Nigella ReTweeted Me?! Biscuit Tin Mixed Boxes + Persimmon Crumb Cake

Hey !! Happy Friday & welcome welcome new people who've found this patch of internet in the last fortnight! One little housekeeping note - this newsletter looks a lot better if read on my website, for which you can follow the link at the top of this email.

This fortnight was full of so many little random acts of kindness. A kind follower gave me their surplus of NOMO chocolate they didn't want. A chemist gave me a bag of free samples. And I got such sweet feedback on new writing & recipes which people went out of their way to do. I caught up with friends on their breaks & in cars on rainy mornings, had ridiculously good hot choccies and gave my next cookbook some serious thought.

I was in need of aseeing the goodattitude, because my grandma who has dementia was in isolation with covid for 7 days & that was 11/10 bleak. I don't know that my half-glass full of stubborn optimism is a permanent fixture - but I was glad it graced me during many teary phone calls of playing *emotional support granddaughter*.

It's officially winter, say what now?! And we're nearly half way through the year - how dare they?! I always get extra reflecty & plany around this time of year. I re-check in with goals made and over think progress and subsequent self-worth etc. These past 6 months have felt like 5 years of growth squeezed into a dizzyingly short washing machine cycle. I'm both rejuvenated and tired from the healing.

NIGELLA.

As mentioned last time, I SAW NIGELLA! And she was even better in real life!! So warm, open, personable, vulnerable but boundaried, curious, immeasurably articulate and bloody STUNNING! I wish the night was made into a podcast, but doing my best to pluck sound bites from memory - I made two Tiktoks with bits of what she shared. Here & here.

ALSO... I messaged Poppy Cooks afterwards, telling her that Nigella had mentioned her, saying how she loves her personality & food. It made Poppy's week (understandably!) and then Nigella reposted Poppy's post confirming - which had my stupid lil original message in it!!

So while this isn't about me at all! Nigella retweeted me heheh. But no it's lovely to share these things with people & let them know their idols are cheering them on!

KITCHEN.

I resurrected my Shokupan notes - a fluffy gluten free rice bread made with four ingredients - to see if my blender could still handle it. It did, just. This recipe just ages your blender unfortunately, and after daily wear for the last 7 years, ours can't quite blend the rice fine enough for it to reach the fluffy Wonder White levels of softness it did here (back in 2021). I really want to share the recipe however 'imperfect' it is, so I'm going to do one more test & then whatever the results, it's going on the website!

I read in a comments section this week, that the global chain Joe & The Juice, put a small amount of banana in their pesto for sweetness. I was a little flummoxed by this & decided to try it out. Let's just say I don't see how it's the missing ingredient, let alone a ingredient that needs to be within a square inch of a bunch of basil. I used the tiniest amount and it was giving pesto smoothie vibes. It's a fresh tasting pesto... I suppose, but I wasn't digging it.

I've always wanted to try my hand at a Swedish Almond Cake, or Toscakaka. A beautiful vanilla cake with caramelised almonds. It was delightful! And I will be sharing the recipe :)

BISCUIT TIN.

I did a limited mixed box flash sale over on Instagram for my microbakery Biscuit Tin Bakery - with some of the old favourites as well new items. There was a tiramisu, white chocolate & macadamia rice crispy, chocolate orange bun, coffee scroll, brownie with peanut butter crème and a slice of orange, olive oil & bergamot cake. It all fit snug as a bug in my new boxes. SLAY!

Piping lil hearts (as opposed to crosses, as they're essentially Hot Cross Buns) on the buns was so joyous. I think I'll try a daisy pattern next time.

I'm so proud of each recipe in this box. Many of which are the result of 12 months+ of testing.

Just doing 8 boxes with delivery was so exhausting though. I describe it as a multi-part math's problem where you have to get each previous answer right to get the last part (which is worth the most marks) correct. It's very cumulative. Multi-day. But of course extremely rewarding. I do wish I had a different body/brain sometimes though to be able to execute Biscuit Tin more fully.

READ.

What My Bones Know, By Stephanie Foo | So this is super heavy, but a phenomenal book about trauma if you are interested in The Body Keeps the Score and similar works. Some things which stuck with me is how pervasive CPTSD is in first generation migrant families especially and how invisible it is. I think my renewed seeing the good attitude was a result of this book because the author (somewhat begrudgingly) admits how powerful and effective gratitude had been in their recovery. And when you read what she's been through - idk, it stuck.

Women and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder, By Sarah Hendrickx | This book is fine, but extremely vanilla. It felt a little outdated and didn't reveal anything I didn't already know. As I've mentioned to a few friends lately - I think the best book everyone should read on Autism is Unmasking Autism, by Devon Price. It's intersectional, beyond the binary and on the pulse of where Autism research is at right now.

WATCH.

Turn Up The Volume, ABC iView | omg WATCH THIS! A friend put me onto this show - shot in Footscray (Melbourne) about a bunch of young female and gender diverse musicians attending a weekly music camp. They are put into bands and we follow the group The Volume find themselves & their sound. So it's a kids show, but holely heck it's so healing to watch! It's the kind of thing I'm so jealous exists for young people now. There's representation on first crushes, gender dysphoria/euphoria, (un)supportive families, grief, anxiety, racism, wanting more freedom and caring so much about something it drives your every waking moment. It's beautiful !

RECIPE.

This week's recipe is for Persimmon Crumb Cake ! A take on my grandmother's famous persimmon puddings, with a "snacking cake" twist. It's autumnal and oozing in vanillery cinnamon notes. It's dead simple & perfect with coffee, or warm with a moat of custard.

Thank you for reading & supporting my work!

Phoebe (they/them) x

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