I’ve been a serious slacker about this blog, but to be fair, it’s because I’ve been cooking and taking pictures.  I know — liar.  Well, not completely.  I did cook, but I’m also planning our Mother’s Day extravaganza, so also did some general cleaning, and planting, and enjoying the completely gorgeous weather we’re having.   So I’m going to slam out two or three of these posts today and be more responsible.  I promise.  Besides, I have to get this thing all gussied up with the new banner I made.  Writing first, then banner.  At this rate, it may be in the wee hours of my morning.  Right now, it’s a quarter after lunch time.

A good place to begin is at the end of the weekend and my entry in support of LiveStrong Day and amazing people who are battling cancer.  In particular, Barbara, author of Winos and Foodies (boy do I fit in there…) has organized A Taste of Yellow.  And I know the rest of you have already turned in your drooliscious entries, but I read that Barbara gave the rest of us slackers a few more days while she’s vacationing, and that means I get to creep under the finish line with my creation of this Lemon Berry Cream Gateau.  I know, it looks more red than yellow, but oh my goodness, this thing really tastes yellow!

I’m a sucker for food porn photos, and the March edition of Sunset magazine didn’t let me down.  Thanks to Sunset and E. Shulman in Arizona for her inspiration and her “Cream Puff Gateau.”  I used her recipe for the pastry, but from there, I morphed a few other things together.  What the heck is new, right?  The good thing is, you’ll always know whether my family liked the end product, and if not quite to our liking, some modifications I could make the next time — if there is a next time.

In this case, most certainly, I think the possibilities are endless.  And often I’d like to make a beautiful dessert without a tremendous amount of fuss, and find myself digging through cookbooks, or doing Internet searches.  I can keep this one, and change it however I wish, just as long as I remember to write down my variations so they can be used again.  I know.  You probably already do that.

Oh, and I apologize profusely to all the Daring Bakers who suffered through their Martha Madness last month for their baking challenge.   I know this gateau looks suspiciously like those crepes, and you are probably running for cover right now.  But don’t go.  It’s really very uncomplicated.  And I think you’ll agree that there are lots of ways to modify this one.  If the rest of you haven’t checked out their results, you have to!

Continue reading Lemon Berry Creme Gateau to LiveStrong For