The Celebratory Cake Worthy of Every Spring Moment

Rip & Tan: Congratulations on your debut book! Can you walk us through some of the highlights on the journey from ideation to publication? 

Loria Stern: Thank you so much, it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to write a cookbook. Within the process, there were so many highlights over several years! The book actually took over 4 years to make—from ideation to completion.  Some highlights include turning in my manuscript, photographing with my genius photographer, Laurie Frankel, seeing the layout, and then of course seeing my book for the first time. 

Rip & Tan: Can you share any fun or challenging behind the scenes moments from the recipe development process? 

Loria Stern: The recipes themselves were ready to go—I have been making these recipes for years so that part was easy!  The fun part was of course making the recipes multiple times and serving them to friends for feedback.

Rip & Tan: If you had to choose one recipe from the book that we try first, which would it be and why?

Loria Stern: Gah, that is a very difficult question because there are so many good recipes for every meal. I’m going to cheat and choose two recipes if that’s okay—my flower-pressed shortbread cookies that launched my career and then the Prisma rice, which is delicious, beautiful, and has options of flavors.

Rip & Tan: What can we stand to learn from working with flowers? 

Loria Stern: Edible flowers (for me at least) are wonders of the world.  Cooking and baking with them creates wonder, curiosity, whimsy, and joy.  

Rip & Tan: Difficult as it may be to narrow down, what are your top five pantry staples? Do you have a favorite ingredient, whether herb or edible flower?

Loria Stern: From the book, my top five pantry staples are the garlic aioli, vegan Caesar, emerald green herb dip, miso almond dressing, and Bae’s spice blend.

Rip & Tan: Now that we’ve officially entered spring—do you have any florals you’re most excited to use in seasonal bakes? 

Loria Stern: There are so many exciting florals I am currently working with—from daisies to peach blossoms to marigolds and geraniums, the selection is so bountiful this time of year.

Rip & Tan: Can you speak on the importance of whimsy in our everyday lives?

Loria Stern: For me, whimsy inspires curiosity and joy and those are the foundational qualities of my work and what I ultimately want to share with others.