I thought it would be fun to find a local maker doing Easter bread. Greek, Italian, Portuguese … one of those pretty, braided brioche numbers with the brightly colored Easter eggs baked in.

“You should make one,” my boyfriend, a proficient baker, said. “It’s easy.”

“You should make one,” I batted back. “Also, a pizza.”

We laughed. Neither of us was making Easter bread this year. And unfortunately, no one I reached out to around the city seemed to be doing so, either.

“We get ours from church,” one potential source for Greek tsoureki told me. “I think they get it from Hellas Bakery in Tarpon.”

Solid sourcing, of course. But not local, so no bueno. Time was ticking. And that’s the thing: It is for all of us. And in myriad ways.

My kids are older now, but when they were little, few things were more fun than working together on a recipe that afforded them a shot at being truly independent. Something that required neither fire nor knives. Something that would taste just fine even if it didn’t look perfect. Something with yummy ingredients — colorful, textural — that we could snack on while making it.

And so, when I spotted this 5-Ingredient Rocky Road Fudge  recipe on the Taste.com.au site, with its pastel palette and contrasting chocolates, I knew I’d found the perfect sweet for both ease of preparation and memories made in the kitchen.

You’ll notice that the package and pan sizing are a bit off for an American kitchen, but it’s easy enough to make do.

Using standard-sized cans of condensed milk (a little more than the measurements in the recipe) as the foundation, I simply upped each ingredient a bit to match.

With things like the marshmallows and nuts, it’s even easier. Just eyeball the mix-ins to where you want them. As for the harder-to-find ingredients like the “marshmallow noodles,” you can either source them online or, as I did, just find a reasonable sub, like the Lucky Charms marshmallows I dug out of the Easter display at Target.

This recipe came together well in a 9×13 pan, but I might even use a couple of smaller 8x8s or deep, round cake pans for a thicker, more graphic result. I’d also probably opt for dark chocolate instead of milk, a nice bitter one to better balance the sweetness of the white.

Either way, cut into strips and squares, the golden-brown nuts and colorful marshmallows give this treat a beautiful, nougat-like look that’s super appealing and sure to be a point of pride and accomplishment for parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and even older siblings, but especially for the little hands that helped melt, mix and pour it.

Five-Ingredient Rocky Road Fudge

Recipe by Kim Coverdale and Liz Macri, courtesy Taste.com.au (taste.com.au/recipes/5-ingredient-rocky-road-fudge-recipe/f91s16w0?r=baking/wuds0hfn)

Ingredients

• Two 180 grams blocks white chocolate, chopped
• Two 395-gram cans sweetened condensed milk
• 130 grams packet honey and sea salt roasted peanuts
• 1/2 x 280-gram packet marshmallow noodles, cut into 2 centimeter lengths (I used Lucky Charms’ marshmallows and diced up about 1/3 of them.)
• 350g block milk chocolate, chopped

Instructions

1. Grease an 18-centimeter x 28-centimeter slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 2 centimeters above edges of pan.
2. Place white chocolate and 1 can condensed milk in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) for 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds or until melted and smooth. Add peanuts and marshmallows. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Smooth surface. Refrigerate.
3. Meanwhile, place the remaining condensed milk and the milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) for 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, or until melted and smooth. Carefully spoon mixture over white chocolate layer and gently smooth surface. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm. Serve.

Have a food question? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie or email me at amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, and your question could be answered in my intermittent Ask Amy Drew column. For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

The dish’s roots are Tuscan and undeniably peasant. The inclusion of day-old bread not only drives that home, but morphs the dish’s most comforting bites into something approaching a Italian-style veggie-and-dumplings in which hunks of crusty goodness soften into silky carb comfort that’s steeped in rich, tomato-y broth. It also ticks the “complete protein” box alongside cannellini beans.

Like Dad, Bon Appétit and everyone else, Chef Kevin Fonzo cooks the bread in the soup.

“Italians waste nothing!” says the man behind La Tavola, which presents sumptuous Italian meals around communal tables at the Emeril Lagasse Foundation Kitchen House and Culinary Garden, found inside the Edible Education Experience in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood. Fonzo makes lots of focaccia.

“If it doesn’t get used on the table, I just save it and it goes into the ribollita,” he says. “I cube it up and it makes it a really hearty, stick-to-the-ribs, comforting dish.”

Fonzo’s childhood, like mine, saw many bowls of ribollita, his served at grandpa’s apartment in the Bronx, but he never really thought about making it as a chef.

“Then I started going to Italy a lot, and my grandfather’s soup was on every menu! Once I started La Tavola, it was a really good fit.”

Thai penicillin: chicken and rice soup to cure a fluish princess

“I’ve seen restaurants in Florence that serve it so thick you could almost use a fork to eat it,” he tells me, inspiring thoughts of baking my leftovers into a savory bread pudding of sorts. “It’s just a big mound of tomato-flavored bread.”

Some cooks prefer their ribollita brothier, others more like porridge. Fonzo favors the focaccia, not merely for it’s waste-not properties, “but because it’s got a ton of olive oil in it, and so delicious with the sea salt!”

I reviewed Dad’s version and found that it, and most others, fall right in line with this Bon Appétit offering, though this recipe features an (over the) top layer comprised of something about which few might complain: even more bread. Here, the torn chunks are layered on top of the cooked soup, slathered in olive oil and baked until golden brown. Aside from the black pepper, Bon Appétit doesn’t season the croutons, but I’d recommend it: Salt, garlic or onion powder, Italian seasoning or a combination thereof will offer added oomph.

The classic version is vegetarian, and also makes solid use of the rind on a hunk of Parmesan.

