Tag Archives: baking

Mastering Sablés à l’Anis: Tips and Tricks

Posted on by
Reply
Jump to Recipe

Two-Bit Musings:

I’ve been out of the baking game lately…and I’ve been struggling to get my groove back: a recipe test here, a middling loaf of bread there. Marketing my book seems to have strangled out the kitchen time I have always lovingly carved out for myself (and writing time, too!). This will not do. To quote Jamie Tartt in Ted Lasso, “Roy, I feel like I’ve lost me wings, Roy. Where the fuck are my wings, Roy?!”  I seem to have misplaced my baking wings.

I’ve been tottering back into the baking world in hopes of finding my baking wings again. Rather than my usual complicated, multi-step desserts,  I’ve been playing with simpler, classic bakes, like these French Sablés à l’Anis cookies.  Sablés are made from pâte sablée dough, one of the three types of tart dough (sablée, brisée, sucrée).  Sablée dough is sweet and rich, like a thin buttery shortbread cookie. It’s my go-to dough for classic French fruit tarts…and perfectly suited for converting into cookies.  

And although the cookies look straightforward, sablée dough can be finicky.  The butter must be softened, but over-soften it and your dough is a flabby mess.  No stand-mixer or beaters needed—too much air! You should use a wooden spoon or spatula to cream the butter and sugar. And while the flour must be fully incorporated, overmix it and you’re left with a tough dough.  I’ve seen different versions of this, some that rub the butter, sugar and flour together (sablage), but the recipe below is the one I learned in culinary school, so this method is my go-to, for now at least.

There’re a few recipes coming up on deck that are going to need my full baking mojo (Buttermilk Cake with Roasted Strawberry & Lemon Verbena Filling, Almond Cream & White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, anyone?) so I’m focused on finding  my wings again, starting with these simple yet finicky French Sablés à l’Anis Cookies.

Two-Bit News:

I’ve been sharing stories, recipes, and a few hard-earned lessons on the podcast circuit. Listen in here.

Two-Bit Recipe:

Flavor, texture, scent, a sense of place. I love unique flavors like rose, orange blossom, cardamom.  I hold a special affinity for anise seed: Gibassier, Biscochitos, Biscotti, Greek Koulourakia.  While wandering Les Halles d’Avignon last month,  I plucked a cookie sample from one of the bakery stalls and plopped it in my mouth: sandy, buttery, with the unmistakable flavor of anise. Sablés à l’Anis. I did my best to recreate them here. 

French Sablés à l’Anis Cookies

These crisp buttery shortbread-like cookies are lightly flavored with anise seed for a unique twist.


Ingredients

  • 1½ sticks (¾ cup) good quality European-style unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon anise seed, toasted and slightly ground
  • Sanding sugar (optional)

Directions

  1. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, cream butter and powdered sugar into a past. Add egg in two additions just until incorporated. Blend in vanilla extract. Fold in flour until dough just forms a shaggy dough. Do not overmix. Fold in anise seeds. Let dough rest for 15 minutes, allowing flour to fully hydrate.
  2. On your work surface, shape dough into a 10-inch log. Wrap log tightly in plastic, twisting the ends of the plastic to seal. Once wrapped, roll logs under your hands in a back-and-forth motion to ensure log is smooth, even, and tight all around. Refrigerate until very firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
  3. Preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Optional: unwrap log and roll in sanding sugar before slicing. Using a knife, trim ends off log, then slice dough into ¼-inch slices. Transfer sliced cookies onto prepared baking sheets and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
  4. Bake one sheet of cookies until lightly golden brown around the edges, about 15-17 minutes, leaving second sheet in the freezer while the first bakes. If you don’t have enough room in your freezer for both sheets, keep one in the refrigerator, transferring to the freezer while the other sheet is in the oven.
  5. Remove from the oven, cool cookies on baking sheet for five minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining baking sheet.

