The house was filled with the smell of it, the last misshapen, sweet-heavy berries of the season losing their shapes on the stove. The house was filled with the smell of fruit unbecoming, fruit pulled to its knees at fire’s feet.
All summer long, the bushes had whispered, Take me, shown us all the places we could kiss if we wanted.
And so, as the light died, we put our mouths on the least lovable, the too-full, the easy-bruised, we shouted, I choose you, and you, and you, and you, and canned that hunger, and spooned it into our mouths on the coldest days.

—Strawberry Moon, Franny Choi

Last night, the so-called Strawberry Moon hung low and heavy over the horizon. She rose indulgently and slowly, pearl-bright and pulled lazily upwards, and the image of Madeline Miller’s Circe and her aunt Selene were recalled to me.
Since I have started using a Hobonichi this year (a Christmas gift; thanks, Daddy), the moon phases have become more familiar and therefore dear to me than ever as I am reminded daily of their progress. How many billions of times has she been gazed upon by earthly creatures, and how much has been waxed poetic about her visage (ad infinitum), and yet in my gratitude journal I often find myself thanking the moon yet again, without any unique or special observations to add: just, “thank you for begetting such beauty.”

My apartment windows can trace her entire arc starting from moonrise, and during all of my late, lonely nights, I appreciate her company. The full moon in her unapologetic voluptuousness like last night is of course arresting, but I also love when she is coy and sliver-shy emerging from her monthly hiding.
This full moon was the last of this month, the first of this season, and was particularly enormous due to the moon illusion (it had the most low-lying path of all of the full moons this year). It was gorgeous. And I think it was auspicious. And I am grateful.

These cookies are meant to replicate a neapolitan ice cream but in baked form, and with a particularly punchy role played by strawberry, I think they fit this moment well.
Sugar cone shards are toasted in salted Kerrygold butter, then incorporated into a dough redolent with vanilla bean paste. Nestled into it is a bright and fruity strawberry dough and an ever-so-slightly bitter dark chocolate chunk dough. The cookies are rolled in crunchy sugar so that the edges get very crispy and beget chewy cracks. More buttery cones, white chocolate and dark chocolate chunks adorn the top along with a heavy sprinkle of flaky salt.

It took a few tries to get the sugar cones to stay crunchy; in the end, treating them as a proxy feuilletine and gently toasting them in butter did the trick. It helps keep them from absorbing moisture and man, does it feel extremely American to substitute ice cream cones for crêpes dentelles. Happy early 250th birthday, America.

Neapolitan Sugar Cookies
Makes 22 large cookies

ingredients:
2 teaspoons salted butter
2 sugar cones, crushed
345 grams (2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons) AP flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
226 grams (16 tablespoons, 2 sticks) butter, fully at room temperature
350 grams (1 3/4 cup) white sugar plus 1/4 cup, reserved, for rolling
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
2 tablespoons black cocoa
2 teaspoons milk, divided
4 tablespoons dark chocolate feves, chopped roughly
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped roughly
maldon sea salt, for finishing

directions:
Toast the sugar cones: melt salted butter on low heat, then toss in the crushed cones and cook on low until edges are golden brown and butter has been absorbed.
Set aside on a paper towel in a single layer.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk AP flour and baking soda together and set aside.
Beat butter on medium speed until doubled in volume and light and fluffy.
Add sugar and salt and beat for 3 minutes, until even paler and sugar is mostly dissolved (mixture should be minimally gritty at this point).
Scrape the sides of the bowl and add vanilla bean paste and egg and egg yolk.
Beat for an additional 2-3 minutes until fully incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture on low speed in 2-3 portions until dough just comes together.
Divide dough into 3 portions and into the first, stir 3 tablespoons of the crushed sugar cones; set aside.
Into the second portion, add the freeze dried strawberry powder, 1 teaspoon milk, and a drop of red food coloring if desired; mix well, then set aside.
Into the third portion, add the cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon milk, and mix until combined; stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the chopped dark chocolate.
Portion out single tablespoon portions of each of the doughs and roll into balls; smash 3 of the balls together and roll in your hands to form a smooth disk of dough.
Roll your hands in 1 direction only if you want a swirl.
Drop the disc into your reserved granulated sugar and toss to coat.
Place on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper about 2 inches apart from any other cookies.
Press a few pieces of dark chocolate and white chocolate into the tops along with some larger sugar cone shards.
Bake for 6 minutes, then remove from oven and drop the pan 3-4 times, until the cookies deflate.
Bake for an additional 4-6 minutes, until the centers are just set and the edges are only just beginning to color.
Remove from oven, drop the pan a few more times, swirl a large round cookie cutter around them to make the cookies circular, and sprinkle with hefty amounts of maldon sea salt.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.