From the food writer’s follow-up cookbook ‘What’s for Dessert?’ comes a citrus-lover’s recipe.
I discovered Claire Saffitz ’s recipe for an Easy Sheet Cake with Chocolate - Cream Cheese Frosting after binge watching her YouTube videos ( for mental health ! ) . It was exactly what I want : something simple , classical , and comforting . afterward that evening — my 30th birthday , celebrated unaccompanied at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 — I blew candles in front of an hearing of Zoom windows on my laptop and later ate forkfuls of patty from the electric refrigerator over the course of the week . That cake provided a sweet respite during a time period of swell dubiousness .
Saffitz has rein this pleasure that dessert can extend in her new book , What ’s for Dessert . It ’s a genuine love letter to that angelic chomp you hunger after a repast and include recipes that can please a crowd or be enjoy alone . She emphasizes hallmark desserts diffuse with a contact of nostalgia , like Peach Drop Biscuit Cobbler , Chocolate Soufflés , and a Tiramisu - y Icebox Cake .
What ’s for Dessertfollows Saffitz ’s first cookery book , Dessert Person . Her host of fans , myself amongst them , thirstily anticipated this Holy Writ in 2020 . They bump comfort in the true advice Saffitz put up as a TV host forBon Appetit , theNew York Times , and her own YouTube transmission channel . Dessert Personincludes recipes for novice bakers , but does n’t shy off from projects like Croquembouche or Kouign - amann that test challenging for even the most experient cooks .
No-Bake Grapefruit Bars|Photo by Jenny Huang
In her raw book , Saffitz set out to make her formula more accessible . She evaluated the reception ofDessert Personand take note what recipes readers made most . “ What I took to philia was the variety of desire for more simple recipe , ” share Saffitz , “ and more kinds of recipes for people in different life stages and with dissimilar tastes and attainment levels . ” Although Saffitz has a especial talent for guiding lector through labor , none of her fresh recipes mount to that challenge . They range in difficulty story from 1 ( Very Easy ) to 3 ( Moderate ) . to boot , none of them ask the use of a stand mixer , and only half call for an electrical hand mixer .
What ’s for Dessertreminds readers that not all desserts involve bake . you may make them on the stovetop , or even in your freezer . Saffitz admit the book ’s first chapter , “ Chilled and Frozen Desserts , ” is one of her favorites because it allowed her to cut into into an underexplored category . “ I love being able to make young textures that you do n’t get as much from baking , ” suppose Saffitz . She be given into the great power of testicle and emollient to produce velvety sweet , like a Marbled Mint Chocolate Mousse , that showcase airiness and soupiness .
The chapter also reserve her to express a fondness for the lemonlike - blistering savor of grapefruit . “ I acknowledge from formula examination in the past that all the things I love about the tone get diminished when baked , ” states Saffitz . Her No - Bake Grapefruit Bars keep the citrus ’s flowered flavor in a whipped filling on a graham cracker crust . Despite its name , the formula calls for a simple unsighted baking stone’s throw to tauten the incrustation . You top it with a creamy filling and put it in the electric refrigerator to place . I ’ve made these stripe myself and have intercourse I ’ll revisit them in peak Citrus paradisi season this wintertime .
Playfully designed with a retro flash , this book will inspire you to find oneself a crusade for celebration . Saffitz hop it will bring together her growing community of dessert people : “ I require the book to be about not just the making of the afters , but the sharing of it too . ”
No-Bake Grapefruit Bars
Yields 12 bar
Ingredients :
• Melted butter for the pan• 6 troy ounce ( 170 g ) graham cracker ( about 11 sheets)• 5 tablespoonful unsalted butter ( 2.5 oz / 71 g ) , melted and cooled• 2 tablespoons plus ½ cup sugar ( 4.4 oz / 125g)• Several pinch of kosher salt• 1⅔ cups heavy pick ( 14 oz / 400g)• 1 tablespoon finely grate grapefruit zest• ½ cup fresh red Citrus paradisi juice ( 4 oz / 113 g ) , from about 1 medium grapefruit• 3 tablespoon fresh lemon succus , from about 1 average lemon• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract• 8 ounces ( 227 g ) cream cheese , chilled• 1 intermediate red Citrus paradisi , for serving
Claire Saffitz|Photo by Jenny Huang
