Please join me in welcoming NATASHA PICKOWICZ to this crazy little fun newsletter thing I am doing here.
It truly makes my heart burst with joy when one of my friends makes a cookbook. Cookbooks are such a labor of love and to see someone go through the process and come out the other side with this beautiful, tangible object is so exciting.
I’ve known Natasha for a while now. She did a couple of videos for us when I was at MUNCHIES and she is truly one of the kindest, smartest, and most talented pastry chefs I know. I’m honestly so lucky to call her a friend.
When Natasha was developing recipes for her book, More Than Cake (which came out last week!), she needed some kitchen space for testing, so of course I let her use the MUNCHIES Test Kitchen. I think it was 2021 and nobody was really in the office at all, so it was nice to share the space with her when our timing overlapped, and also so fun to receive little notes and dispatches from Natasha when she would be roaming the rooftop garden alone looking for cake garnishes.
When I knew Natasha’s book was finally coming out (!!!) and I had just started this here little Substack, I immediately hit her up with the idea to come bake with me. Our brains were definitely linked because she was like “OMG I was literally going to pitch you me coming on your Substack.”
And here we are.
For those of you who may just be meeting Natasha as a result of this post, let me brag about my friend for a brief moment.
She’s a three-time James Beard finalist and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of the last 5+ years for reproductive rights by hosting bake sales across NYC and the entire country. She often holds pastry pop-ups and she is truly going all over the place for her book tour, so check out her schedule and go see her if you are lucky enough to have her pass through your city.
But back to our video. WHICH WILL COME TO YOUR INBOX AT NOON TODAY! (I didn’t want to flood your inbox with two emails at once so decided to space them out.)
I immediately knew I wanted Natasha to come and make // decorate a cake with me (bc I am, in all seriousness, not good at cake decorating at all) and I thought it would be so fun to learn from her expertise.
We landed on the Black Sesame, Cream Cheese, and Pineapple Layer Cake because I love sesame. That’s it. I just wanted to eat sesame in cake-form.
The night before our shoot, I was having serious regrets.
Why did I choose such a complicated recipe? We could have been making the Shoyu Peanut Cookies (which I cross tested for her when she was developing and can confirm they’re delicious), but instead I chose a recipe that had five different elements.
FIVE.
Granted, I had made the frosting, marmalade, and milk soak ahead of time, so all we really were doing on camera was the chiffon cake and cream cheese mousse for the shoot, BUT STILL. Why did I have to overcomplicate my life?
Turns out, it was fine. Because a) I had made most of the elements ahead of time, as I mentioned above and b) Natasha is a magician and a fantastic teacher and everything was so simple to execute.
The cake is made in a half sheet tray, so it’s thin and cools super fast. We also built the entire thing in a casserole dish and let it rest // set for like an hour or so in the freezer before we frosted it while we ate lunch on my rooftop in the sunshine (which was lovely).
And guys. I cannot stress enough how v chill and NOT stressful making this layer cake was.
AND HOLY SHIT DID IT TASTE GOOD.
Like, ok, we can all agree cake is pretty fucking great. It’s such a celebratory thing and the ritual of baking can honestly be so relaxing if you’re following a good recipe, which we obviously were. But this cake. THIS GD CAKE. Truly mind-blowing.
Natasha says this in the video, but it bears repeating: IT TASTES LIKE A FANCY PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY. The black sesame is so nutty and perfect, and paired with the pineapple mother-fucking marmalade…watch out.
(sorry for all of my swearing Mom, but I am really passionate about this recipe, which you can find below!!)
One thing I cut from the video that I have to say here that Natasha mentions: this cake gets better as it sits. The following day? yummmmmm. The day after? GOOD AF. The day after that? Bitch, you know that shit was gone by then, but I bet it would have tasted even better.
This is all to say that I LOVE THIS CAKE AND I LOVE NATASHA AND I LOVE HER BOOK AND THIS VIDEO WAS SO FUN TO MAKE and I hope you like all of it, too, and please please please watch the video and share it among friends (there will be no paywall on this one!), but more importantly: BUY HER BOOK!
Pineapple and Lime Marmalade Recipe
This recipe from pastry chef extraordinaire Natasha Pickowicz is simple, bright, and tangy…and what Natasha uses in her Black Sesame, Cream Cheese, and Pineapple Layer Cake from her book, More Than Cake. When Natasha and I baked the cake together, she told me she’d originally developed this recipe to pair on a cheeseboard, and I couldn’t recommend that enough.
Makes about 3 cups|700 grams (enough for one 10-inch (20 cm) layer cake)
25 minutes active time
1 day inactive time
INGREDIENTS
4 cups finely diced fresh pineapple (about 24 ounces|700 grams)
1 lime, thinly sliced and finely chopped (about 70 grams)
1 cup|200 grams granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
citric acid if necessary
DIRECTIONS
1. Macerate the pineapple. In a large bowl or container, combine the pineapple, lime, sugar, and salt. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours, and up to 2 days.
2. Cook the marmalade. In a medium pot, bring the pineapple and sugar mixture to a strong simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pineapple has turned translucent and the liquid has boiled off, 40 to 50 minutes. For the freshest taste, try not to let the fruit caramelize. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly, then pulse 4 to 5 times in a food processor (or chop by hand) until chunky, not smooth. Taste and add a pinch of citric acid if needed (the jam should taste sour and bright). Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Excerpted from More Than Cake by Natasha Pickowicz (Artisan Books). Copyright ©2023. Photographs by Graydon Herriot.
Archestratus book signing with Natasha, Paige & you was a blast!