(Side note: If you’re throwing out your cheese rinds, stop right now. Much like your old bread, these can be frozen and employed elsewhere, like in soups and risottos. Fonzo will simmer the rinds in broth or even water with herbs to make a brodo for fresh tortelloni. “You can float some spinach, kale or escarole in it. It’s so good!”).

But if you’re not one to skimp on meat, your pot of ribollita welcomes the pop-in.

I threw diced Portuguese sausage into the sofrito at the outset, allowing the fat to render. Fonzo was onboard.

“If I know my guests aren’t strictly vegetarian I’ll start mine with guanciale,” he says. “Not a lot. You almost can’t tell it’s in there, but you get the pork fat and the smokiness and it’s delicious.”

Two or three anchovies wouldn’t hurt, either. It’s an Italian “secret ingredient,” after all. Fresh herbs — rosemary, Italian parsley, thyme — make a nice add, as well.

This soup is a haven for extras. Got tomatoes that are too ripe for a salad? Toss ’em in.

“Today’s entree is tomorrow’s soup!” says Fonzo.

And depending on how you like it, tomorrow’s ribollita might need a little extra broth (or a simple splash of water in a pinch, this stuff’s flavorful!), since the bread works overtime in sopping, so be aware.

Simple Ribollita

Recipe by Molly Baz via Bon Appétit (bonappetit.com/recipe/simple-ribollita)

Makes 4–6 servings

Ingredients

1 large onion

3 medium carrots

2 celery stalks

8 garlic cloves

2 bunches Tuscan kale (I used the standard stuff, several handfuls for each round of wilting.)

1 small wedge of Parmesan with rind

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes

1 14-oz. can cannellini beans

½ loaf crusty country bread (about 10 oz.)

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

¾ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

Preparation

1. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 450°. Time to prep your veg! You are going to make a mirepoix, which is just a fancy French word for the combo of chopped onions, carrots, and celery that form the flavor base for a lot of European dishes. First, cut 1 large onion in half through root. Peel and discard skins. Finely chop and transfer to a medium bowl.
2. Heat ⅓ cup extra-virgin oil in a medium Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium. Add bowl of mirepoix and 2 tsp. salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened but not browned, 8–10 minutes.
3. Chop 2 celery stalks crosswise into ½-inch pieces. Add to bowl with the rest of the mirepoix.
4. Smash and peel 8 garlic cloves with the back of your knife. If any of them are left more or less intact after that initial smashing, give them another good whack with the back of your knife so they really open up and start to break apart. Add to bowl.
5. Strip stems from 2 bunches Tuscan kale and discard. Wash if they’re gritty or you really care about washing vegetables, then tear leaves into 2-inch pieces; set aside.
6. Cut rind off of 1 small Parmesan wedge; set aside.
7. Place 28 oz. canned tomatoes and their juices in a strainer set inside a medium bowl. (You need that bowl to collect the juice, which you’re going to use later — don’t throw it out!) Squeeze tomatoes and crush them with your hands while leaving them submerged in their liquid so they don’t squirt.
8. Tear ½ loaf crusty country bread into 1½-inch pieces.

9. Heat ⅓ cup extra-virgin oil in a medium Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium. Add bowl of mirepoix and 2 tsp. salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened but not browned, 8–10 minutes.

10. Lift strainer full of tomatoes and give it a few shakes to remove any liquid. Add tomatoes (but not juices!) and cook, stirring occasionally, until some of the rawness is cooked off, about 10 minutes. Giving those tomato solids a chance to caramelize before adding the liquid back in helps to add a lot of flavor to the stew. (Remember: Reserve the juices, you’re going to use them!)

11. While tomatoes are cooking, drain and rinse 14 oz. canned cannellini beans in the strainer you just used, then add to pot along with Parmesan rind, tomato juices, ¾ tsp. red pepper flakes, and 4 cups water. Bring to a simmer.

12. Add kale in two additions, stirring often and allowing to wilt in between.

13. Add about one-third of torn bread (no need to measure, just eyeball it) and cook, stirring occasionally, until coated and warmed through, about 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning.

14. Remove from heat. Place remaining torn bread chunks on top of stew. Drizzle generously with olive oil.

15. Transfer pot to oven and bake stew until thick, bubbling, and bread is golden brown on top, 10–15 minutes.

16. Ladle stew into bowls, drizzle each generously with olive oil, and grate lots of Parmesan over.

Note: I ended up taking the crouton layer off to  prevent the soup from disappearing entirely, toasting them up on a pizza steel to re-pair with the ribollita on reheat.

The server behind the bar did nothing to change this.

As I sat, perusing the various flavor options, I queried as to which he might recommend. Black cherry seemed appealing. Or maybe piña colada. 

“Can I be honest with you?” he asked.

I nodded.

“It’s not going to help.”

I laughed, then went all-in. Straight kava. And immediately, I realized he was right. 

The stuff he served me, in a simple half-coconut shell, tasted like mud water. 

I wasn’t surprised. This was how everyone had described it. But from the moment I sipped, I felt an odd, warm, constricting sensation in my throat. With each draw, my tongue and lips went slightly more numb. And before long, I felt a bit giggly. 

Kava bar helps relax the stressed

Caleb Warner, retail operations manager for Elevate Social Lounge & Kava Bar in Maitland, wouldn’t dispute the enjoyable — or at the very least interesting — qualities of this ancient beverage, but nor would he argue the former.

“Unfortunately, that’s the majority of people’s first experience with kava…. The average bar throws a bowl of mud water in your face and expects you to enjoy it and come back for more,” Warner says.

To his point, my second kava experience came shortly after our chat when I popped into Elevate to sample some of the newer ways to reap kava’s more medicinal benefits, including fruity seltzers, like those of the brand’s sister company, Mitra 9.

