Liz Prueitt’s Perfect (Gluten-Free) Madeleines

Plus, Father’s Day dinner and more summer faves

Happy Friday, friends! 

I’ve been riding the wave of “June-tember,” as my friend has been calling it, since this month has felt a lot like the rush of September with all of its activities. Last week I had the first photo shoot for my cookbook and this week I’ve been going through book edits (which are due next week), along with developing content and recipes for this newsletter (and recording the final podcast episode of season 3). Between all that and family stuff (school activities! house renovations!), it’s been a busy two weeks, and I’ve been grounding myself with simple daily rituals, including taking walks when I can, epsom salt baths (my favorite way to cultivate stillness), resting when possible (without justification), and afternoon cups of tea, brewed intentionally, preferably with something sweet alongside.

Today I have a special treat for you from

Liz Prueitt

of Have Your Cake, who I interviewed in this week’s podcast episode, and it’s the perfect recipe for busy times like these. Liz is sharing her recipe for gluten-free Madeleines (below the paywall), which, as she explains on the show, are one of her favorite summer desserts. I’ve made her recipe several times since we spoke, and let me tell you, they’re perfect. They’re slightly crisp on the outside with a buttery, tender crumb, and they have a sweet hint of lemon. If you’ve never made Madeleines before, now’s the time.

Going Gluten-Free as an Award Winning Pastry Chef

The beauty of the recipe is that the batter gets made ahead and refrigerated (for up to 5 days!), meaning you can bake off a few of the little cakes at a moment’s notice. As I mentioned in this strawberry tea cake post, when life gets chaotic, creating moments of sweet pleasure feels all the more necessary. There’s something incredibly luxurious about baking a few buttery Madeleines just for me, eaten as a pause in the middle of a busy day, embodied and content. While I don’t have any memories associated with Madeleines like Proust so famously describes, they do fill me with an “all-powerful joy,” as he says. I hope they’ll bring you joy too.

Liz is sharing a free seven day trial to her Have Your Cake newsletter at this link!

Father’s Day

If you need some dinner inspiration for Father’s Day, this Grilled Steak Wedge Salad (which I shared last year) is still one of our favorites. Pair it with Grilled Potatoes, and finish with this Strawberry Honey Tea Cake, which one reader recently described as “truly the best.” ❤️

Grilled Wedge Salad, Grilled Potatoes & Strawberry Honey Tea Cake

Strawberry Honey Tea Cake (Grain Free)

James has requested a slightly more intensive meal this year: pulled pork, coleslaw, cornbread, and chocolate pudding pie (recipe links below). There’s nothing I love more than firing up my smoker in the summer, but if you don’t have one, this slow cooker pulled pork is also amazing (and won’t heat up your kitchen). The chocolate pudding pie is dairy-free but you wouldn’t know it (although I often use fresh whipped cream on top instead of coconut whipped cream). It can be made ahead, streamlining the menu.

• Smoked Pork Butt

• Skillet Cornbread

• Red Cabbage and Sweet Corn Slaw

• Chocolate Pudding Pie

Pulled Pork, Skillet Cornbread, Red Cabbage & Sweet Corn Slaw, Chocolate Pudding Pie

What I’ve been cooking lately

One of my goals from the cookbook shoot was to waste as little food as possible (I’ll be sharing more about the shoot next week), and we’ve finally used up the leftover vegetable and meat scraps in the fridge, transforming them into everything from this Gochujang Pork Salad, to these Bison Meatballs, to an herby chicken salad (with lots of dill, celery and chopped golden raisins—my favorite), to rice bowls with sautéed vegetables and peanut sauce (from this recipe). Juni also recently made the Barbecue Chicken Tacos from Melissa Clark’s book, Kid in the Kitchen, which we served with guacamole and coleslaw—winner.

Coming soon

Here are some recipes/posts that are coming soon!

• A behind-the-scenes look into the workings of a cookbook photo shoot

• A make-ahead side dish that I can’t stop making (or thinking about)—perfect for summer barbecues, potlucks and picnics

• The last podcast episode for season three (airing on June 25^th)—it’s an amazing one

• An easy fruit tart that’s perfect for the Fourth of July or any summer celebration

A quick favor! If you appreciate this newsletter, would you mind clicking the heart ❤️ in the upper left? It really helps spread the love.

Liz Prueitt’s Madeleines

Now, back to those Madeleines. Here are some tips from Liz: 

This week’s recipe is for paid subscribers, whose support of just a few dollars a month (less than $1 per recipe) makes all this work possible. If you’d like to hop over, click the button below. ❤️ Thank you for your support!