the hallmarks of a mid-20th century recipe designed for food rationing, like a shockingly small amount of butter – but I promise you, it works.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups apple cider or water

• 2 cups chopped dates

• 4 tsp baking soda

• ⅓ cup butter

• 1 ¼ cup sugar

• 3 eggs

• 2 cups AP flour

• 1 Tbsp baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp nutmeg

• ½ tsp cloves

• 2 cups Cortland apples, peeled & chopped

Method:

1. In a saucepan, bring liquid and dates to a boil. Boil until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. (Will foam up with apple cider.) Cool about 20 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350° F.

3. Beat butter & sugar until light.

4. Add eggs one at a time.

5. Stir in flour and spices alternately with date mixture.

6. Add apples.

7. Pour into greased bundt pan and bake at 350° for 60 minutes or until completely set. Serve warm with toffee sauce and whipped cream.

Toffee Sauce

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup butter

• 1 ¼ cup brown sugar

• ¾ cup whipping cream

• 1 Tbsp vanilla

• Pinch of salt

Method:

Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Add whipping cream and simmer until slightly thickened. Stir in vanilla and salt.

here’s what else is new

• Since the last dispatch, I’ve been all over Yahoo Creators!

  • I was thrilled to be featured in the Yodel over the holidays answering questions about seasonal recipes and entertaining for a crowd. In case you missed them, these articles on festive appetizers and entrees feature tons of great ideas for satisfying meals and snacks great for these winter months.

  • You can also catch my recipes for Spicy Tinned Fish Pasta, Giant Tater Tots, Earl Grey Cinnamon Rolls, and Weeknight Sausage and Greens Pasta on the platform now.

• Engaged by Christmas and A Missed Connection, the made-for-TV rom-coms I wrote for Reel One Entertainment, are now both available on streaming.

• Some recent recipes I’ve tried and thoroughly enjoyed include this light and herby Vietnamese fish soup, this beef round recipe from America’s Test Kitchen that makes a cheap cut feel luxe (I added Montreal Steak Spice, fwiw), and this Yorkshire pudding recipe from J. Kenji Alt-Lopez, which helped demystify puds.

• I went to Japan and had a great time! My husband Dan and I visited Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Are you interested in hearing about some of the best things I ate, did, saw, and drank?

and that’s the latest dispatch from my kitchen

Thanks for being here, and welcome new subscribers! I’ll be writing again soon.

Emily xo