Elevate opened just six months ago, but those partaking in Dry January have boosted the books.

“It’s been our best month ever,” Warner notes, citing lots of interest from folks looking for alternatives to post-work sips both at home and while out socializing.

Kava is a shrub native to the South Pacific islands, where its root was used ceremonially, medicinally and recreationally to promote a sense of wellbeing and relaxation. 

Fast-forward to today, and kava (in beverage, extract and supplement form) has been used to treat anxiety, insomnia and other conditions, and like its users a thousand years ago, some simply dig the way it makes them feel.

“If the guest is looking to relax, they want something calming, an evening chill-out beverage, we recommend kava.” 

It’s of particular interest, says Warner, for people who either don’t drink at all or are looking to cut back. 

“The effects are very mild,” he notes. “They are non-intoxicating and don’t effect your ability to drive a vehicle … but just like alcohol, a person’s size can influence tolerance.”

Warner says daytime sales this month have grown so impressively that they’re nearly matching the evening numbers, which has been Elevate’s primary revenue stream since it opened.

My recon lines up. I popped in mid-morning on a Monday, and there were plenty of folks camped out, some in pairs, others working individually, at tables or the bar, where server Dawson couldn’t have been friendlier or less like the gent I met back in South Florida. Here, I had options.

Even coffee, which, by the way, comes via local roaster and purveyor KOS. Everything from espresso to latte is offered alongside kombucha and other non-alcoholic soft drinks, but the kava is the star.

In fact, bars like Elevate (and there are quite a few of these upscale enclaves around the metro) have craft beverages a la your favorite bars, with sips that mirror classics like the Moscow mule or margarita, but without the booze.

Worthy of exploration whether your abstention is temporary or permanent or you’re simply curious about the effects or even the flavor.

Speaking of, the seltzers proved a decided upgrade, though beneath the pleasant effervescence and fruity flavors like tangerine and coconut lychee, a trace of the kava persisted. I liked it, though, as it helped remind me I wasn’t actually drinking.

Despite the new-era sips, though, I couldn’t resist the lure of the traditional and went in on a kava shell (to go). Face-numbing fun ensued. It’s still muddy — I can’t glamorize it — but I’ve since learned that the proper way to do kava is to chug it. 

Yeah, it keeps the sediment from settling. But, even its earliest proponents, who called it the word for “bitter,” were likely not drinking it for its flavor.

Get some

Elevate Kava Bar & Social Lounge: 400 N. Orlando Avenue in Maitland, elevatesociallounge.com

Kava Culture: What began in southwest Florida now has 10+ locations, two in Central Florida, with a decidedly Sunshine State vibe. More info: 245 Wheelhouse Drive in Lake Mary, 321-926-3374 or 1174 Tree Swallow Drive in Winter Springs, 321-765-4432; kavaculture.com)

Sodo Kava: Two locations (SoDo and Longwood) mean there’s twice the opportunity to soak up the plant-based offerings, whether that means kava, chamomile, cayenne or otherwise. More info: 227 E. Michigan St. in Orlando, 407-203-3677 or 911 E. State Road 434 in Longwood, 321-972-6101; sodokava.com

Z-Co Space & Clubhouse: Cool vibes, local art pair with a zero-alcohol buzz (that includes the coffee kind) at this creative workspace/lounge. More info: 1413 Haven Drive in Orlando, 407-986-8260; zcospaceclubhouse.com

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

The first time I saw one, I laughed because it reminded me of eating pomegranates on the little TV tray mom would set over my lap. She’d cut the fruit in half for me, and I’d sit there for ages, happily occupied, digging all the gem-like arils out with my tiny, little fingers, eating as I went.

This is why my jaw fell into my lap recently as I watched a YouTube video in which a woman (Dr. Iman Ahmad-Sediqe, I later learned) deseeds a pomegranate in under one minute using what she calls “a technique as old as the gentle fingers of my grandfather…” Ahmad-Sediqe is many things, including an Afghan food blogger whose content you can find on Instagram at @imanistan.

I told master sommelier George Miliotes about the video during our recent conversation, but he laughingly balked.

“I don’t want to know!” said the owner and namesake of Disney Springs’ Wine Bar George. “I refuse to watch it because I like working at it!”

Miliotes, too, has warm, fuzzy memories of pomegranates, which he says are “part of the Mediterranean life as a whole.

Both sets of his grandparents came to America from Greece. Same for his wife. Yet neither had ever heard of a New Year’s Eve custom I’d seen at several Greek friends’ homes while growing up: the smashing of the pomegranate, which is said to bring good fortune — luck, health, wealth, all the things — in the coming year.

“It’s a tradition, especially in Peloponnesus, where my family is from,” Yiannis Bouyouris tells me. “On the night the year changes, you hold the whole fruit in your right hand, you go in the house, and you throw it, and you break it. Some people… they hang the fruit in the front of the house. Some people eat the seeds.”

There are many versions. In some families, the man of the house does the smashing. In others, someone is chosen. Sometimes, everyone grabs a fruit and throws it down. Bouyouris didn’t mention whether he’d be doing this at his Orlando eatery, Zorba’s Kitchen (they’re not typically open late), but it’s long been a tradition at Florida’s Taverna Opa where at midnight, there’s a bit of a fruit massacre.

“The countdown starts, and the champagne is popping,” says co-owner Katerina Coumbaros. “My husband and some of the staff will go outside with the pomegranates and smash them for good luck. We want it to come into the restaurant and give everyone there happiness,” she says, noting that it carries on a tradition she’s been familiar with since her “Big Fat Greek Childhood” in South Florida.

