When Julia Child gives you a gentle slap on the hip, you better get it together. That was the directive Julia gave Nancy Silverton in 1997 while filming a segment for “Baking with Julia.” The tap on the hip meant Nancy had five minutes to wrap up the cooking, slice, and shove a bite into the culinary icon’s mouth. No pressure.
Watch it in full on PBS here, or the ending here.
Today, we’re celebrating Julia’s birthday (Happy 114th!) by revisiting that episode, which has become one of the most memorable video clips of Julia Child, still circulating on our Reels and across various algorithms. This week on She’s My Cherry Pie, Nancy Silverton, a multi-James Beard Award-winning chef who changed the American culinary landscape with La Brea Bakery, Osteria Mozza, and many more (not to mention her 11 cookbooks, and counting), walks host Jessie Sheehan through that surreal scene.
Nancy made a brioche tart filled with crème fraîche custard, topped with sabayon and fruit glazed in a “secret sauce”—a caramel spiked with wine. Decadent, beautiful, surprisingly light. When Nancy’s hip was tapped, she still had to make the sauce and glaze the fruit, and it was close to boiling when she served it. But when Julia took her bite, tears came to her eyes as the camera rolled. She’s silent as she chews, and then she laughs through tears: “It’s a dessert to cry over,” she exclaims, touching Nancy’s shoulder. “A triumph. I think that’s the best dessert I ever ate.”
The dessert took her back to memories of living in France and her late husband, Paul, but all viewers could see was that it struck a chord. That’s the goal of every dish by every chef, Nancy tells Jessie, and a few are lucky if they get to experience it once or twice in a lifetime.
Nancy’s recipe appears in the canonical cookbook Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan
But don’t forget The Cookie That Changed My Life
You’ll need a springform pan for the tart, and we love this cherry red one, ofc
To make a thin, crisp caramelized top, square flakes of sparkling sugar are the secret
If you really want to go the extra mile… Frog Hollow Farms plums will do the trick
We love Julia so much, we dedicated an issue of our magazine to her life and legacy
”Clearly it wasn’t that the dessert itself made [Julia] cry, it was the memory.” –Nancy Silverton
The preferment stage of making brioche, letting the just-mixed batter rest for several hours, builds flavor “as the flour ages a bit,” per Nancy. Also, brioche can wait in the fridge for three days if you’re making this complex (but worth it) dessert ahead.
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August is all about the sorbet—from watermelon to tomato
Susan Alexandra’s cherry earrings are on sale
Sam Cade takes the butter cake to new heights
Pastry Chef Molly Wilkinson is opening a café in Versailles
Is there another Claire Saffitz book in the works?!
Do you want the house tour? We’re launching Cherry Bombe House in NYC 9/9-18.
Radio Cherry Bombe Live with Olivia Tiedemann on 9/14 at Cherry Bombe House—tickets here.
If you’re a West Coast girlie, join us for Farmers & Market in Paso Robles this fall
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