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Flaky Cherries & Cream Turnovers

Sarah Kieffer — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 15:55:43 +0000

I forgot they were in my freezer. Door County cherries, tucked underneath bags and bags of raspberries the kids and I had gathered every summer afternoon from our backyard bushes. I had to dig through those berries and move them around and curse slightly to get to the bottom of that freezer drawer. But there they were, still glittering and ruby red and perfect. It seemed the cherries were calling me. They were a memory, a lovely one, and it had been a week filled with bad news from the outside; articles and TV anchors whispering deadly affairs again and again: 92 people who died of thirst and Man kills family and then himself and Funeral workers steals gold teeth from bodies and 5 stabbed to death by relative and You are not safe. You are not safe. You are not safe. I tend to turn to puff pastry when I’m anxious. The rolling, the turns, the soft dough on my hands helps me focus for a moment. And this batch would be filled with those memorable cherries. They were picked this summer, one short weekend when [A] and I got to steal away by ourselves. We made an impromptu […]

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Panettone Scones

Sarah Kieffer — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 23:49:33 +0000

With a delicious mix of dried fruit and almond paste, these holiday inspired breakfast treats are especially tender and flaky. I usually make the base of my scones with crème fraîche or sour cream, but I was happy to discover that skyr yogurt works just as well. They're absolutely delicious.

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Raspberry Puff Pastry Tart

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 21:36:34 +0000

I’m a big fan of this puff pastry tart; it’s flaky crust and creamy center hit all the right notes. The raspberries add a burst of freshness, and are the perfect partner to the pastry cream topping. It’s a wonderful balance of flavors and textures, and would be delightful for Mother’s Day or Brunch. You can make my homemade rough puff pastry, or use store-bought, whichever you prefer! Both will result in a delicious dessert. Here’s my cheater method for this raspberry tart: Simply use one sheet of store-bought puff pastry (look for a puff pastry that has real butter in it for best results) + and this easy cream cheese filling. To make the cream cheese filling: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip 4 oz [113 g] room temperature cream cheese, 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt on medium-high until light and fluffy (1 to 2 minutes). Reduce the speed to low and add 1 cup [240 g] of heavy cream in a slow, steady stream. Once the cream is incorporated, scrape down the mixer bowl, then increase the speed to medium-high […]

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Chocolate Orange Sablés

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:17:43 +0000

This month I have 6 new cookie recipes in the Holiday Cookies issue from Bake From Scratch! My favorite contribution is Chocolate Orange Sablés (recipe below), but I also have Cheesecake Bars with Chocolate and Caramel, Cranberry Streusel Bars, Ginger Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Blondies, and Chocolate-Peppermint Pan-Banging Cookies. Meringues with Cacao Nibs and Carmel Swirl (a recipe from 100 Cookies), is also included. Chocolate Orange Sablés Sablés are rich and buttery on their own, and are easily adapted to any flavor whim one may have. Chocolate and orange pair beautifully here; candied orange peel is delicious and elegant, and mini chocolate chips add just enough chocolate without overwhelming the flavor of the orange. Note: Candied Orange Peels are called for here, but can be omitted. Orange Jammy Bits from King Arthur Flour also work well. More Cookie Recipes: Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies Fig and Orange Sables Neapolitan Cookies

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Pear Apple Hard Cider Pie

Sarah Kieffer — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 01:10:21 +0000

Nigel Slater describes an apple in his book Ripe as a “quick hit,” but the pear as “something to take our time over.” I would have to agree and have always been partial to pears over apples, especially when it comes to pies. Here, however, I’ve combined them; this pie is chockfull of fresh pears, and their juice is cooked down with a good splash of hard apple cider. It’s a fantastic combination, a perfect pie for crisp autumn evenings and then for breakfast the following morning. Other recipes you may enjoy: Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp, Puffed Pear Pancake, Apple Creme Fraiche Pie, Danish Braid with Apple and Cream Cheese, and Blueberry Apple Crumble Bars. ************************************************ A few things: *This past week, my Pan-Banging Cookies (and myself!) were featured on Good Morning America’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Week. You can watch the segment here! I still can’t believe it. *I’m very excited about all the Fall Cookbooks that are out/soon to be out! A few favorites on my list: Escapism Cooking, Tartine: A Classic Revisited, Weeknight Baking, Midwest Made, and 365: A Year of Everyday Cooking. *My husband and a good friend of his recently released some music into the […]

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Blueberry Walnut Streusel Pie

