Don’t let the photo scare you: you DO NOT have to weave your rhubarb slices to enjoy this Rhubarb Frangipane Tart. You could lay them on top of the delicious almond-based frangipane filling any-which-way and the flavor would be just as delicious. If you’re brave, however, and willing to spend a little time slicing stems of rhubarb on a mandoline, it is much easier than it looks. We promise. Head to your local farmer’s market to pick up rhubarb and you can even look for locally made flour as well. In both cases, fresh and local flavors add to the impact on the tastebuds.
What is Frangipane?
Frangipane is a sweet custard cream which uses almonds. It’s a base for various pastries and desserts. This blend of butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds creates a rich but also dense filling with a moist, slightly chewy texture. Due to its texture, frangipane usually maintains its shape during baking, making it ideal for tarts, cakes, and pastries. Especially in the case of our Rhubarb Frangipane Tart, it adds a distinctive nutty flavor and smooth consistency that takes this recipe over the top.
A tart that takes inspiration from the flourishing produce at farmer’s markets.
Ingredients
Scale
For the crust:
4 1/2 oz butter, softened
3 oz confectioner’s sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
8 oz all-purpose flour
For the frangipane filling:
2 1/2 oz ground almonds
1 1/2 oz confectioner’s sugar
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1 3/4 oz butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2 oz heavy cream
For the rhubarb topping:
2 cups rhubarb jam
30 thinly sliced pieces of rhubarb
Instructions
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until creamy, 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks, cream, vanilla and salt, and beat for another minute at medium speed.
Add flour and mix on low until just incorporated. Make into a dough with your hands.
Lightly press the tart dough into your tart pan.
Use your hand and fingers to press it around and up the sides of the pan. Make sure to get the dough the same thickness all over. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and freeze for about 20-30 minutes.
For the filling, in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the ground almonds, sugar, salt and butter until creamy and lighter, 2-3 minutes.
Add the egg yolk and cream and beat again until incorporated, about 1 minute.
Scrape mixture out of stand mixer bowl and into cooled tart shell. Then add the 2 cups of rhubarb jam and spread evenly.
Top with thinly sliced pieces of rhubarb. (We choose to lattice the pieces, but you can arrange these any way that you’d like.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake until the frangipane is just set, 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Eat warm or cold!
Recipe and Styling Anna Franklin Photography by Dave Bryce
Bartender Dan Ball of Pittsburgh-based fine dining staple Hyeholde takes a different approach to the classic Bee’s Knees, subbing out gin for the mix of sweet whiskeys, Tullamore DEW Irish Whiskey and Kinsey Single Hive Honey Whiskey. The result is a delicious springtime cocktail that has a fuller, sweeter body as opposed to an ordinary Bee’s Knees.
What is a Bee’s Knees Cocktail?
The name “Bee’s Knees” itself is an old slang term from the 1920s, meaning something is super cool—just like this timeless drink. It’s a classic cocktail that comes out of the Prohibition Era, typically made with a combination of gin, honey, and lemon. Bartenders had to get creative with how they presented things, because the “bootleg” liquor was often low-quality. The gin probably was not exactly top-shelf, so the honey and lemon would mask the lower-quality taste. However, Dan’s variation uses honey whiskey and honey syrup to make a more complex version, because, thankfully, liquor standards have evolved since Prohibition.
Dan Ball, bartender from Pittsburgh’s fine dining spot Hyeholde, brings simple, bold flavors to this ginger cocktail, the Platypus. Like the quirky mammal that doesn’t quite fit into any one category with its furry body, webbed feet, and adorable duck bill, this cocktail mixes disparate elements together to create a unique whole. It’s the perfect spring cocktail, with a hint of spice from the Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur and a botanical body from Hendrick’s Gin. For another warm weather cocktail from Hyeholde, try their Porch Rocker Summer Spritz.
