If you follow me on Instagram you’re probably tired of hearing me prattle on about my sourdough saga by now. But, for those of you who don’t, here’s the full recap of how things went down:

The day before my pop-up, I woke up at 3 am and sprang to action.

When I was developing my sourdough Colomba Pasquale recipe, a couple months ago, the temperature in my kitchen was cooler than it was, right before Easter (and is now).

During development, it took about 24 hours between stages (remember, this bread has a three stage process). But, things were moving faster at go-time, so waiting a full 24 hours between stages resulted in over-proofed dough. Hence the 3 am business.

I did, in fact, lose one batch to over-proofing. I also lost a couple loaves to gravity, and a couple to faulty topping engineering.

In the end, though, my blood, sweat, tears, and sleepless nights, (not to mention the literal dozens of egg yolks), that went into this bread, were worth it. Lots of loaves turned out great. I managed to make enough to fulfill all my orders, and my inventory of extra loaves lasted through the first hour of the pop-up.

I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about this year’s version. Sounds like it was a hit at your Easter gatherings! If you’ve been following along with the vision quest, you know I put a lot of effort into the recipe. I completely overhauled it. So, it’s rewarding to hear it paid off!

As always, I welcome all feedback, positive and constructive. 

I took all your notes from last year’s Colomba into account when I was working on this year’s recipe.

YOU make me a better baker!

On a related note, thanks to all of you who made my Easter pop-up at Cafe Lago such a special day. It was great to see you!

I owe a huge thank you to Carla, owner of Cafe Lago, for being such a kind, generous, and supportive host. That freshly brewed coffee you enjoyed while waiting in line… it was her idea ❤️

Working a pop-up is exhausting, yes, but these events give me the opportunity to have meaningful interactions with so many of you. My sweet customer, Ashley, brought me her sourdough cracker recipe in exchange for some starter. I can’t wait to make them! Moments of community, like this, are one of my favorite things about pop-ups.

And, as usual, I had my crack squad, Pam and Franny, working pop-up support. My mom, Pam, did the beautiful packaging for the Colomba Pasquale and sprinkled her magic fairy dust on my display. While, my sister, Franny, helped manage the line and pack orders. It takes a village, people!

That’s all for now. Consider this post a little amuse-bouche for a meaty May newsletter coming your way very soon!