Bathtime reading and doughnut bread pudding
What a week! My book came out! (Buy it here). It was very exciting and so many people I love came to my book event in Oakland, and it made me very happy. This essay I wrote for Catapult about my path to becoming a writer came out! (It was a very hard one to write, the editors there are brilliant angels who helped me with it so much). This fun interview I did about how much I love breakfast and the snacks I keep in my purse came out! I got to be one of the Two Bossy Dames (along with my friend Amy Spalding) and write about Harry and Meghan! This very fun live Dear Prudence podcast that I did with the wonderful Mallory Ortberg and Nicole Cliffe went up! If you want to hear more of me talking about me, I also recently did the Forever 35 podcast (a fantastic new podcast by and for women on the other side of 35), the Beaks and Geeks podcast, and the Women with Books podcast.
And if you want to hear me talk in person and you live around L.A., come see me tomorrow at 5pm at The Ripped Bodice in Culver City in conversation with Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, otherwise known as The Fug Girls. It'll be a ton of fun, and I hope plenty of you will be there!
Speaking of Forever 35, here's a product recommendation I made when I was on that podcast and talked about how much I love taking baths: this bathtub drain cover. Everyone who likes to take baths knows that problem of getting in the bathtub when it's at the perfect level of water, and then the water slowly draining out so that the top half of your naked body is cold and wet. This solves that problem! Slap it over your drain as soon as you get in, and your water level stays right where you want it. I didn't know it existed until last year, and now it's one of my favorite things. There's a hole in the top, so the water can't go that high (so you won't overfill the tub and flood your bathroom), but it can still go to the perfect level to keep you warm and soothed.
Here is a very not soothing book I've been reading in the bathtub this week and can't stop thinking about: The Power. It's about what happens in the not too distant future (or past?) when teenage girls throughout the world suddenly discover they have a power within them. It's addictive and stressful and mind blowing and familiar, and is so much about gender imbalances, the way we talk about women in general and teenage girls in particular, and the world we live in. I want everyone I know to read it so we can talk about it (I haven't finished it yet, don't spoil the end for me if you have!).
If you've read The Wedding Date already (or even looked at the back cover) you know that doughnuts play a role in the book. But don't worry, I'm not going to give you a recipe for homemade doughnuts (this time, at least); here's a recipe for bread pudding doughnuts that I adore and makes your whole house smell like a doughnut shop. I saw this on the Food Network once over ten years ago -- my sister (who loves doughnuts as much as Alexa from The Wedding Date does, AND loves bread pudding) was in college, and I emailed her in all caps about it. The original recipe calls for raisins, but my sister hates raisins (I like them!) and I usually make this for her, so I've never tried it with them, but they're great with either chocolate chips or just the doughnuts. Also, I've cut this recipe in half and made it in an 8 x 8 pan a number of times to much success.
Cake Doughnut Bread Pudding
For the bread pudding
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup raisins or chocolate chips (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
16 cake doughnuts (preferably day old, but fresh ones work too)
For the rum sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
Dark rum, to taste (optional) (use anywhere from a few tablespoons to a quarter of a cup)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a food processor, combine butter and sugar until the mixture forms a ball. Add the eggs, heavy cream, and vanilla, and process until blended. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Tear up the doughnuts into 1 inch pieces and layer them in the pan. Scatter the raisins or chocolate chips, if using them, over the top of the doughnuts. Pour the egg mixture over the doughnuts and let the combination soak for 5-10 minutes.
Cover the pan with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the top. It's done with the custard is set, but still soft.
To make the rum sauce: melt the butter, and (when off the heat) add the powdered sugar to it, whisking very well to blend it all. Add the rum to taste. Pour the sauce over the bread pudding and let it sink in.
Enjoy with ice cream or by itself.
Have a great weekend!
Jasmine
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