Lizzy, Creation July 2020

Grapefruit Poppyseed.  There are few cookie recipes that have challenged me as much as this cookie.  The idea to make this cookie started many years ago in May of 2015 when I was invited to make a refreshing summer cookie worthy of Disney World Florida.  My original idea was for an ice box cookie that would be handed out cold as a refreshing solution in the hot Florida sun. This cookie has remained indexed in my mind all these years, even though the final solution is far different than my first design, that has been sitting in my head all these years.

It was the summer of 2020 while working with a wonderful graphic designer Lizzy Pickney that I decided it was time!  I adore Lizzy and I adored the idea of living up to the glamour of what a fresh grapefruit cookie should be.  But how!  My first attempts didn’t yield the amazing Kapow!, WOW factor that I demand, and that is where my journey of yearning begins.

How!  Well, I’ll tell you how, it takes a ton of Ruby Red grapefruits in season, and lots of busy hands zesting and juicing the fruit to innovate the concentration of flavor I think a citrus cookie should have. The zest alone didn’t punch the dough to the flavor extent I had hoped for.  Then began steps to develop an amazing curd that could be central to the dough base, to help obtain a greater depth of joy. Tada!  Except I sweat this one out as I measured and weighed and developed my way to something I am proud of. Topped with a grapefruit glaze, a dash of poppyseeds, and a fresh grapefruit wedge.  I hope you will enjoy this beauty as much as I do.

As I like to say in the cookie world: Better not bigger!  Cheers!

Date of Journal Entry: 01-28-21