“Both sides of my family are fully Greek. I went to Greek school. Everything Greek is our life,” she says, laughing. “There was a Greek community there. It’s not as big in Orlando, where I moved 17 years ago, but it’s definitely still here.”

Come New Year’s Eve, she notes, there were two traditions: the smashing of the pomegranate and the traditional vasilopita cake, in which a coin is hidden. “It could also be a bread,” she notes. “But whoever gets the piece with the coin in it will have good luck all year.”

But the whole family would participate in the countdown.

“We’d all go outside, and everyone would have their pomegranates and be talking about it, and then at midnight, you smash it. You hope you throw it hard enough so it breaks because the more seeds you spread, the more luck you have.”

You don’t have to smash the pomegranates to make either of the recipes here, both of which are exceptionally pretty and easy to make.

“The pomegranate martini is a lovely drink,” says Miliotes, whose beverage expertise is rivaled only by the other 272 people worldwide who have earned the title of master sommelier since the distinction’s creation in 1969. “Our spin at Wine Bar George would be to infuse the vodka, then use fresh lemon juice, instead of lime, to balance the drink.”

In a pinch, you can use lime, he notes.

“But some of our bartenders feel that there’s enough acid in the pomegranate that the relatively softer lemon is better. It’s a fine point that I agree with.”

Either beverage (or a simple flute of champagne with a few ruby-like seeds tossed in for glamorous color) would pair nicely with this gorgeous pomegranate-studded cheese ball, which looks more like a gorgeous ornament for a tree than something you’d eat. Creamy with a three-cheese bite and crunchy with sliced almonds, the fresh herb-laden orb is a stunner on the table. And the tart, juicy-sweet arils balance out the richness of the cheese while adding another layer of texture.

As for how you get the seeds in the first place? Well, you could drop the extra cash and buy the cup of seeds that’s ready to go if you’re pressed for time. Or you could try Dr. Ahmad-Sediqe’s killer technique. But maybe Miliotes is onto something when he suggests the work is part of what makes pomegranates special.

“My father still has his own pomegranate tree in the backyard. And I can remember all the way back to the ’70s when pomegranates were certainly not thought of as they are today with all the antioxidants and stuff. We ate them all the time when they were in season. Dad would pick them, and we’d clean them, and I even have really nice memories of my dad and my son, Christopher.”

He’s 23 now, Miliotes tells me, “…but when he was 5, 6, around that age, he and my dad would sit at the table taking out the seeds. And while my family doesn’t do the smash tradition, the pomegranates are something that’s very much tied to Greece, to being Greek.”

And so maybe the fortune the seeds have long symbolized (along with abundance, prosperity, fertility) is something that you also bring yourself in doing the work to get that sweet reward, whether you take the long road, like Miliotes and I did, or find a faster way to get there.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Cheese Ball

Recipe by Rian Handler, courtesy of Delish (delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a25241723/christmas-cheese-ball-recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened
• 6 ounces goat cheese
• 1 cup shredded Gruyère (or sharp white cheddar)
• 1/2 cup sliced, toasted almonds
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup pomegranate arils
• Crackers, for serving

Directions

1. In large bowl, mix together cream cheese, goat cheese and Gruyère. Fold in almonds, parsley and thyme until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Form mixture into one large ball.
2. Place pomegranate arils on large plate, then roll cheese ball gently until fully coated, filling in any cracks by hand.
3. Refrigerate until cold and sturdy, about 20 minutes, then serve with crackers.

Pomegranate Martini

Recipe by Colleen Graham, courtesy of The Spruce Eats (thespruceeats.com/pomegranate-martini-recipe-761127)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounce vodka
• 1/2 ounce premium triple sec
• 1 ounce pomegranate juice
• 1 splash freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Lemon peel, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine vodka, triple sec, pomegranate juice and lemon juice in cocktail shaker. Fill with ice.
2. Shake well.
3. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish if desired.

It was gorgeous, goth and moody. It was grand, with color you could taste — burgundy, raspberry, chocolate — hues well suited for the crushed velvet drapes of a vampire’s Victorian parlor. And you Freddy Krueger fans will appreciate this: It gave me serious “chest of souls” vibes.

I had to make it. The power of pumpkins compelled me. So much so, that I made it almost immediately. Even though it was only August.

If you’re going to season creep, creep big.

The pignoli cookie is a sweet, simple way to time travel

Ghoul at Heart is a second home and handle for cooking blogger Laurie Castellon, whose love of Halloween eventually prompted her to branch out from her Castellon’s Kitchen site with year-round recipe posts featuring creations campy, cute, gory and great. I mean really great. Just check out this near-literal crime scene of a cheese course, the Amputated Appetizer, (instagram.com/p/CwfsM1Sp-Ry)  if you need further proof. Her Instagram account is a frighteningly fun rabbit hole in which to descend, but I digress…

Because it was the galette that grabbed me at the outset.

This terrifying tart features the flavor trifecta of pear, raspberry and chocolate. One can go all-in and make the jam from scratch or cheat a little with something from a jar, but the fun is undeniable. It’s an artsy-craftsy creation you can eat, and really, based on how I felt when I saw it, it’s all but guaranteed that if you’re throwing some sort of Halloween bash, your guests are going to go ga-ga when they see it.

To be upfront, the Grim Reaper Galette is a two-day project.

That’s because of the “boos.”(See what I did there?) For those of you who love cooking with wine — and sometimes even put it in the food — the dramatic color on these pear skulls comes from a mixture of dry red vino and Chambord, a divine black raspberry liqueur that’s as enjoyable by the spoonful over good vanilla ice cream as it is by the splash in good vodka or bubbly.

But first, you’ll have to carve them.

