Bake and a Book: Strawberry Buttermilk Cake + Project Hail Mary

Sweet Inspiration

Bake: Inspiration can come in any form, and for me, it just so happed to arrive in the shape of a doughnut. A strawberry buttermilk one from Sidecar Doughnuts. It was the simplest of the four-pack I picked up on the way home Friday afternoon. It didn’t have sprinkles, or a filling, didn’t have the swagger of a Maple Bacon, or the drama of a birthday doughnut. It was the simplicity of a seasonal spring flavor.

After one bite, I said out loud — “Now this is a doughnut.”

I want to be clear, there are no bad doughnuts. But you can tell when you are in the midst of a great one. And for me, it was this one. It inspired me to look for recipes where I could create this similar palette of flavors in a different form, and I ended up making a Strawberry Milk Cake that was just as addicting as the doughnut.

Fresh strawberries, buttermilk, butter, sugar and a buttercream frosting that was a hybrid between a glaze and frosting. I took out some of the sugary sweetness out of the frosting by adding lemon juice, and i macerated strawberries to recreate the same look as the doughnut.

This was the recipe I followed, while also tweaking things around a bit to reduce sugar. I wanted the fruit to speak for itself. Recipe, here.

Book: My son and his friend went to see Project Hail Mary, and when I tell you that nothing ever moves them, I mean it. So, when I picked them up from this movie and they both liked dazed and happy, and reported back that it was “Peak” and that they would see it again, I decided to buy the audiobook. Now, I’m old school, and still struggle with listening to a book in lieu of reading it, but the reviews on this audiobook were phemonomal, so I decided to get it. And as my son says “It slapped.” The audio book was wonderful, I felt transported to space, and really enjoyed being able to be lost in this world.

Now that I finished the audiobook, I can go see the movie, and compare them like the book snob I can be.