“I find that adding fresh fruit to a recipe creates a glorious and delicious dessert. It adds color, freshness and, of course, sun-kissed sweetness.” — Jackie Bruchez
Melissa’s hosted Chef Jackie Bruchez, author of recently published “Decadent Fruit Desserts” and creator of the blog “The Seaside Baker”, in their kitchen on March 22. Bruchez demoed desserts for attendees using fresh Melissa’s produce, signed copies of her new cookbook, and participated in a Q&A with the audience.
“Decadent Fruit Desserts” showcases fresh and inspiring treats to excite your senses. While we all love to eat fruit in its purest form, the Bruchez family faces the same challenge that we all have encountered; how to eat the fruit in your home before it all ripens too fast. Chef provides a sweet solution by turning potentially wasted fruit into tasty dessert recipes. Bruchez was raised with the idiom, “Waste not, want not,” so incorporating fruit, that could have potentially gone to waste, into her cooking was a no brainer.
Chef Bruchez has been blogging for over seven years, with recipes featured in “Huffington Post”, “Buzzfeed” and “The Knot.” Not only did Chef create all of the recipes, she even did all of the stunning photography for the book!
During the event, guests sampled Strawberry Eton Mess, Fresh Raspberry-Lime Cake, No-Bake Mini Cheesecakes, Blackberry Custard Bars (inspired by a berry picking trip) and Blueberry-White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. All of these desserts were made using fresh fruit from Melissa’s and Chef even demoed a couple of the recipes, which you can view on Melissa’s Facebook page. Some of the produce featured was Melissa’s Meyer lemons, vanilla beans, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, rhubarb and raspberries. During the demo, Chef provided some insightful baking tips to the viewers, like the benefits of using cake flour vs. regular all-purpose flour (cake flour makes lighter cakes) and why she adds shortening to her cookie recipes (helps them rise instead of spreading out). Bruchez also filled us in on how easy it is to use monk fruit as a sugar substitute — a pretty hot trend in the baking community right now. “Decadent Fruit Desserts” is loaded with other great baking tips.
When recreating her recipes at home, be sure to tag her, @theseasidebaker or #decadentfruitdesserts, in all your creations! Chef loves seeing what you bake!
If Jackie Bruchez isn’t in the kitchen using fresh Melissa’s produce, then she’s traveling with her husband and three children. Find out where to purchase her book here, so you can start baking some of these delicious creations!
Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake
If you are a lemon lover, you are going to fall head over heels for this cake. With its sweet lemon-y cake base and tart glaze, it’s the perfect burst of lemon sunshin!
Chiffon Cake
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar (divided)
- 2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 7 large Eggs (separated)
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup Meyer Lemon (juice)
- 1 tablespoon Meyer Lemon (zest)
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Lemon Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 tablespoon Meyer Lemon (juice)
- 1 tablespoon Meyer Lemon (zest)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and generously grease a 12-cup tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To make the cake, in a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour. Pour the oil, egg yolks, milk, lemon juice and zest into the center of the well. With an electric mixer, beat the flour mixture and wet ingredients until they’re just combined. Do not overbeat.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with clean beater until frothy. Once frothy, add the remaining sugar and cream of tartar and beat it until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold half of the whites into the batter until it’s almost fully incorporated. Add the remaining whites and gently fold until it’s combined. Pour the batter evenly into the tube pan.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Allow the pan to cool for 5 minutes, then invert the pan over a wire rack and allow it to cool for 1 hour upside down. It the cake has not yet released from the pan, gently run a knife around the edges to loosen it. Cool it completely.
- To make the glaze, combine the sifted powdered sugar, heavy cream, lemon juice and zest with a whisk until smooth. Pour it over the cooled cake, then slice and serve.
Recipe excerpted from Decadent Fruit Desserts: Fresh and Inspiring Treats to Excite Your Senses by Jackie Bruchez, published by Page Street Publishing Co. March 2019.
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