Castellon’s recipe calls for various tools to get the job done, but I had neither a corer nor a cookie cutter, so I did it all by hand. Are the skulls pastry-pro perfect? Perhaps not, but I think they look cute enough. So, if you don’t have these items in your kitchen drawer already, don’t feel like they’re must-haves you need to spend money on.

Once peeled and carved, the pears will require an overnight soak to get that beautiful red color. I flipped them a few times throughout the process to ensure an even red. And since they need the overnight, I suggest making the jam and dough the day before, too, which will make your second day’s work an easier cleanup.

Making the dough was far more straightforward than I expected. To a layperson like me, pastries are high-level baking. And though I probably could have done a better job in rolling it out into a thinner sheet, the flavor — a buttery-rich chocolate that’s not at all sweet — balanced very nicely with the sugary-tart combo of jam and fruit. Almond slivers, along with the seeds in the jam, add some crunch, though you avid bakers out there might have an additional suggestion for more.

One thing I can say is that those privy to my pastry ahead of time were duly impressed with this thing, in both looks and taste. You’ll probably want something a little less sophisticated on hand for your table, as well, whether for the kids or those who aren’t fans of a fruity finish.

For those of you who are, however, the scratch-made raspberry jam is a nice bonus. The recipe made far more than the tart required and so even now, months later, the spirit of my dearly departed dessert lives on in a jar in my fridge, destined to haunt dozens of toasted bagels in the months to come.

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

Grim Reaper Galette

Recipe Courtesy Ghoul at Heart; (ghoulatheart.com/grim-reaper-galette)

Equipment*

• 1 pastry blender
• 1 apple corer
• 1 mini heart cookie cutter

*I carved the pears and made the pastry by hand; equipment not mandatory. 

Ingredients

Chocolate Galette Dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into ¼-inch slices
• 6-8 tablespoons ice water

Macerated Pears

• 3-4 pears, cored, peeled and halved
• 2 cups Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
• 1 cup dry red wine (for color)

Raspberry Jam Filling

• 2½ cups raspberries
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Sliced almonds (optional)

Instructions

Pear Skulls

1. Pour Chambord  and wine into medium-sized bowl. Working one at a time so pears don’t brown, core and peel pears, then cut it in half lengthwise. With the larger end of the pear on top, use the apple corer to cut out two holes for the eyes and then cut out the nose with the heart-shaped cookie cutter. Use a paring knife to score the smaller end to create teeth, and then add a skull crack if desired. Place pears in Chambord/wine mixture and allow to soak overnight.
2. When ready to assemble tart, remove pears from macerating liquid and place on plate. Reduce macerating liquid over medium-high heat until syrupy, 8-10 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate Galette Dough

1. Add flour, cocoa powder, sugars and salt into large bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. Add cold butter slices and, using pastry blender or fork, work in butter until it looks like pea-sized crumbles.
3. Stir in ice water, two tablespoons at a time, until a ball forms and pulls away from the bowl. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape into a round disc and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight.

Raspberry Jam

1. Combine raspberries, sugar, water and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Mash with potato masher and over medium heat as you bring to a boil. Stir frequently until mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside or refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out onto a lightly floured surface to about ⅛-inch thickness. Transfer dough to parchment-lined baking sheet. Fill center of dough with jam leaving about 3 inch border. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
3. Place macerated pears on jam. Fold dough over to encase  jam and pears. Brush dough with egg wash and bake for 35-45 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of the Chambord syrup, and enjoy!

Individual grim reaper tartlets: Divide dough evenly into 6 or 8 rounds and assemble as instructed above. Bake for 25-35 minutes.

I agreed. So much so that I’d have had it as a shot in my honey-vanilla chamomile as I wrote this. I’m not, though. Because there’s no amaretto in the house. With the holiday season fast approaching, that’s about to be remedied, but even so, I now have two notes to write to myself this morning.

Always have amaretto, Amy Drew.

And, since the years have clearly done a number on your priorities, always have pignoli cookies.

I just finished baking a batch, and these sweet, chewy-delicious pine nut cookies — with that beautiful lacquer of toasty pine nuts on top — are the stuff of nonna’s kitchen, which may be tied to the holidays (they’re so festive!) or just baking with her on a Sunday while the sauce is going. Maybe it’s your uncle they remind you of. Or mom. Doesn’t matter. The point is pignoli cookies are evocative of family.

And can you think of a better way to celebrate National Nut Day (Oct. 22) than with a salute to your family?!

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I kid, I kid, but when I heard this food holiday was upon us, my first thought was pignoli cookies. It had been forever since I’d had them, so I made a batch. And while doing so, I wondered whether other people had similarly strong feelings.

“OMG! That is literally my favorite cookie!” Denny Tornatore wrote after I sent him a pic. “I don’t care how much they cost when I am in N.Y.C. I pay the price. Pignoli cookies are the best!”

He agreed to discuss them with me for the price of two cookies. Which, if I were selling them, would be a lot.

Pine nuts are expensive. There are a multitude of reasons why. The types of trees that produce them (a limited number of pine species actually produce edible nuts) don’t do so until they are quite mature. The harvesting process is laborious. Most pine nuts are imported, and because they can spoil, extra prep and care go into their transport. They’re also in very high demand.

“I think the cookies were $24 a pound last time I went to Ferrara in New York,” Tornatore tells me. (They’re currently clocking in at $42.95 a pound via Goldbelly.)

As the chef/owner of Tornatore’s Restaurant in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood, he’s also a regular consumer. Pine nuts are the prime ingredient in pesto, after all, which he has on the menu. “They’ve gone up consistently since COVID,” he says. “Lots of things have started to come back down since then, but not pine nuts.”

It was around the holidays that Tornatore remembers the cookies showing up.

