Double Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding
Have you ever DM’d a celebrity on Instagram?
Instagram is a relative place, so by “celebrity” I mean anybody who has MANY more followers than you.
Here are some celebrities on Instagram who have DM’d me back:
I would be remiss if I did not start this list off with local legend Joanne Chang. Last Thanksgiving I made her pumpkin pecan pie (highly recommend) and I tagged her in my story. She DM’d ME! Over Thanksgiving weekend! I said, “!!!! Can’t believe you’re replying when Flour has been baking pies for 4858659383 hours straight!” She said, “That sounds about right LOL!” LOL! indeed.
I inquired as to where Erin McDowell bought her plates and she told me Anthropologie. I told her I found half of Anthropologie’s home goods to be really kitschy, and the other half stuff I have to have immediately. Was this a backhanded compliment? She wished me a Happy Easter.
I told Nancy Birtwhistle that I loved the music she plays in the background of her stories and could she please make a Spotify playlist? She was like, “It’s on Highlights” with a “x” kiss and the dancing emoji lady. This is the Instagram equivalent of “Per my previous email…” Still, so gracious. What an icon.
Raneir Pollard is my Instagram celebrity pen pal. I’m just a straight up fan girl and he eats it right up. When quarantine started and he blessed us with the “Rona Don’t Live Here” Instagram Live Workout Series, I Venmo’d him after every session as a token of my appreciation. Now I do it so he will comment on our payment and validate that our bond crosses digital platforms.
I don’t expect replies from Instagram celebrities, I just like to DM them for my own posterity. The digital afterlife is a real thing, and at some point my children will have to be cleaning out the cobwebs of my online accounts and I hope they laugh at all the people with whom I privately and desperately maintained a one-way correspondence.
That will include Claire Saffitz the night I was making this cake. “On the off chance you are checking your DMs on a Friday night...I am making your double ginger sticky toffee pudding but serving it tomorrow. Should I soak the cake, then wrap and store? Or leave the cake be and do all the soaking tomorrow closer to serving time?”
Dear reader, she never replied. On a hope and a prayer, I soaked the cake, then wrapped and stored. It was fantastic. I solved my own problem. This is why we should appreciate the celebrities who don’t reply as much as those who do. The unanswered celebrity DM is a gift of self-reliance. Sometimes you just need a place to wonder out loud, and you will find it in the white space of the screen, nary a “Seen” notification to interrupt your path to self-discovery. (Note: this is only true of celebrities on Instagram. If your crush doesn’t DM you back, you can be mortified).
That being said - Claire, if you ever do read this please add a note to the recipe that you can soak and wrap the cake if serving the next day.
Want to join our next Friend of a Friend dinner party? Sign up at friendofafriendmeals.com
Recipe courtesy of Claire Saffitz, Bon Appétit