Pauley Perrette and some friends started a bake shop. While Pauley Perrette is best knows as forensic specialist Abby Sciuto on NCIS, in real life she started a bake shop to honor her mom. The shop is called Donna Bell’s Bakeshop.
Recently, Pauley Perrette released a cookbook featuring recipes they use in the bake shop. She and her partners have been touring the land, doing book signings. This morning, she dropped by CBS This Morning to talk about the book, among other things.
In the course of the interview, Pauley Perrette revealed that the book is not just a cookbook, but a biography of sorts. It talks about how she got her break in acting. She got $3000 to do a commercial in New York while eking out a living as a bartender.
From there, she did another 15 jobs for that director, which led to her career in L.A. Her character of Abby on NCIS — which has ben around for 12 years — inspires girls to go into math and science careers, a phenomenon known as The Abby Effect.
As for the book, the full title is Donna Bell’s Bake Shop: Recipes and Stories of Family, Friends, and Food. The story of the bake shop and the new cookbook is one of love and family.
Nestled in the heart of midtown New York is a little shop with a big story. An all-natural bake shop that specializes in Southern baked goods, Donna Bell’s is owned by Pauley Perrette, the actress who plays Abby Sciuto on CBS’s NCIS, and her two best friends, Darren Greenblatt and Matthew Sandusky. It was named in honor of Pauley’s late mother, who is the beloved inspiration for everything they bake.
With recipes for favorites like buttermilk biscuits, chocolate chip-almond scones, and peach streusel muffins; personal photographs from Pauley, Darren, Matthew, and Donna Bell herself; this is the story how one fantastic bake shop brings warmth and happiness—one treat at a time—to the urban jungle that is New York City.
Could these ladies be any cuter?
Pauley and @nischelleturner
Aprons avail exclusively @ http://t.co/OBQGbbIKHI pic.twitter.com/Rw6aGJy2wB
— Donna Bells Bakeshop (@donnabells) April 15, 2015
One of the recipes from the book is for buttermilk biscuits. Enjoy.
Ingredients
Makes 12-14 biscuits
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups (21/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Directions
Heat the oven to 400°F.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
Toss the cold butter pieces into the flour mixture and roughly mix with a spoon, making sure not to break up or soften the butter.
Pour 1 cup of the buttermilk into the flour and butter mixture and gently stir with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the remaining ½cup buttermilk until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.
With an ice cream scooper, scoop heaping mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, gently pressing down with scooper while releasing the dough onto the sheet. Bake for 7 minutes.
Turn the oven temperature down to 325°F and bake until the biscuits are golden brown, about 10 additional minutes. The melted butter in the pan will be absorbed by the biscuits as they cool.
Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes and serve hot.