“My nonna would make them and put a little powdered sugar on them, and we’d just eat them warm, oh my god…” he trails off, lost in food memory. I get it. As I type, mine are just about cool. I’ve already had three.

“Pignoli cookies!” Patrick Tramontana replies when I send him the same pic. Again, there’s a similar time warp.

“They make me think of my childhood on Long Island. Going to pick up my mom after school with my dad when she worked at the bakery. She was the cookie lady.”

Erga Italian Bakery was a neighborhood staple in Bethpage, New York, for decades. (It’s since become another bakery, Moscato‘s.) Little did the cookie lady know that one day, her son would be heading up the kitchen at Antonio’s of Maitland before taking the helm at The Mayflower at Winter Park.

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Every time he went, Salvo, the baker, would come out and let him pick whatever he wanted.

“I’d always pick the strawberry eclair because it was the biggest thing they had!” he says, laughing. “My mom would come home with loaves of semolina bread all the time. And every once in a while, and always during Christmas time, she’d come home with pignoli cookies. They’re so delicious! They have this wonderful chewy thing, but they’re also crisp at the same time.”

Yep. It’s a texture thing, courtesy of its prime ingredient — almond paste — that’s at least equal to the rich almond flavor it imparts. There’s a balance of crisp and gooey in these flourless cookies that’s matchless.

“I’m a big almond fan. I go crazy for almond desserts,” says Kevin Fonzo, whose La Tavola dinners at the Emeril Lagasse Foundation’s Kitchen House in College Park sell out as fast as he posts them. “But for me, this is a history thing. It’s the feeling of warmth and comfort and love.”

Growing up in upstate New York, Fonzo would regularly visit his grandparents in the Bronx. And though his great aunts made pignoli cookies all the time, they still remind him mostly of the bakery behind their apartment building.

“When we’d spend the weekend with my grandparents, it was a daily stop for us. We’d walk around the corner to this bakery, and there were all these amazing cookies that weren’t chocolate chip or Oreo or things you’d see at the supermarket.”

To date, Fonzo still orders many of his cookies from his favorite places in New York, like Ferrara in Little Italy.

“Every year, I order like for my sister, who is crazy about the pine nut cookies, too, and for the holidays, I’ll get an assorted cookie tray. And I always get pissed off because there’s never enough pignoli cookies.”

That’s why you have to make your own.

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

Pignoli Cookies

Recipe by Angela Allison courtesy of This Italian Kitchen (thisitaliankitchen.com/pignoli-cookies)

Some notes: This recipe made 24 cookies. I baked them at 350 degrees instead of 325, and they browned beautifully. Try out a couple of testers and see if the higher setting suits your oven as it did mine. And if you want to stretch your pine nuts farther, which you might when three ounces go for about $13 at Publix, press them into one side of the dough ball instead of rolling the whole thing.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces pine nuts
• 14 ounces almond paste (two 7-ounce tubes)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.* Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside. Place pine nuts in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Open tubes of almond paste and break into one-inch chunks using your fingers. Place paste into food processor and pulse until the it has broken apart.
3. Add granulated sugar, powdered sugar and salt to the food processor. Pulse until well combined and mixture forms a crumb. Add in the egg whites and process until a dough forms. (Dough will be slightly sticky).
4. Use a cookie scoop to measure out equal amounts of dough. Form dough into balls using your hands (wet hands slightly if dough begins to stick). Place the dough ball in the bowl of pine nuts and gently press in the nuts so they stick to the ball.
5. Place cookies on lined baking sheet, leaving about an inch and half between each (you should be able to fit a dozen cookies on each baking sheet.) Bake on center rack in oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the cookies start to spread and lightly brown.
6. Remove the cookies from oven and cool on the baking sheet completely before moving. If you move the cookie while warm, you risk it falling apart. Dust cookie with powdered sugar before serving (optional).

AUG. 6! It’s downright extreme.

Now, the most sensible of the food-holiday folk dumped all the pumpkin-related days of honor in October, which makes sense, but even my cravings start to activate earlier than that.

Come mid-September, by which time Michael’s has the 40%-off signs out beneath all the Halloween wreaths, lights and craft kits, I am more than ready for that handful of candy corn that reminds me why it only takes one handful of candy corn to decide I can wait a year to have it again. I’m ready to light the Halloween tree and plan the costume. I’m ready to bake pumpkin stuff.

I’m also ready to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Now, imagine if there was one super-recipe that would allow me to scratch both itches simultaneously?

Enter my Instagram heroine, Domestic Rebel, Hayley Parker, whose incredible concoctions are as addictive as the other kind. But in a much healthier way.

I had bookmarked her pumpkin snickerdoodles as a possible contender for this year’s pumpkinpalooza, but then, just days ago, came a charming, rambling post about fall sweaters and wearing too many layers and how hot it can get in Sacramento that culminated in pumpkin spice tres leches cake, featuring a tantalizing photo of a squishy-wet square of autumnal color with literal cream on top.

I knew I had to make it. And I did. But first, a little about this cake that’s popular in myriad nations from Nicaragua to Puerto Rico, Cuba to the Canary Islands. The Caribbean is no stranger to soaked cakes, the rum cake being the most obvious. Nor is the American South where poke cake, which is literally poked full of holes into which sweet, syrupy and even gelatinous things can be poured, is a varied and popular dessert option

Tres leches translates to “three milks.” In the case of this recipe, that’s evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy whipping cream. The loveliness of this sweet concoction cannot be underestimated, and when it sets into what is a beautifully spiced and not-overly-sweet cake, it becomes something greater than the sum of its parts.

