831: Summer Baking with Nicole Rucker and Eileen Gannon

831: Summer Baking with Nicole Rucker and Eileen Gannon

From The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters by American Public Media

July 31, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

This episode features interviews with bakers Nicole Rucker and Eileen Gannon discussing summer baking techniques and recipes.

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 600 state and national baking awards and the founder of Sunday Night Foods Sauces . Broadcast dates for this episode: August 8, 2025 (originally aired) July 31, 2026 (rebroadcast) Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show .

People in this episode

Guests: Nicole Rucker, Eileen Gannon

Topics covered

  • summer baking
  • pie making
  • baking techniques
  • cookbook authors
  • baking awards

Keywords

  • baking
  • pies
  • cookbooks
  • summer recipes
  • baking techniques
  • buttercream
  • moist cakes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sunday Night Foods Sauces

Books & works: Fat and Flour: The Art of the Simple Bake

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