About Hendrick’s Gin
Hendrick’s is one of the most unique gins out there. Brand representative Vance Henderson described Hendricks’s strategy as “to zig when other brands zag.” Hendrick’s rose and cucumber as botanicals in gin as opposed to the traditional juniper. While gin’s center is juniper and most tend to use similar pinier herbs, Hendrick’s pairs well with the raspberry and ginger in this cocktail recipe because of its less herby, springier botanicals. The combination of lemon, raspberry, gin, and ginger and a little mint garnish is perfect for springtime on the porch.
Dan Ball of Hyeholde shows his love for cocktail fun with this Market Alley Punch, featuring a house-made blueberry syrup and Market Alley Gin. This one is for all the party punch lovers out there, perfect for spring and summer gatherings when the blueberries are ripe and the drinks are flowing. For another blueberry gin cocktail, try our Blueberry French 75.
About Market Alley Gin
Market Alley is a Pennsylvania original from Thistle Finch Distilling. The flavor of this new American style gin has a mixture of traditional botanicals, citrus accents, and other local flavors. Thistle Finch distills their gin in small batches in the heart of Lancaster, the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania. They produce rye whiskey, bourbon, rum, and vodka along with gin, so there’s a spirit for everyone.
Dad is tough when he needs to be, and tender all the time. Celebrate Father’s Day with a cake that benefits from the firm toothiness of semolina, even as its rich, aromatic flavors embrace the palate. We also topped the cake with edible flowers, and you can decide which garnish you want for the most festive dessert. Enjoy! (And maybe pair with a Father’s Day cocktail?)
Tips for Making Semolina Cake
First off, you want to pick the right semolina for the recipe. There are two types of semolina: fine and coarse. Fine semolina works best for a soft, moist cake, while coarse semolina gives a slightly denser texture. If you want a fluffy and moist cake, go with fine semolina. For a richer flavor and tenderness, you can use full-fat yogurt or milk in your cake batter. This will add moisture and a creamy richness to the semolina. However, it all depends on how you want the cake to turn out, as each choice you make in baking affects the overall outcome.
A cake that’s both tough and tender, just like Dad.
Ingredients
Scale
For the cake:
1¼ cups olive oil
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 cup semolina flour
2 tbsp baking powder
½ tbsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp spiced rum for batter
2/3 cups spiced rum to pour over cakes at the end of baking, plus more for basting the finished cakes
2 tbsp orange zest (use a microplane!)
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp almond extract
½ tbsp orange extract
1 tbsp ground cardamom
3 eggs
1 cup peach or apricot jam
For the frosting:
2 cups crème fraiche (or 1 c crème fraiche and 1 cup labneh)
¼ cups sugar
½ tbsp orange extract
½ cups light brown sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Thoroughly oil two round 9” cake pans.
Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
Using the whisk attachment of a mixer, combine eggs, zest, and sugar and beat for at approximately 3 minutes until smooth thick.
While the mixer runs, drizzle in oil. Beat until well combined.
Add dry ingredients a bit at a time, then add wet ingredients. Be sure to scrape bottom and sides of mixing bowl once in a while.
When ready, divide batter evenly between the oiled cake pans. Bake for 35 minutes, until a cake tester shows no crumbs.
Pour 1/3 cup rum over each cake tin, distributing as evenly as possible. Return to oven for 5 min.
Remove and let cool for 10 min. Working carefully with a rubber spatula, loosen the cakes and remove from pans.
While still warm, place a layer on a cake plate. Drizzle with a tablespoon or two of spiced rum. Spread with peach or apricot jam. Top with second layer. Drizzle with a tablespoon or two of spiced rum.
Whisk together frosting ingredients. Let rest for 10 minutes and pour onto the center of the top layer. This drippy frosting will make its way down the sides of the cake. Embrace the unpredictability!
Sprinkle with brown sugar just before serving. Garnish with edible herbs and flowers from the garden.