Texturally, the creamy soak gives the lower part of the cake a density that balances with its airier top half — as well as the light, homemade whipped cream. As its author notes, the most difficult part is waiting overnight (or a minimum of eight hours) for the soaked cake to set and allow the flavors to meld.

Offset your impatience with the knowledge that you’ll have batter beaters to lick on Day One with whipped cream to follow on Day Two.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, which means there’s still plenty of kitchen time for things like celebrity chef Roberto Treviño’s Tortilla Española or Orlando’s own chef Wendy Lopez’s stunning Veracruz-style fish if you’re feeling more than mere fall fondness, but after this two-holiday knockout, you’d do worse than pairing your PSL with a square of what I’ll call a PSLLL.

Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches Cake

Recipe courtesy The Domestic Rebel (thedomesticrebel.com/2021/11/05/pumpkin-spice-tres-leches-cake)

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
• 15 ounces (1 can) pure pumpkin puree (do not use pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

For the Tres Leches filling

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 12 ounces evaporated milk (one can)
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (one can)

For the Whipped Cream frosting:

• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• Ground cinnamon, for dusting the top, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Liberally grease a 13×9 light metal rectangular baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, cream together granulated sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and vanilla extract with the paddle attachment on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture until fully combined and batter is smooth and cohesive. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and smooth out the top.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool 15 minutes. While cake is cooling, in a medium bowl, whisk together the heavy whipping cream, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk until combined. Set aside.
4. Poke holes all over the warm cake using a skewer or dowel, or if you don’t have either, the handle of a wooden spoon or a knife’s tip (ADT note: I used a chopstick. Pour the milk mixture evenly over the cake, using all of the milk mixture. It will seem like a LOT of milk, but bear in mind that the cake will gradually soak up the mixture overnight in the fridge. Cover the cake and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Just before serving, make the whipped cream frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip together the heavy whipping cream and confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the cake. Dust with ground cinnamon, if using. Store the cake in the fridge, covered.

Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Actually, it’s probably more like a photographer forty-second.

But I’m trying.

Recipes like this one make it easier, though occasionally, I need help, and for this cheesecake’s close-up, that came in the form of my neighbor, Valerie, who occasionally dog sits but had never before been enlisted in any job-related ridiculousness until I asked her to light up this Red, White & Blue Cheesecake recipe from Food Network Kitchen.

Trifling with the holiday: Do it right with a patriotic delight

Why I chose it was simple: Look at it! It’s like creamy, patriotic fireworks for your long-weekend holiday table. It’s only a small step up in difficulty from the last Independence Day delight I made (a fruity, creamy Fourth of July trifle). And its use of whipped cream cheese makes it a much lighter offering than the typical cheesecake and, therefore, better suited to Orlando’s summer weather.

Fruity add-ons, in this case, blueberries and strawberries, only serve to up the refreshment factor with their tart juiciness.

The recipe went according to plan — mostly.

First, I used regular, liquid food coloring because I couldn’t find a gel version. While I found that I had to use more than the recipe suggested to achieve the deep color I was looking for (less could perhaps work for a gender-reveal party cheesecake now that I think about it!), the additional color didn’t do anything to alter the flavor of the cake. It was lovely and light and vanilla-tinged.

The temps? Well, I think it is a typical home baker’s concern that’s covered by the old “know your oven” adage. My cake browned a little more than I might have wanted (and split in one spot). Had I watched it closely, I’d have gotten some foil over the top sooner. It set up nicely, though, and still looked mighty pretty on the plate.

It was the rainy-day natural lighting that lacked when it had cooled enough to photograph, and so Valerie came to the rescue, illuminating not only with her presence but her iPhone. We might celebrate independence on July 4, but it sure is nice to have good neighbors to lean on when you need them.

Also Amazon. For portable light-source shopping on the fly. I’ll be doing that as soon as this piece is filed.

Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Red, White & Blue Cheesecake

Recipe courtesy Food Network Kitchen (foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/red-white-and-blue-cheesecake-3672694)

You’ll need a 10-inch springform pan, as well as a wooden skewer or chopstick, for this recipe.

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 18 whole crackers)
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Pinch fine salt

Filling

• Three 11.5-ounce containers whipped cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• One 16-ounce container sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring (or to desired color)
• 1/2 teaspoon blue gel food coloring (or to desired color)

Instructions

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.
2. For the crust, toss together graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Press into bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely. Wrap up bottom and sides of pan with a large piece of foil and place in large roasting pan.
3. For the filling, beat together cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute. Add sour cream. Beat until just combined. Add heavy cream. Beat until just combined. Mix in the eggs by hand, one at a time. Mix in vanilla and lemon juice by hand, until just combined. (Take care not to overmix, or the cheesecake will become a soufflé!).Ladle out 2 cups of cheesecake batter and divide between two bowls. Color one bowl with red food coloring and one with blue food coloring. Leave the remaining batter white.
4. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, drop scoopfuls of the batter onto the crust, alternating between the different colors until all the batter is gone. Use a long wooden skewer and drag it through the batter, making sure the skewer reaches down to the bottom of the pan, in 4 swipes, to marble the colors for a tie-dye effect. Transfer the springform pan to the roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come about halfway up the side of the springform pan.
5. Bake until outside of the cake is set, but center is still slightly loose, about 1 hour, 20 minutes. Turn off oven and leave the cheesecake inside for another hour. Remove the cheesecake from roasting pan to cooling rack. Run a knife around the edge and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.
6. Unmold cheesecake. Transfer to a serving plate or cake stand.

14-year-old (telling me she’s 14 without telling me she’s 14): It’s not a coffee thing.

Okay, fine. It wasn’t a coffee thing.

But man, does this thing go beautifully with coffee.

