Strawberry Top Simple Syrup

Prevent food waste with a do-it-all syrup to liven up your cocktails, desserts and spritzes all season long. Plus, an update on my spring garden, the perfect chocolate cake & a coffee shop I love

Before we jump into today’s recipe, a few bits of housekeeping and GARDEN UPDATES!

Cooking Classes: Join me for my next cooking class at The Civic Kitchen on Friday, May 16th. I’ll be teaching you how to make a Springtime Steakhouse menu, perfect inspo for your next date night in or dinner party. I teach 1-2 classes/month at Civic, so join their mailing list to keep an eye out for my future classes. Sign up here.

Chocolate Cake: My boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend (got that?) made a new-to-me chocolate cake — a Baulois Chocolate Fondant. Originating from La Baule-Escoublac in Brittany, this dense, creamy chocolate cake has a hint of salted caramel in the batter. The texture reminded me of a cross between a flourless chocolate cake and a pots de creme. So so good with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce. Recipe linked here.

For Bay Area Locals: I had two lovely coffee chats recently at Cafenated on Vine in Berkeley. Simply the loveliest spot for a chat with a new or old friend, especially if you snag a table in their back garden. Afterwards, pop over to Fava (my order: the steelhead bowl with a green juice), Vintage Berkeley wine shop or Cheeseboard, or all three!

Garden Update

1: marigolds, bachelor buttons, violas, 2: tomatoes and basil. I think I may a few more of each. 3. I ran out of potting soil, but doesn't this lantana look cute?

This will be my 6th year growing tomatoes, but I’m still a newbie when it comes to other garden vegetables and flowers. I did a few nursery hauls these last few weekends and planted:

• 5 types of tomatoes including Early Girl, Brad’s Atomic Grape and Sungolds.

  • I was able to snag a few plants from Spencer Huey’s sale at Chez Panisse and supplemented with plants from Berkeley Horticulture and Annie’s Annuals Curious Flora Nursery

• Jimmy Nardello Peppers

• “Cube of Butter” Squash

• Bel Fiore Radicchio

• Cucumbers

• New herbs: Lemon Balm, Genovese basil and African Blue basil

• Flowers: 2 types of zinnias in pots, violets (planted earlier this season), bachelor buttons, marigolds and pink lantana. I always stop in my tracks at the lantana in my neighborhood. I need to pick up more soil, but I want to grow this for our deck. The vibe:

  

  Lantana! Image credit: fast-growing-trees.com

What’s already growing: carrots, rosemary, thyme, sage, mint, marjoram, oregano, avocados and apricots. We used to have a Santa Rosa plum tree but it was taken down, to my dismay! The tradeoff of a shared backyard.

The Recipe: Thyme is popping off right now, and in the spirit of using what we’ve got, I added a few sprigs to my favorite strawberry top simple syrup. If you lop off the tops of strawberries with a paring knife, you’ll get little bits of strawberry that give this syrup a gentle strawberry flavor. The thyme is optional, but adds a lovely herbal note. Scroll down for the recipe and how to use it up.