Baby steps

Wow, it's been a long time. I started this blog with good intensions but it became overwhelming. What with work, home and teaching the blog was pushed to the back burner. I want to step back in the fire now but I think I'll keep it short and sweet. Since the holidays ended I have been busy testing recipes for my class and trying new ones for my family. I thought perhaps I would just keep track of those projects right here. So here I go:

This past week my friend, baking pal and former boss informed me he was making something special for his family; Gateau Basque. Intrigued I went through some of my treasured cookbooks and found I had the recipe and had already marked it to try. So this was my chance, I rose to the unspoken challenge and to my amazment it was amazing.

Gateau Basque is aka Custard Pie courtesy of Nick Malgieri, "A Baker's Tour". The crust is cake-like in texture with flecks of orange zest giving it a subtle orange flavor. Delicious on it's own! The filling is a creamy, smooth base of vanilla pastry cream with finely ground almonds. Accentuated by a layer of black cherry jam. Truly a feast for the palate! Thank you Sal for the challenge.

Here are a couple of photos of the results.