My Sunday Suppers Summer Desserts

Photos by Karen Mordechai Photography

As you might already know, two weekends ago, I was a guest chef at Sunday Suppers. It was my second time collaborating, but this time I actually had to teach a class myself. I had such a fantastic weekend and I hope those who attended enjoyed it as much as I did.

I was not able to photograph any of the desserts myself because first, I was busy at work trying to get all guests to bake the different components and second, because right before the class started, my entire lower right leg swell up due to a spider bite and I could barely move. I don't even know how I made it through the class. Everyone was a trooper helping out and taking charge in the kitchen. What a great team it was!

Photos by Karen Mordechai Photography

The theme of the night was summer, so I designed a three course menu around summer fruits with a bit of a rustic touch to accompany the rest of Casey and Karen's menu.

The day before at the Union Square farmer's market we found the sweetest berries for the berry consomme and lemon champagne sorbet pre-dessert. A small, tart and refreshing dessert to cleanse the palate.

The main dessert was composed of a bottom layer of pistachio crumble, vanilla roasted nectarines, lemon and almond sponge filled with vanilla mousseline and topped with a quenelle of lemon and mascarpone cream.

We finished off with an assortment of mignardises or small cookies. Pistachio and currant shortbreads, raspberry financiers and pecan sandies.



I loved the simplicity of the tables with the kraft paper, antique flatware and linens, which came to life with the amazing flower arrangements that Jessie of Rountree Flowers put together. Colorful, unexpected... a dramatic contrast to the simplicity of the rest. It was perfection. The menus were once again designed by super talented Erica of Thoughtful Day.

My pre-dessert was served in the most beautiful bowls created specifically for the night by Asya of Gleena Ceramics. Each bowl was uniquely labeled with a number from 1 to 18 representing the 18 guests. Amazing touches like these are the ones that really make Sunday Suppers magical.



For more photos and all the recipes for my desserts, please visit Sunday Suppers (here, here and here).

Thank you Karen and Casey for having me again!... and for those of you who have not attended... what are you waiting for!

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My Sunday Suppers Summer Desserts

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A New York Kind of Weekend, Part I

This past weekend, I flew out to New York City for my second Sunday Suppers dinner where I was featured as a guest chef. It was a weekend full of food, friends, laughs and sunshine and I couldn't be more thankful for all of it. The amount of time and dedication that goes into it is unbelievable, but so worth it and I can't thank Karen and Casey enough for their support and friendship.

I will share photos of the actual Sunday Suppers dinner soon, but first I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite images from the day before the dinner at the farmer's market at Union Square. I wanted to cry it was so beautiful.



Before I left for New York, my dear friend Deb offered me to stay at her apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn while she was away on vacation. She is one of the most generous and warm hearted people I have ever met and I will be eternally grateful to her for many reasons. I ended up staying in her super cute, vintage Greenpoint apartment with her two kitties Icky and Max who kept me company.



I flew out to New York on Friday morning. This time around, I really wanted to have a day off to enjoy the city and have some quality time with friends.

I had a three course dessert menu planned for Sunday and lots of prep to do. As soon as I arrived in the city, I headed over to Karen's for a five hour prep session where I got so much done. That always feels great and then had the rest of the night to enjoy dinner with my dear friend Amy Atlas.

She made a reservation at Dos Caminos in SoHo. We talked about life, work, motherhood... and how to balance it all. She is warm, generous, funny, sincere and I am so thankful our paths connected. It was an amazing evening. Thank you Amy!

Sweet Karen Mordechai

The next morning, Karen, Casey and I headed to the Union Square farmer's market to shop for some of the ingredients for the dinner. It was a joy to be there even in the middle of a heat wave. The produce, flowers, dairy farmers, organic growers, wild game, fish... It was a food lovers dream and reminded me very much of the markets back home.

I found the most beautiful and sweet tiny strawberries, red currants and purple blossoms for the berry consomme and lemon champagne sorbet pre-dessert I was going to have the next day. Marigolds and greens for one of Casey's salads, garlic blossoms for the couscous salad, the sweetest and tiniest tomatoes and crates and crates of so much more... A dream.

After the farmer's market, we had lunch at Pastis and then, Casey and I headed to Chelsea Market for some more shopping and gelato. She and I walked around for a bit, visited New York Cake and Baking, laughed, walked down a street fair, laughed some more. It was the perfect ending to a perfect New York day if you ask me.

Photo by Karen Mordechai Photography

There was quite of bit of traveling this summer for me, but this will be my last trip in a few months because as you can see in the last photo, there is a baby growing in my belly and yes, I am getting bigger and bigger everyday. I am just happy I got to do this before life gets a bit crazier.

