Now Serving: Rustic Ready-To-Bake Pizza

Our growing line of grab-and-go savory items has given our customers a quick and easy way to put healthy, flavorful meals together. Our newest item is a Rustic Ready-To-Bake Pizza. 

This is not your typical frozen pizza! We form the crisp and flavorful crust from our Giuseppe dough and top it with our house tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan. 

Years ago, we offered a pizzetta in our cafés, and it was a customer favorite,” says Leslie. This is an adaptation from that, and Ive been really loving this new version,” says Leslie. We made it simple so you can dress it up with your favorite toppings at home. Lately, for me, its been prosciutto and roasted asparagus. But it’s also great just as it is.” 

The pizza bakes in 15–18 minutes, depending on how many toppings you add, and feeds two. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake Mix

These muffins will please all of your chocolate cake-loving friends, even the most discerning gourmand. We modeled the cake on our ever-popular Moms Chocolate Cake, a mainstay at Macrina almost from day one. The raspberry and cream filling in the center is what makes them unforgettable. 

Many years ago, when we started selling cupcakes, Leslie scooped out the centers and filled them with custard, fruit or lemon curd. The simple twist became a Macrina tradition. After baking these cupcakes, you scoop out a small cavity in the center of each and add raspberry jam, fresh raspberries and raspberry swirl whipped cream. Then you top them with a chocolate ganache frosting, crystal sugar, and fresh raspberries. Half the delight is waiting for your guests to find the whipped cream and raspberry center. 

Our kit includes slightly oversized cupcake molds that give them a unique shape, setting them apart not only in taste but also in appearance from their store-bought cousins.  

With the exception of whipping cream and fresh raspberries, the items you supply can be found in most kitchens. Our cupcake mix makes these elegant festive cupcakes easy to make. Theyre suitable for any celebration—dinner parties, birthdays, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, or just a rainy day treat. 

Enjoy! 

Homegrown: Slow Food, Served Fast, Wherever You Are 

According to Calvin and Hobbes, “There’s an inverse relationship between how good something is for you, and how much fun it is.” Some might say a similar rule holds true when it comes to food. Exceptions prove the rule.

Homegrown, which opened in 2009 and now has ten restaurants throughout the Seattle area, is one of those exceptions. The trifecta of taste, health, and sustainability come together in their reasonably priced meals. They’ve made it fun to eat responsibly!

Childhood friends and Homegrown founders Brad Gillis and Ben Friedman are environmentalists at heart. They also love to gather with friends around great-tasting food. They built their business around these passions— call it sandwich environmentalism.

Now, Homegrown has taken that ethos and delivered it—literally—to your home. You can get a sandwich, but much more, too. Homegrown Goods offers a selection of ready-to-eat meals, fresh 20-minute-meal kits, and a handpicked selection of groceries for those that want to throw their own thing together.

“Everything we sell is backed by our quality standards,” says Brad. “We run every purchase thorough our sourcing standards and make sure we feel comfortable with what we’re buying.”

Homegrown Goods has its own fleet of delivery vans and drivers. They pack chilled items with ice packs, and everything arrives in a sealed box. You are notified by text when your delivery arrives. Your food is delivered one to two days after you order, on a day of your choosing. Delivery areas include much of Seattle and the Eastside, and their delivery area continues to expand.

Since Homegrown Goods launched last summer, high demand for everything has encouraged them to expand their line of offerings. Now you can choose from more than a dozen different meal options on any given day, but Brad expects to more than double the selection.

Whether it’s a Turkey, Bacon, Avocado sandwich or a Farmstead Cobb salad at one of their locations, or a Mediterranean Salmon Bowl from Homegrown Goods, food sourcing is central to Homegrown’s mission. They select the best growers and producers in each category from each region with a twin focus on deliciousness and what’s good for the planet. At Macrina, we’re proud to have our bread featured in many of their sandwiches and available through Homegrown Goods.

 

Food is one of the most vital connections we each have to our planet. What sustains us should also be produced sustainably. We have great admiration for the leadership role Homegrown has taken in their effort to change the food system, so it’s not just healthy for us, but for the planet too. Homegrown does the research so you don’t have to—and with tasty options delivered to your home or served up at one of their many locations, they make it easy—and fun—to do something that is good for you, and, well, just good.

April Recipe of the Month: Coconut Cream Cake with Fresh Berries

This luscious layer cake is a lovely treat for spring holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day. It has flavor and beauty in spades. The whipped cream functions as a frosting, the toasted coconut adds texture and taste while the juicy berries add color and some tartness to the sweet cake. The cake is best enjoyed the day you make it, but it will keep for up to two days in the refrigerator.

-Leslie Mackie

Ingredients:
Makes one 9-inch layer cake

3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup coconut milk
5 egg whites
2 tsp almond extract, divided
2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
2¼ cups cake flour
2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare a 9-inch x 3-inch springform cake pan by brushing it with oil and lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper.

Spread the coconut evenly onto a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven, tossing every 3 minutes until golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, place in a medium bowl and let cool.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients: coconut milk, egg whites, 1 tsp almond extract and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix well and set aside.

Sift the cake flour, 1¾ cup sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1 cup of toasted coconut. Using the paddle attachment, mix at low speed for about 30 seconds. Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes. Scatter half the butter cubes over the surface of the flour mixture. Mix on low speed. After 1 minute, add the remaining butter cubes. Continue on low speed until the mixture has a texture that is coarse and crumbly, with no visible lumps of butter.

Add half the wet ingredients and mix at medium speed for 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the remaining wet ingredients. Mix on medium speed for another 30 seconds.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Bake on a center rack for about 1 hour or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 1 hour. Remove the cake from the pan and remove the parchment paper.

If the cake is slightly domed, cut the raised part off so the top is flat. Then, using a good serrated knife, carefully cut the cake into two horizontal layers. They will be fragile, so handle them gently. Stack them on each other to keep them from drying out.

Place the sliced strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in a bowl and stir them gently together. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the heavy cream, ¼ cup sugar, 1 tsp almond extract and 1 tsp vanilla extract. With the whip attachment, start mixing at low speed, then increase to medium and continue until medium-firm peaks form.

To assemble, place the bottom layer on a serving dish. Spread 1½ cups of whipped cream evenly over the top. Lay three-quarters of the berries over the whipped cream in a single layer covering the entire top surface. Add the second cake layer and spread the remaining whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake and wipe any excess off the edge of your serving dish.

Press the remaining toasted coconut to the edge of the cake (you can cover the top, too, if you like the look). Garnish the top with the remaining berries. Refrigerate the cake until you’re ready to serve it. Enjoy!