There’s nothing like the sight of those pea shoots poking up through the soil. It signals the start to another wonderful garden season. A long-time tradition for many gardeners, in my family it was my grandmother who without fail, planted peas on St. Patrick’s Day. You can make this Spring Pea Tartine recipe with store-bought peas, but growing them yourself is a real joy.
Tips for Growing Peas in Your Garden
Many garden friends scoff at my March 17 planting, choosing to wait a few weeks, which works fine, but what would Grandma say? The biggest obstacle is the fickle nature of spring weather: one year the garden is under a blanket of snow while in another it is flooded with rain.
I favor snow peas. The pods are edible when small. However, you can shell them if left on the vine long enough. Oregon Sugar Pod II has been in my garden for decades, but I’ve discovered Shiraz Purple from Kitchen Garden Seeds. Both are heavy producers; I just love the color of the purple variety, and it seems to last a little longer as spring gives way to summer.
Although most gardeners spring-sow their peas, there’s an opportunity at the end of the season, too. Peas planted in August, in a place not overpowered by heat, will be ready before a hard freeze. It’s essential the seeds are started early as peas detest hot weather and if planted too late will wither in the hot sun.
We recently met up with one of our favorite bartenders, Cecil Usher of Mindful Hospitality, to see what he had percolating as the weather warms up. After a little simmering, shaking and sipping, a new spring drink, the sweet pea cocktail, came into existence. It’s ideal for the green of the spring season.
About the Sweet Pea Cocktail
The Sweet Pea cocktail is not just about great taste. It’s also about the experience, which Mindful Hospitality specialize in. This drink’s pale green hue makes it visually appealing, while the smooth, aromatic flavors offer a refreshing alternative to traditional cocktails. Whether you’re hosting a garden party or enjoying a quiet evening, this cocktail is sure to impress your guests. This cocktail is also perfect for those looking to explore creative, floral-inspired drinks. The combination of Bluecoat Gin, lime juice, sweet pea syrup, and Lillet Blanc creates a harmonious blend of flavors that’s both refreshing and elegant.
There are two things I love in this world: Lady Gaga and wine. Gaga’s Mayhem is at the top of the charts right now, with critics hailing it as her best work since Born This Way. To celebrate, I dug deep and consulted experts to get a track-by-track list of wine pairings for each song in Mayhem. Life is hard enough. Blast some dance music and pour yourself a glass of wine.
Mayhem’s opener sees Gaga grappling with different facets of herself in a high-energy dance track. Hardy Wallace of Extradimensional Wine Co Yeah!’s wines were made to dance to. His eclectic blends take winemaking to a place it’s never gone before, while still honoring its traditions. It’s the true spirit of Mayhem, Gaga honoring her roots and doing what she’s best at while adding new elements. Ancient Groove is a blend of Mourvèdre and Carignane grown in California’s Contra Costa, described by Wallace as “a wine like no other, born from vines that defy time itself.”
I asked sommelier Adam Knoerzer to pick something out for one of Mayhem’s lead singles, “Abracadabra.” One of the lines in the song references a “lady in red,” and Knoerzer delivered on that image. He heard Australia’s scorching hot Barossa Valley in the song. “This lady in red is silky, spicy (lots of black pepper notes), juicy (think red cherry and raspberry), and packs a punch at 14% ABV to get you moving to the music in no time,” Knoerzer said. “The winemaker, Louisa Rose, is one of Australia’s best.”
This song needed bombastic, big, and sexy: Malbec delivers that. Laura Catena is a leading voice in the Argentinian wine industry and Catena Zapata’s bottles have big personalities, like Catena herself, a physician and social media personality who advocates for more education about moderate drinking. Garden of Eden is flirty and fast-paced but sonically strong enough to stand up to anything, just as Malbec can stand up to a steak.