Directions:1.Preheat the oven and prepare the cooking pan . set an oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 350 ° atomic number 9 . seam an 8 × 8 - inch baking pan , preferably metallic element , with foil , working the hydrofoil cautiously into the corners and pressing it firmly against the slope to eliminate air pocket , and smoothing any creases . Brush the bottom of the foil with a lean layer of melted butter . If you ’re using a glass pan , note that those tend to have narrow basis and rounder sides , so your parallel bars will be taller and a little less square.2.Make the Earth’s crust . Place the graham cracker in a resealable bag , press out the zephyr , and seal . Use a rolling pin or heavy - bottomed saucepan to crush the crackers , sporadically excite the bag so the larger pieces settle to one side , until you have very all right , uniform so-and-so . ( you’re able to also pulse them in a food processor until finely ground , but it ’s very manageable by bridge player . ) transmit the scum bag to a medium bowl and add the melted butter , 2 tablespoon of the moolah , and a catch of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks . thresh with a fork until the mixture is well combined , then fray it between your fingertips until it looks like wet sand.3.Press in the gall and bake . Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and practice the bottom of a 1 - loving cup dry measure or deoxyephedrine to flatten out it into an even , compendious layer . post the cooking pan on a rag pan and bake until the crust is fragrant , firm to the touching , and sorry Robert Brown around the edge , 13 to 18 minutes . Remove from the oven and allow cool completely.4.Reduce the pick . In a large saucepan , combine the cream , remaining ½ cup ( 3.5 oz /100 g ) bread , and a nip of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and bring to a boil over average - high heat , shake to dissolve the sugar . Reduce the heat to maintain a spanking simmer and continue to falsify , whisking now and then , until the intermixture is reduced to 1¼ cups , 10 to 15 minute ( stream it into a heatproof liquid valuate loving cup to check the bulk , then return to the saucepan and proceed to reduce if it ’s not there yet).Potential pit : Keep an eye on the pick mixing , as it will moil over quickly and make a mess . Once it boils , take a moment to regulate the heat and find the stratum where the salmagundi is simmering vigorously but not boiling . If it does start to boil over , like a shot remove the saucepan from the heating and blow on the surface to make it subside.5.Chill the cream mix . Remove the saucepan from the heat and set away . Fill a large stadium about a after part of the fashion with Methedrine water supply and place the saucepan inside , making indisputable that the water stratum bump off below the top of the saucepan . have it sit , whisking occasionally , until the mixture is cold , about 5 minutes ( iciness in an ice bath).6.Make the filling . Remove the saucepan from the ice water and bring up in the grapefruit piquance , grapefruit juice , lemon juice , and vanilla extract , then localise aside . Empty the bowl of chicken feed water , dry it , add up the cream cheese , and beat with a script social on intermediate speed until the cream cheeseflower is fluid . Add a couple tablespoons of the frigid emollient mixture and perplex on culture medium to incorporate , then proceed to beat up the cream cheeseflower , gradually adding the cream mixture , until you have a liquid variety . Increase the speed to intermediate - in high spirits and gravel until you have a very duncish , whisk filling , about 3 minutes . Potential Pitfall : If , despite adding the emollient motley slow and beating incessantly , your filling has lumps of cream cheese , use a blender to smooth it out . If you encounter that your filling is n’t welt , it might not be cold enough , so refrigerate it until cold.7.Fill the crust . scratch the filling into the cooled crust and use a spatula to form it all the way of life to the sides and into the corners , take charge not to organise any air pocket , then smooth the Earth’s surface . Cover and refrigerate until the weft is go under , at least 4hours.8.Top with fresh grapefruit and attend to . apply a sharp knife to cut off away the skin from the whole grapefruit ( discard ) and slice the Citrus paradisi crosswise into ½-inch - blockheaded round , abide by the book of instructions in Cutting Citrus on page 357 . Then , using your fingertips and work one round at a meter , mildly separate the individual fan - forge piece of Citrus paradisi from the membranes ( discard the membrane ) . Remove the pan from the refrigerator , uncover , and utilise the edge of the foil to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting panel . Slice the slab into a 3 - by-4 grid , forming 12 bars . Dividing evenly , top the bar with the piece of music of fresh Citrus paradisi and serve .
Can I . . .
Make them ahead?Yes . The unsliced bars can be covered and refrigerated in the pan for up to 5 days but are well answer by the third day to prevent the crust from becoming squashy . To store leftover bars , remove the piece of fresh grapefruit , channel the bars to an airtight container , and refrigerate for up to 3 days .
Make it gluten - free?Yes . Use a blade of gluten - free graham - elan firecracker for the crust .
Use a stand mixer or else of a deal mixer?Yes . To make the pick , beat the cream cheese in a standstill mixer fitted with the boat paddle attachment on medium amphetamine until liquid , then very gradually stream in the dusty cream mixture , beat constantly , and continue with the recipe as write .
“ What ’s For Dessert ? ” right of first publication © 2022 by Claire Saffitz . Photographs right of first publication © 2022 by Jenny Huang . Published by Clarkson Potter , an imprint of Random House . ”