And to top it all off, Amy finally convinced me of the wonders of Twitter so I'm finally on and you can follow me here. Hope you had a great weekend too!

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A New York Kind of Weekend, Part I

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Sunday Suppers, Amy Atlas and an Inspiring Collaboration

Last week I gave you a little sneak peek into the amazing weekend I spent in New York City participating in one of the Sunday Suppers dinner/classes featuring the work of Amy Atlas and other fabulous artist women. I apologize for taking so long in posting the rest of the photos... Life has been crazy to say the least with traveling, small projects and even the chickenpox ( I will leave this for another time). This craziness is also the reason why I didn't complete this month's Daring Bakers challenge. I'm so sorry about that one too!



It's funny how life works sometimes and how I got involved with this Sunday Suppers event. Long story so I won't get into too many details, but all I can say is that I'm glad I did as I think I have found a group of super talented women I have made a lasting connection with.

The event took place in Brooklyn in the most beautiful setting and the most beautiful view of Manhattan. The table settings, the flowers, the graphic designs, the cake, Amy's vision... they were all breathtaking.



I arrived Saturday morning and spent all afternoon prepping and baking for the next day. The Moroccan theme with the acqua blue and orange colors inspired me to create macarons flavored with orange flower water, crisp white meringue cookies filed with orange buttercream and what seemed to be the favorite, panna cotta with fresh orange juice gelee. Very simple, but worked great.

Photo by Karen Mordechai Photography

Guests arrived around 4:30pm, mingled, enjoyed some appetizers and then everyone gathered around the kitchen to take part in Casey's cooking class. It was very interactive and she quickly engaged guests in the kitchen, asking everyone to participate in the prep process somehow. She is just too much fun!

The menu consisted of a first course of harissa brushed halibut over gazpacho and topped with a micro green salad; second course, chicken tajine with preserved lemons,olives and polenta accompanied by a roasted mini beet salad and finally dessert, fig and sesame compote tart with orange cardamom cream.

Afterwards, everyone sat at the beautifully styled table ready to taste the food. It was a great group of people and I even managed to snap this adorable photo of Alex and Joanna.



Of course, none of this would have been possible without the masterminds behind this concept, professional photographer Karen Mordechai and private chef Casey Solomon. The thought and attention to detail behind all of this really blew me away.

I also have to mention the rest of the artists involved whose work really contributed to the success of the night. Of course Amy (lovely, lovely, lovely... can't emphasize enough!), the flower arrangements (beautiful, beautiful garlands!) by Jessie Weidinger from Rountree Flowers, menu and graphic design by Erica Bohanon of Thoughtful Day, Archana Rao of Love Street Cakes created the breathtaking cake and Ali Kantor created a traditional moroccan cookie called kaab el ghazal.



Finally, I have to tell you that I will be going back to New York next month to actually teach one of these classes myself. I think the class is fully booked already, but you can get more information here. For those who are attending, I will see you then!

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Sunday Suppers, Amy Atlas and an Inspiring Collaboration

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Sneak Peek into Sunday Suppers

Photo by Karen Mordechai Photography

As I mentioned before, this past weekend I flew to New York to participate in Sunday Suppers. It was a Moroccan inspired dinner hosted by the masterminds behind this amazing concept, photographer Karen Mordechai and chef Casey Solomon. Super talented and adorable stylist Amy Atlas created one of her infamous dessert bars for which I baked orange flower macarons, orange creamsicle panna cotta and baked meringue sandwich cookies.

It is remarkable all the work and detail that goes into these events. The tables and chairs were beautifully decorated with flower arrangements by Jessie Weidinger and all the amazing graphic design was the work of Erica Bohanon of Thoughtful Day. Thank you ladies!

More to come soon!

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Sneak Peek into Sunday Suppers

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Summer Berries and an Update

I think this is the longest I have ever let the blog go without a new post. I am just wrapping up a small project and getting ready to start another one (keeping my fingers crossed).

This weekend I am off to New York City to assist the super talented Amy Atlas with some items for her Moroccan inspired dessert table for Sunday Suppers. I am really, really excited about this one since I have been a long time admirer of her work. And not to mention that I will be able to attend one of the cool Sunday Suppers that everyone is raving about.

To top it all of, I hope I can catch up with my dear friend Deb over some delicious food.



I baked a lot over the weekend and I promise I will have a new recipe for you here tomorrow. Thank you!

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Summer Berries and an Update

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