This wine from the Biondi Santi family represents the struggle for balance with celebrity, as the legendary Italian winemaking family sold the shares of their family name and struck out on their own to innovate their viticulture. The family now focuses on their estate, while a French investor group owns the Biondi-Santi label, making it a perfect pairing for “Perfect Celebrity,” a song about trying to understand yourself when you’re in the spotlight. Though Gaga describes “Perfect Celebrity” as “angry,” it’s also a hugely confident song, as bold as the Biondi-Santi Sassoalloro wine in a glass.
“Vanish Into You” is a ballad about longing for a summer romance, maybe a more mature, emotionally complex version of Gaga’s “Summerboy” off of The Fame. I felt it needed a warm-weather wine that tapped into yearning and nostalgia, so a Georgian wine using ancient techniques felt like the right fit. This Rkatsiteli-Mtsvane is perfect for reminiscing about a summer romance, wondering what could have been while indulging in what is.
Something about this song just said Rhône Valley Syrah to me. It’s a swaggering club beat song, and Syrah feels like the wall-shaking electronic music of wine, at times overpowering and not to be messed with, but with a little bit more character than your average uber-tannic Cabernet Sauvignon.
This song has the energy of a glass of bubbly with the sensuality of a rosé—so the perfect combination is a bubbly rosé. I first drank this in the Versace Mansion bar in Miami, which somehow feels appropriate for a Lady Gaga song. Zombieboy is an unabashedly fun dance track, with pulsating synths as lively as a glass of bubbly.
This is the only song in this album that actually says the word wine in it: “I taste the last words that you said to me like wine.” So, it needs romantic, ultra-sexy, a wine that tastes like the last words someone you adore said to you before parting. It’s a high bar to live up to. Sommelier Alexander Riola of Fish Nor Fowl named Etna Rosso as the “sexiest wine,” where the aroma is part of what gives it its romance. Notes of dusty hay mingle with sandalwood to create a deeply sensual feeling on the bed of minerality from the volcanic soil.
Derek Mossman’s Chilean wines are highly acidic but still deeply enjoyable to drink, mirroring this song’s speaker’s “bad” attitude that her lover just can’t resist anyways. While a sweet wine might go down easier for some, acidity is what gives wine its refreshing characteristic and part of what separates it from being juice. You want a little bit of bad.
“Don’t Call Tonight” is one of the most endlessly replay-able songs on Mayhem, in my opinion. It’s fitting because it represents the cycle of calling that person you shouldn’t but never totally learning. Agricolavinica’s Tintilia del Molise is an amazing wine, and like a perfect pop song, you feel like you never want it to be over while you’re experiencing it. I would listen to this song a hundred times, and drink a hundred glasses of this Tintilia (don’t worry, not in one sitting).
The intensity of this song’s fast-paced chorus is surprising, so a fitting wine for it is a wine that sneaks up on you with its intensity. This Croatian grape, Babic, is earthy and smooth, but as you let it linger on your palate, it’s an extremely complex drinking experience. It also plays with our expectations about wine, as it has an earthiness that in the States we associate with biodynamic winemaking, but the Marinovs use entirely traditional techniques. The vanilla aroma you get after taking a long sniff into the glass is heavenly.
In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Gaga explained this song as “It’s like somebody that is saying to the beast ‘I know you’re a monster, but I can handle you, and I love you.’” This Cilegiolo di Narni has fantastical characteristics, as winemaker Leonardo Bussoletti was inspired by the similarities between the name Narni and the Chronicles of Narnia. This wine can cut through even the richest of foods, too, just as Gaga’s vocals cut through even the most powerful instrumentation.
When Lady Gaga’s fiancé Michael Polansky asked her how she wanted him to propose to her, she said “Just take a blade of grass and wrap it around my finger.” This romantic moment inspired this song, and my wine pick for it is a grassy, rustic wine that still has romance and class to it. This is a significant wine to me, too, because it was one of the first wines I tasted in a WSET 1 class. So, it represents a special moment to me, as well, as “Blade of Grass” does.