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 17:37:52 +0000

This post is sponsored by California Walnuts. As always, all opinions are my own. I’ve been so busy working on my book, and just now realized it is now August and this is the first pie I’ve made. Hopefully there will be more to come in the near future (I’ve got a bowl full of peaches on my counter calling to me). Usually I’m a big fan of double crusted pies and prefer them over anything, but I love the blueberry and walnut streusel pairing here; the toasted walnuts really shine here and make for a delicious bite. I’ve teamed up with California Walnuts to bring you some recipes over the past year (such as this walnut snack cake with raspberry buttercream and these raised donuts with chocolate glaze and candied walnuts). Over 99 percent of walnuts grown in the U.S. come from California’s walnut orchards, many of which are on family owned and operated farms that have been around for generations. Walnuts are nutritious and heart-healthy*, and offer 4 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber per ounce. Walnuts are also the only nut with a significant amount of plant-based omega-3 ALA (2.5 grams/ounce). You can check out the CA Walnuts website for more […]

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Peach Caramel Sticky Buns

Sarah Kieffer — Sat, 10 Aug 2019 22:49:32 +0000

Would you like to throw a stone at me?Here, take all that’s left of my peach. Blood-red, deep:Heaven knows how it came to pass.Somebody’s pound of flesh rendered up. Wrinkled with secretsAnd hard with the intention to keep them. Why, from silvery peach-bloom,From that shallow-silvery wine-glass on a short stemThis rolling, dropping, heavy globule? I am thinking, of course, of the peach before I ate it.Why so velvety, why so voluptuous heavy?Why hanging with such inordinate weight?Why so indented? Why the groove?Why the lovely, bivalve roundnesses?Why the ripple down the sphere?Why the suggestion of incision? Why was not my peach round and finished like a billiard ball?It would have been if man had made it.Though I’ve eaten it now. But it wasn’t round and finished like a billiard ball;And because I say so, you would like to throw something at me. Here, you can have my peach stone. Peach, by D.H. Lawrence***************************************** I have had Peach-Caramel Sticky Buns on my mental to-do list for quite some time, and was quite happy to find a recipe for them in new The Peach Truck Cookbook. If you haven’t heard of The Peach Truck, you can look them up here; every summer I […]

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Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 21:57:17 +0000

I have a gigantic stack of cookbooks that I have been meaning to bake and cook from, but sadly they have sitting on my dining room table (along with heaps of legos and papers to be sorted and summer homework that hasn’t been started and laundry to be folded and and and…) while I finished working on my next book. So I am finally getting to other-than-cookbook-baking. The first book up is Sarah Copeland’s Every Day is Saturday, which is a beautiful book (photographed by the amazing Gentl + Hyers) filled with recipes and strategies for easy cooking, every day of the week. Copeland sums up the book this way: I’m not suggesting we can have it all. We all know good things take time, and often, sacrifice. They take intention. But I do think the feeling of having it all, of having life in abundance, is within our reach…By stealing back a few hours from the weekend, queuing your favorite podcast, and working through a short list of sauces and sides to tuck away in the refrigerator, you can live like it’s Saturday every day of the week, or at least most of them. I made the Almost-Famous Cranberry […]

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cherries and cream slab pie (some notes on how I make pie)

Sarah Kieffer — Sat, 25 May 2019 06:40:04 +0000

It took me a long time to feel confident making pies. I never actually made one until my late twenties, as they had seemed so daunting and time consuming; so much work for something that had such a high percentage of not turning out right. My first attempt actually was incredible: I made a perfect apple pie. The crust was flaky and golden brown, the filling perfectly cooked, with apples soft but not mushy. I remember bringing it to my Grandma’s house, and she raved and raved about it (she may have mentioned it was better than the pie my mom made) and I’m pretty sure she ate the rest of it for dinner that night. Brimming with confidence, I made another pie the next day: same recipe, same apples, same kitchen equipment, and alas, it was a total disaster. I’ve discovered I often have beginners luck with baking, only to completely mess up whatever I am making the next time I go to bake it. I think it’s the grace of the kitchen gods: they know of my love and need for baking, but also my lack of patience and follow through. I’m notorious on giving up on something […]

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Strawberry Poppy Seed Buns

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 14:41:38 +0000

I’m back with more swirl buns! When I stumbled upon the recipe for Strawberry Poppy Seed Buns from the new Bake From Scratch cookbook, I decided to drop everything (which was really just taking a break from recipe testing for my next book) and make them. If you haven’t heard of Bake From Scratch, you can find their webpage here. They also have a monthly magazine that is a great read. The dough came together beautifully and was a dream to work with, and my family and neighbors devoured them immediately then raved all day about them, so I knew the recipe was gold. Strawberries aren’t in season yet, but here freeze-dried strawberries are crushed into a powder (a genius move), and I was able to round up a few ripe strawberries at my local grocery store for the cream cheese filling. More Morning Bun Recipes: Rhubarb Blackberry Streusel Buns Morning Buns Strawberries and Cream Brioche Buns Cardamom Sugar Buns Cinnamon Buns. ****************************** A few things: *Last spring I was on an episode of Cherry Bombe Radio recorded here in Minneapolis at The Lynhall. You can listen here. *The Lynhall is also currently looking for Grandmas to come and share family […]

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