And the cinnamon filling — sweet, spice-laden perfection with just the right amount of custard-imbued moisture — was reminiscent of a delight the Publix bakery used to call a “coffee ring.” It wasn’t the same as the prevalent pecan ring, which I still see, but I’m getting off-topic here.

The point is the thing was freaking delicious. And so is this. And I’m not hinging my enjoyment of it on the odds of a teenager simply saying “thanks” upon receiving a compliment. And nor should you.

You should just make it, as she/we did.

The craving came to her based on the same Ole & Steen pastry you’ll read about where she found the recipe — at ScottCanEat.com. She and her sister enjoyed it immensely on a trip to New York and like Scott, she got the bug to recreate the magic.

I haven’t partaken of this Danish bakery’s danish, so I can’t say how close this is to the mark, but when two extremely amateur bakers can execute something like the kanelstang and make it this delicious on the first try, I can certainly endorse this website as one I’d trust with wild recipe stabs on the Internet.

Regarding ingredients, we made two subs, using conventional granulated sugar instead of the slightly finer and harder-to-find caster sugar, and replacing custard powder with corn starch. For the latter, we followed the ratio 1:1 of cornstarch to what the recipe required. You will want to additionally include one teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt in the mix.

The custard came together creamy-perfect, but we left it in the fridge to cool a tad longer than we should have. Hence, it jelled up a bit. My baking partner was skeptical and so used it far more sparingly than the recipe called for. The pastry turned out beautifully, anyway, so I’d be curious to try it again — this time allowing the custard to cool in the fridge for perhaps 10 minutes, then just leaving it out on the counter while prepping the rest of the recipe, looking in on it from time to time.

We also rushed the glaze a bit, drizzling when the cake was still too warm. The end result was scrumptious, but it didn’t create the solid white streaks it would have had we let it cool sufficiently. I dressed it with a light blast of cinnamon. It still looked pretty.

If you watch Scott’s YouTube video — which you’ll find embedded into the recipe — you’ll see that his didn’t turn out flawless, either. His eggwash attempt was a failure. And yet, still scrumptious. The recipe might be magic.

(Having watched the video beforehand, always a great idea when you’ve got one, we simply skipped the egg wash altogether.)

What’s more, this butter-laden thing can be wrapped in foil and left out on the counter for days — I am not exaggerating — and remain moist and delicious. You will tear off a piece each time you return to the kitchen. Which you’ll do repeatedly. Until you realize it also will freeze beautifully.

At this point, you can break it up into a few packages with the confidence of someone who won’t have to write a story about it sometime later and remember there’s kanelstang in the damn freezer on Day Two of her journey back to bathing suit season.

Just remember, it’s not a coffee thing. It’s a Cinnamon Social, which I just noted on the Ole & Steen menu is trademarked, so I’m changing the name just in case.

Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

CINNAMON FAUX-SHUL (KANELSTANG)

Based on Ole & Steen’s recipe

Recipe courtesy of ScottCanEat.com

Makes two “loaves” (scottcaneat.com/ole-steen-cinnamon-social-recipe)

Ingredients

• Dough
• 150 milliliters whole milk
• 18 grams yeast
• 200 grams butter (melted and cooled)
• 2 eggs
• 75 grams caster sugar
• 500 grams plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg beaten (for wash)

Cinnamon Filling

• 200 grams butter
• 200 grams caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt

Cheat Pastry Cream 

• 70 grams Birds Custard Powder
• 75 grams caster sugar
• 500 milliliters whole milk (corrected quantity)

Sugar Syrup

• 150 grams caster sugar
• 75 milliliters water

Glaze

• 300 grams icing sugar
• 40 milliliters milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cheat’s Pastry Cream

1. Put custard powder and sugar in microwave-safe bowl.
2. Mix into smooth paste with a little (approx. 2 tablespoons) milk taken from 1000ml.
3. Add remaining milk and cook on full power for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Pop in the fridge until ready to assemble

The Dough

1. Warm milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. (We are looking for bath temp warm milk.  Any warmer and it will kill the yeast.)
2. Add yeast. Stir to dissolve. Let yeast sit for about 10 minutes to come alive. You will be looking for a thick foam on top of your milk.
3. Once you see action in yeast, add cooled, melted butter, 2 eggs and caster sugar. Mix and set aside.
4. Place flour in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook. With machine running on low, slowly stream in the yeast/milk/egg mixture to combine.
5. Once all liquid has combined, turn up power to low-medium and let dough knead about 6-7 minutes until smooth and elastic. (Add salt at 6-minute mark and mix to combine.)
6. Remove dough, place in a buttered bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in warm place till doubled in size.

Cinnamon Filling

• Combine softened butter, sugar and cinnamon with a pinch or two of sea salt.  Set aside.

Glaze

• Mix all ingredients to make glaze. You may need to add a touch more sugar or milk. You want a double cream consistency.

Sugar Syrup

• Dissolve caster sugar in water over low heat. Allow to cool.

To assemble and bake

1. Divide risen dough in half.  Using rolling pin, roll out dough pieces into two rectangles (35×45 cm – 14×18 inch) on lightly floured surface.
2. Equally distribute the half the cinnamon filling on top of dough pieces. Repeat this with pastry cream over the cinnamon filling.
3. Roll the dough pieces into two tight logs. Place on parchment-lined baking trays.
4. Using sharp knife, cut through the logs — but not all the way. Repeat cuts, about an inch apart, over length of logs. Now take each section and pull it into the opposite direction. This is where the video comes in handy.
5. Cover dough with cling film and let proof again for 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F at about 25-30-minute mark.
6. Beat an egg and brush logs with it. Bake about 20 minutes. Once out of the oven, brush with sugar syrup. Add glaze when cool.