The final track on Mayhem needed a method traditionelle bubbly—no ifs, ands, or buts about it. “Die with a Smile” is an R&B-esque track, smooth and earnest after the rollercoaster that is the rest of Mayhem. Domaine Carneros Le Rêve is romantic and sweeping, the perfect toast to love and life.
Known as Gyeran-jjim, Steamed Eggs are a popular Korean dish for their velvety custard mouthfeel brimming with an umami flavor profile. The Garlic Scallion Confit brings this variation to new levels. This easy and delicious recipe is a adapted from Korean Bapsang: A Korean Mom’s Cooking.
The History of Korean Steamed Eggs
Steamed eggsdate back to the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). During this period, eggs were a luxury food. Dishes like gyeran jjim were a treat for royalty and the elite, but now anyone can enjoy them. Over time, they became a staple in households across Korea due to its simple ingredients and quick preparation.
The traditional preparation of Korean steamed eggs involves whisking eggs with water or broth, adding seasoning, and gently steaming the mixture. The dish is often served in a hot stone pot, where the eggs continue to cook, achieving the signature soft and fluffy texture. Variations of gyeran jjim include adding vegetables like onions, mushrooms, or even seafood for added flavor. In modern times, some Korean homes use a microwave to speed up the process. It’s a delicious and convenient comfort food!
⅓ cup of garlic cloves, 2/3rds sliced thinly, 1/3rd whole cloves
⅓ cup thinly sliced scallion greens (approx 8–10 scallions)
1 tsp gochugaru (adjust to your heat preference)
⅓ cup neutral oil (rice bran oil)
⅓ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
For the steamed eggs:
4 large eggs
1 cup anchovy broth or dashi broth
2–3 scallion greens
½ tsp fish sauce
salt
pepper
gochugaru (optional)
1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
For the confit:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place all the ingredients in a heatproof dish, making sure that the ingredients are fully submerged under the oil.
Cover with foil and cook for 1 hr. Uncover, stir, then recover and cook for an additional hour. Place in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks.
For the steamed eggs:
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat. Then, in order to get a silkier texture, pour it through a strainer into a bowl, using a spoon to help push the beaten eggs through.
Add the scallions, fish sauce, salt, pepper, and gochugaru (if using) to the eggs and stir together. Rub the sesame oil on the inside of a traditional Korean stoneware pot (ddukbaegi) and pour in your egg mixture.
Place on top of the stove on medium heat. Cover until the bottom begins to set, then lower the temperature to low and stir the eggs. Cover and let cook, checking every 2-3 minutes to stir and recover. The eggs should be cooked in approximately 7 minutes.
To serve, spoon some garlic scallion confit over the steamed eggs.
Notes
Note: If you do not have a ddukbaegi or stoneware pot, you can steam the eggs in oiled ramekins in a covered water bath instead.
Recipe and Styling by Veda Sankaran Photography by Dave Bryce
Cocktail hour can get a little too buzzy without a plate to share with a friend. This Gemelli with Prosciutto and Peas is so easy, you could disappear into the kitchen and come back with forks before your bestie finishes her story. We especially love Chef Kate Romane’s pop of green spring peas, a vibrant addition to the dish.
About Gemelli
Gemelli is a traditional Italian pasta with a unique shape and texture. The word “gemelli” translates to “twins” in Italian, which perfectly describes the pasta’s signature form. The twisted, spiral-y shape helps the pasta hold onto sauces more effectively, making it an ideal choice for a variety of dishes. Gemelli is versatile and works wonderfully in both light, fresh salads and rich, hearty pasta dishes. In recipes like this Gemelli with Prosciutto and Peas, the pasta’s shape is perfect for trapping bits of crispy prosciutto and sweet, tender peas. The beauty of gemelli lies not only in its shape but in how it elevates the simplest ingredients to create a delicious and comforting dish. Whether you’re making a quick weeknight dinner or entertaining guests, gemelli is a pasta that promises to shine in any recipe.
