The Ruby’s Cookbook Club is a combination potluck and book club. Participants should bake or cook a dish from the book (at least 6 servings).
We'll be baking from and discussing Baking At The 20th Century Cafe: Iconic European Desserts from Linzer Torte to Honey Cake by Michelle Polzine. The author, world-renowned pastry chef and local luminary, Michelle Polzine, will be joining us! The beautiful photographs in the book were also taken by Ruby, Aya Bracket!
Recently, Michelle Polzine raised $17,000 in support of World Central Kitchen's efforts in Ukraine through baking 40 (400 layers!) of her amazing honey cake. We want to do our part to help as well so have hooked up with neighbor and Friend of the Ruby, York St Coffee, to do a neighborhood public bake sale with our extra confections during our normal Happy Hour time at their spot on 25th & York. They'll be doing fancy tea cocktails and it'll be a like a neighborhood party! Come join!
We have a well-thumbed copy of Michelle's book for reference at the front desk! Additionally, we encourage folks to buy the book at a local bookstore in-person or online, or borrow from the library.
Sign up sheet here so we don't all make the same cake (although, what a delicious dilemma).
***A note about Covid: This event is open only to vaccinated individuals providing proof of vaccination. We will cap cookbook club attendance at 18 and will be eating and discussing on our outdoor patio****
About BAKING AT THE 20TH CENTURY CAFE: ICONIC EUROPEAN DESSERTS FROM LINZER TORTE TO HONEY CAKE
Transporting readers straight to the grand cafés of Europe, Baking at the 20th Century Cafe brings renewed attention to the legendary sweet and savory baking recipes of Central and Eastern Europe. Polzine, one of San Francisco’s best pastry chefs, pays homage to the foundational desserts of so many cultures, while lightening and modernizing the recipes through her California lens. Her fruit desserts, nut-based desserts, and chocolate treats—many of them gluten-free—are smart, interesting, and foolproof, and deliver big flavor. Polzine’s coveted honey cake recipe is included, too, along with recipes for plum kuchen, walnut hamantaschen, Sacher torte, linzer torte, poppy-filled rugelach, vanilla cheesecake—even pierogi and potato knishes, all full of twists and innovations. All the recipes are written with Polzine’s quirky, relatable “you can do this” enthusiasm to assure readers that they can achieve excellent results. Following in the footsteps of such esteemed bakers as Nancy Silverton and Dorie Greenspan, with Baking at the 20th Century Cafe, Polzine offers a new entry into the essential baking cookbook canon. Hardcover edition featuring 352 pages with full color photographs.
“Dazzling. . . . [Polzine] brings a fresh approach and singular panache. . . . Her clear voice and precise, idiosyncratic instructions will allow home bakers to make exquisite fruit tarts with strawberries and plums, elegant cookies and layer cakes.”
— Emily Weinstein, New York Times, The 14 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2020
“This book . . . just keeps on giving. An absolute joy for bakers.”
— Diana Henry, The Telegraph (U.K.), The 20 Best Cookbooks to Buy This Autumn
“To taste Michelle Polzine’s desserts is to travel deliciously, stylishly, back in time. I count my lucky stars that through learning and cooking from this book, we can all access the wonder of her uncompromising vision.”
— Samin Nosrat, New York Times bestselling author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
About Michelle Polzine
Michelle Polzine is the chef/owner of 20th Century Café, and one of San Francisco’s best pastry chefs. She began cooking in North Carolina in 1992 and got her big break in 1995 at Chapel Hill’s Pyewacket restaurant. Polzine made the restaurant’s famous dinner rolls, and a pastry career was born. She has since worked at some of San Francisco’s best restaurants, from Delfina and Chez Panisse to the Range. She has been covered in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and the New York Times, among other publications, and has been nominated as Outstanding Pastry Chef by the James Beard Foundation. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and cats. Follow her on Instagram @20thcenturycafesf.