Victoria Granof's perfect baking advice and so much more...

including her recipe for ARANCINE DOLCI !! (sweet rice fritters)

→→→→→→→ MY NEW BOOK, WHAT GOES WITH WHAT, WILL BE OUT ON OCTOBER 15TH!! ALL-PREORDER INFO IS RIGHT HERE!! ←←←←←←←←←

Hi friends,

I did a lot of freelance recipe testing when I got started working in food media. And some of the first recipes I ever tested were ones Victoria Granof wrote for Cookie magazine (like so many magazines: RIP). Since then I’ve followed Victoria’s varied, wonderful work in food. She’s not only gifted at writing recipes, she’s also brilliant at styling them for photographs, writing the stories behind them, and just doing all around creative work in food.

You can imagine how excited I was to hear about her new book, Sicily, My Sweet, which comes out next month on October 15th (the same day WHAT GOES WITH WHAT comes out! we’re book twins!). And while I know not to judge a book by its cover, she sure got me with this one. It’s fabulous!

I was lucky to get an early look at the book and it’s just wonderful. Recipes include things like Lemon Bergamot Olive Oil Cake, Frozen Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline Cream, Little Cassatas, Mandarin-Pistachio Ring Cake, and Lemon, Raisin, and Fennel Seed Fritters. There are recipes for every skill level (and so many ideas for what to do with ricotta!) and there’s just so much great photography and writing. You can pre-order Sicily, My Sweet here!!

I am so thrilled that Victoria agreed to answer some questions for us. Without further ado!

1. You're a legend! If you meet someone at a dinner party or something who is unfamiliar with your work, how do you describe what you do? 

Well thanks but "legend" usually means that person's no longer doing the thing that made them a legend, is too expensive, or too remote.  I'm none of those!  

I've begun referring to myself as a food creative, because I have my hands in/on so many things, all of them related to food.  I've been a pastry chef, then food stylist - meaning I prepare, sculpt, cook and fluff food for the camera, in print, film, digital, cookbooks, brand collabs, events (please don't make me say 'experiences') - for the past five years I've been directing commercials for broadcast media, I'm an author, a food artist, but at heart I'm just a cook.

2. How have you cultivated your style? Is it something you continue to hone?

Every day!  According to my phone, I have 18,893 photos and 1,398 videos, mostly just bits and pieces I find around me, on the street, traveling, or discover while lost/found down IG rabbit holes; recently I've been binge-watching Mexican, Colombian and Spanish episodic TV on Netflix, just for the set design and color stories. (and Alberto Guerra). I also work with Beth Taubner, a brilliant brand strategist in our industry a few times a year, to keep me moving in the direction that serves me best at any given time.  I like change.

3. What do you love about dessert?

lovehatelovehatelove....but mostly love.  It's what keeps me in a constant struggle for ordered eating, but what the hell.  I can remember my nonna throwing candy at weddings and other happy occasions, and everyone bringing homemade cookies to her funeral. Also, from a restaurant pov, I like appetizers and desserts the best; they're the first and last flavors you experience.  Honestly, though, I'm so tired of seeing tiramisu on every Italian menu.  There are so many other flavors and desserts!

4. What do you say to someone eager to make desserts but is feeling intimidated?

BAKE IN PERSON with someone!  Feel the dough with your hands.  So much of baking is in our hands, and how we feel the ingredients.  I have a whole section about mani sapienti - knowledgeable hands - in my book.  Then bake something simple like shortbread cookies (8 oz butter, 4 oz sugar, 8 oz flour, 4 oz rice flour or semolina.  Mix it all together with a wooden spoon and press it into a buttered 6" x 9" pan, bake at 325˚ for about 40 minutes, or until just faintly brown. Cool in the pan 15 min, then turn it out and break into pieces.  Or you can get fancy and score it into squares or fingers before you bake it).  Then be ready and willing to mess it up.  Everyone does at one point.  So what, just try again.  The good thing about desserts is that even if you fuck them up, 99% of the time you can still throw some garnish, powdered sugar or whipped cream on them and they're still fine to eat.   

5. What's the role of travel in your work and life?

I travel quite a bit for work.  Recently I've been to Mexico City on a styling job, Southhampton on an ad job, Toronto on a directing job, and a month in Sicily photographing my book!  

The first thing I do when I get somewhere is go to a grocery store and a hardware store and a flea market, if I'm lucky enough.  You can really feel the soul of a place in those places; what the locals are buying, cooking, repairing, saving and passing along.

6. Why Sicily for this book? What is it about Sicilian ingredients and flavors and culture?

I have roots on my mother's side in Sicily, from before the Inquisition. Like most exiles and refugees, I'd always longed for a place that felt, tasted and sounded like "home".  I found it in Sicily.  When I first traveled there, over 20 years ago, the bakers I met were lamenting the fact that there was nobody in the next generation willing to carry on the traditions.  Since then, social media has saved them.  Young bakers can reach a global audience without ever leaving their towns and villages, some of them becoming world-renowned, and there's a greater appreciation for the craft, art and tradition of Sicilian sweets around the world.

7. What was your favorite thing to eat when you were growing up?

Pasta.  Rice. My nonna's little twisted sesame cookies.  And brown sugar cinnamon poptarts.

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And before I tell you about Victoria’s recipe, a quick note to say a new episode in my podcast series ON LIFTING is out today and it’s with Le Carr who is the co-owner of Rain City Fit in Seattle, Washington. They are also the director of Pride Deadlift Party, an annual block-party style deadlift competition and fundraiser for the Seattle LGBTQIA+ community that has raised tens of thousands of dollars. 

Le has a passion for strength, mental health, equity & community care. It was so cool getting to talk to them about it all. I hope you enjoy our conversation! You can listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Okay, back to Victoria! She was kind enough to pass on her recipe for sweet rice fritters for paid subscribers. The fritters are such a wonderful example of the types of incredible recipes in her book!

Photo by Louise Hagger.

Photo and recipe excerpted with permission from Sicily, My Sweet: Love Notes to an Island, with Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Puddings, and Preserves by: Victoria Granof published by ‎Hardie Grant Publishing, October 2024, RRP $35.00 Hardcover.

SWEET RICE FRITTERS / ARANCINE DOLCI

MAKES 12

Please don’t call this a rice ball. These plump little spheres of deliciousness are called arancine, after the “little oranges” they resemble. You almost can’t walk down a street in Palermo without meeting one, most often savory, filled with either a meat ragù, peas, and mozzarella; or ham, cheese, and béchamel (arancine al burro). In Catania and on the eastern side of the island, there are sweet rice fritters shaped like fingers. So why not a version somewhere in between? These arancine dolci hit all the notes: crunchy, creamy, aromatic, sweet, hot, cool, and a little bit chewy in the right way. The payoff is the soft, molten center of orange-blossom–scented pastry cream. You could opt to fill them with fruit preserves or Nutella with equal success. In any case, start these early in the day (or the day before) you plan to serve them.

INGREDIENTS:

Filling

• ¾ cup (170 g) crema pasticcera (see recipe below)

• 1 to 2 teaspoons orange-blossom water

Rice

• ¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter

• 2½ cups (500 g) Arborio or Carnaroli rice

• 3¾ cups (900 ml) milk, divided

• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

• 1 cinnamon stick

• Half of a vanilla bean, split lengthwise

• Grated zest of 1 orange