Classic Southern Cream Cheese Pound Cake (Cold-Oven Method)

Posted on by
4
A golden bundt cake with a glossy icing glaze, displayed on a pastel green cake stand, with a slice cut out to reveal the soft, moist interior.
Jump to Recipe

Today’s Musings:

I recently stumbled upon the Netflix show Home Town, and I have to say, it’s the kind of cozy, charming renovation show that makes you want to bear the sweltering, sticky heat of Mississippi just to snag a renovated house for about $150K in Laurel. While binge-watching, I landed on the episode where Erin and Ben discover Miss Dot’s pound cake recipe tucked away in an old kitchen cabinet. Miss Dot would make a pound cake for new neighbors moving to Laurel—a tradition I’d love to carry on in my own little neighborhood. Erin then calls Miss Dot, and they bake her famous cake for the new homeowners. I watched as she measured her sugar and eggs and knew immediately: I could probably figure out the rest of the recipe based on a standard pound cake ratio.

So, of course, I jotted down my version, noting that she used a cold oven (a new technique for me) and it came out perfect. Later, while researching for this post, I stumbled upon Miss Dot’s recipe online. When I compared her version to mine, I realized I had been very, very close—identical in proportions except I added more vanilla and a lemon glaze.

There’s a real satisfaction in guessing a recipe so closely that you end up baking the same rich, dense, buttery cake. And the cake itself? Pure indulgence.

Today’s Recipe:

Most pound cakes skip the baking powder, and that’s deliberate. This isn’t a light, airy cake; it’s dense, rich, and buttery. The structure comes entirely from the eggs, butter, and sugar. That’s what gives it that satisfyingly substantial texture that holds up beautifully under a lemon glaze.

The cold oven method works hand-in-hand with this approach. Starting the cake in a cold oven allows the butter and sugar to warm gradually, giving the eggs and flour time to incorporate fully without over-expanding. The result is a cake that rises slowly and evenly, develops a fine crumb, and stays dense and moist rather than puffing up too quickly.

Together, no baking powder and the cold start create that classic, indulgent pound cake that feels like a true Southern treasure, just like Miss Dot.

Classic Southern Cream Cheese Pound Cake (Cold-Oven Method)

A classic Southern pound cake with no baking powder: dense, buttery, and rich, baked slowly in a cold oven to develop a fine, even crumb. Ideal for slicing and sharing, it’s a true Southern treasure with a golden crust and a satisfyingly substantial texture.


Ingredients

    CAKE
  • 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 8 oz. full-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • LEMON GLAZE
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

  1. Grease and flour a 10–12 Bundt pan and set aside. Beat butter and cream cheese 3–5 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Don’t rush this step.
  2. Add sugar slowly, about ½ cup at a time. Beat another 3–5 minutes until very light and pale. Scraping bowl as needed.
  3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape bowl as needed. Add vanilla.
    4. Combine flour and salt. Add flour and salt gradually, 1 cup at a time. Mix on low just until incorporated. Spoon into pan. Place in COLD oven.
  4. Turn oven to 325°F. Bake 75 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and top is golden (Internal temperature of 190°F). Cool 20 minutes in pan, then invert onto rack to cool completely.
  5. To glaze, whisk all ingredients together until think pouring consistency. If too thick, add a few more drops lemon juice. Drizzle over cake letting glaze drip down the sides. Let glaze firm up before slicing.

Two-Bit News:

February 21, 2026: I’m excited to be part of the Writer’s Showcase on Saturday (2–4 PM) at the Peninsula Library in Rolling Hills Estates. I’ll be reading a selection from my book and will have copies available if you’d like one signed. It’s a free afternoon celebrating local writers and creatives.

March 14, 2026: Tucson friends: I’ll be at the Tucson Festival of Books on March 14 in the Indie Author Pavilion, signing and selling copies of my book. If you’re coming to the festival, make sure to stop by and say hello.

Promotional image for the Tucson Festival of Books featuring the date March 14-15, 2026, the University of Arizona campus, and author Julie Seyler with her book 'Gluten for Punishment.'