Starcast Join the waitlist
The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

831: Summer Baking with Nicole Rucker and Eileen Gannon

Jul 31, 2026 · 51m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

This week, we turn up the ovens and test our baking skills with two incredible bakers. First, we talk to LA-based cookbook author and star baker, Nicole Rucker, on why summer is peak pie season, the fruit and flavor combinations that elevate her pies (imagine toasted fig leaves!) and making the best out of her leftover cookies for pie crusts. Nicole's latest book is Fat and Flour: The Art of the Simple Bake, and she left us with her Strawberry White Chocolate Cream Pie recipe. Then, Iowa's champion baker Eileen Gannon, talks to us about her surprising baking techniques for cakes, from making moister cakes, fillings vs frostings, and her buttercream preferences. Eileen is the winner of over…