A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Get your picnic baskets ready. It’s almost time to party.

It’s crunch time.  I am in the throws of going through all the fabulous entries you all submitted for our 2020 Great Blogger’s Bake-Off.  We have so many this year, which is fabulous!!!!!  Thank you all for you wonderful submissions and for making this such a fun success.  Now my work really begins.  I am honored to have this very difficult job of deciding who will take home the trophy this year.  But because I have so many great entries, I will not be in the kitchen at the moment.  So while I am going through all of your submissions and making my decisions, I will leave you with some food for thought.

 

First we eat, then we do everything else.

~MFK Fisher~

American cookbook author, food columnist and Founder of

Napa Valley Wine Library

 

Your body is not a temple.  It’s an amusement park.  Enjoy the ride.

~ Anthony Bourdain ~

American celebrity chef, author, journalist, and travel documentarian

 

I cook with wine.  Sometimes I even add it to the food.

~ W.C. Fields~

American comedian and actor

 

 

I am not a glutton.  I am an explorer of food.

~ Erma Bombeck~

American author and humorist

 

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.

~ Julia Child ~

American cookbook author, culinarian, teacher, and TV personality.

 

I should have the results of our 2020 Great Blogger’s Bake-Off ready to post tomorrow, Monday, 7/20/20.  All of you did an AMAZING job.  Good luck!

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

I am still receiving last minute entries for the 2020 Great Blogger’s Bake-Off. OMG!!!!! There are SOOOOOOO many fabulous creations. It is only Saturday morning here in the States, so I will wait until tomorrow evening before working on the results. We have a lot of entries, and it is going to require a lot of work on my part, which I am very honored to do, so I will not have the results posted until Monday (Monday States side). For all of you who participated in this very fun, creative event, YOU ALL DID AN AMAZING JOB!!!!!!!!! Hats off to all of you! Many, many thanks for making this so much fun..

Well …… I did it.  ” A Jeanne in the Kitchen” has officially made a YouTube video.  It is still VERY raw , with a few gaffes and mistakes, but it is only my first video, but it is officially out there, for everyone to see.  The first one is always the hardest one to do.

You will actually get to meet me now.  I have never liked myself in pictures, and I really don’t like seeing me on video, but it was just kind of a natural evolution for “A Jeanne in the Kitchen”.  Man, I really look like a beached whale.  Both the video process and the chef herself are definitely works in progress.  For now, we are what we are.

Here is the link to “A Jeanne in the Kitchen’s” first ever YouTube video.

Hopefully, this is the first of many more to come.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

I have been taking my walks earlier in the day, before the heat sets in.  My feathered and reptilian friends like the cooler part of the day too.  They too were out enjoying the cooler morning temperatures.

Our pelicans disappeared awhile ago, but today, there was one lone pelican swimming around and enjoying himself on the lake.

The egret thought this was his lake though, and was not to happy to find out that once again, he had to share his lake with Mr. Pelican.

One of our resident turtles lifted his head to see what all the commotion was about,

but quickly decided it was nothing to concern himself over and went back to relaxing on his log.

Have a great day.  Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

 

Last year, Sheree was the winner extrordinaire of our first annual Great Blogger’s Bake-Off. She was an instant success and fame and fortune came calling. Now, we are drawing near to yet another fantastic year and yet another Great Blogger’s Bake-Off. Will Sheree be able to retain her crown or will there be a new King or Queen crowned? We will soon know the results. If you have not submitted your recipes, there is is still time. Quickly get them in to Mel at https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/. Good Luck Everyone!

So much for not making a lot of sweets and treats.  I was so doing so well for awhile, and then ….. Well, I started making them again, which lead to me making more and more.  It’s a vicious cycle, I tell you.  When I made my custard for the mixed berry tart Mixing the Berries I had so much left over that I just had to make something else with it.  So of course I did.  I was going to make a Boston cream pie, which is actually a cake by the way, and I sort of did, but I also had strawberries that needed to be used, so I added them to the filling.

The Boston cream pie is a classic American dessert.  It was first created in 1856 by the Armenian-French chef, Salzian to celebrate the grand opening of The Parker House Hotel in Boston, MA.  It is believed the inspiration for this cake was from the American dessert known as the Washington pie.

The Boston cream pie is very clearly a layered cake, so why is it called a pie?  When this dessert was first created, pies and cakes were cooked in the same pans and the names of “pie” and “cake” were used interchangeably.  The Boston cream pie is a yellow butter cake filled with a custard or cream filling and topped with a chocolate glaze or a chocolate ganache.  The name Boston cream pie sounded better than Boston cream cake, and the name pie just stuck.  That is what is has been known as ever since.  Of course I added my own flair and personality, which means I can call this classic dessert anything I want.  So for me, this particular cake is now a strawberry custard cake.

 

Strawberry Custard Cake

6 TBSP soft butter

8 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour or cake flour

1 cup corn starch + 2 TBSP

2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

simple syrup

2 TBSP of your favorite liqueur

custard

strawberries, sliced

chocolate ganache for the topping.

 

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

2 8-inch cake pans sprayed with cooking spray and lined with parchment paper.

 

Mix the flour, salt and cornstarch together and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition.  Add the vanilla.  This will be very liquidy batter.

Add the flour mixture to the eggs and either fold in with a rubber spatula or whisk it together with a whisk.  The batter will thicken up just right after adding the flour and cornstarch.

Once the batter has thickened up, pour it into the prepared caked pans, making sure to evenly divide the batter and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.

Let the cakes cool completely before filling with the custard.

Before spreading the filling, make the simple syrup and brush over the tops of the cakes.  This is to help keep the cakes moist, and it also adds a hint more flavor.

To make the simple syrup, bring 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water to a rapid boil, stirring constantly.  Then let it cool completely and add 2 TBSP of your favorite liqueur.  Mix together thoroughly.  This time, I added a little rose water and and I used Frangelico hazelnut liqueur.

Spread the custard evenly around the bottom layer of the cake.  Then add the strawberry slices.  I also added an extra layer of custard, but this is optional.  Carefully place the other cake layer on top.

The easiest way to make a chocolate ganache is to add equal amounts of chocolate, either dark or milk, and heavy whipping cream to a saucepan.  Melt the chocolate completely while stirring constantly.  You will have a nice thick and shiny glaze.

Then carefully pour the mixture over the cake, pouring it over the center of the cake.  Keep pouring it slowly until the chocolate spreads over the whole cake.  You want it to drip down around the sides of the cake.  Place the cake in the refrigerator until you are ready to enjoy it.

I used some leftover chocolate that I had bought for Easter, and I didn’t realize it had krispies in it.  Oh well.  It just gave the cake even more character and personality.  Sometimes we all need a little extra character and personality.  That’s what keeps life fun and interesting.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.