Once upon a shelf on a fridge there were 2 containers of yogurt just waiting for something special to happen. It was almost on its 'best before' date when noticed by a savior, we'll call her SuperMom. She searched high and low on the wireless land for a special kind of potion that would bring out the best in the 2 containers of hapless yogurt.



She chanced upon a recipe that paired the sweet and tangy yogurt with the fresh citrusy zing of the lemons and lo and behold, a magical loaf appeared that was so beautiful, so delightful, and immediately devoured by the little children, much to the delight of the baker.



Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1-3/4 cups sugar
7 large eggs
2 tbsp grated lemon zest (about 4 lemons)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil

Syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp limoncello (optional)

For the glaze:
1-1/2 cups icing sugar
4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease 2 loaf pans ( 8-1/2 x 4-1/4 x 2-1/2-inch). Line the bottom and 2 opposite sides with parchment paper so as to make a sling to remove the loaf easier, then lightly grease the paper.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl.
4.  In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.

5. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
6. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

8. For the syrup, cook the lemon juice and sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside. When cooled, add the limoncello.

9. When the cake is done, cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
10. With a skewer or a toothpick, poke holes on the cake and pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool a further 20 minutes.

11. Remove the loaf using the sling.. easier, huh? And allow to cool completely.
12. For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice, whisking till smooth and spoon over the (totally cooled) cake.

And they kept this potion forever in their archives for another fine day when yogurts lay a waiting.

In our home, it is Belle who designated herself as the Breakfast Queen. Rather, Breakfast Princess. She's the one whipping up pancakes, waffles and loves to make crepes. And like all cooks, really loves to see her siblings lining up behind her, patiently waiting to be called when the next crepe is done.



Belle has been wanting to make this layered 'cake' for some time but usually has to fight to keep her crepes untouched. This time, she was successful. Maybe because the siblings weren't around to be tempted with the delightful aroma of her crepes coming out of the pan. So today, she collected enough of them to pile up into her crepe cake.



This recipe is adapted from one from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. Deb has amazing recipes that just work! Thank you, Deb! We put some more oomph to it by adding sliced bananas between the layers. It made for an extremely delectable and amazing dessert with layers of flavour. The soft crepes with the bananas ... yum! Then there was that silky hazelnut cream and the rich chocolate ganache. Everything came together with the crunch of the hazelnuts. It was a feast for the palate!

Crepes:
9 tbsp unsalted butter (for both crepes and pastry cream)
2-1/3 cups whole milk
6 large eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
Cooking spray for skillet

Hazelnut Pastry Cream:
1-1/3 cups hazelnuts (for both pastry cream and topping)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tsp Frangelico
1/4 tsp salt
3-1/3 cups whole milk
7 tbsp sugar
5 large egg yolks
5 tbsp cornstarch
Butter from crepes above

3 bananas

Chocolate Ganache:
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp Frangelico

Directions:
Make browned butter:
1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then reduce the heat.
2. Stir regularly and scrape anything that sticks to the bottom.
3. When the butter smells nutty and is brown, pour it into a bowl and set aside to cool.

Make crepe batter:
4. In a bowl, add 6 tbsp of the butter, milk, eggs, flour, salt, and sugar and whisk until combined.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for one hour.

Prep hazelnuts:
6. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and bake the hazelnuts on a baking sheet.
7. Toast for 5 minutes, roll, and toast for another 5 minutes.
8. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and place on a tea towel.
9. Remove the skins from the hazelnuts by rubbing them together (whilst in the towel) after they've cooled enough to hold.

Make Hazelnut Pastry Cream:
10. Grind 1 cup of the hazelnuts in a food processor with the confectioners' sugar, Frangelico, and salt until small clumps form, taking care to not over process, lest it turn into a nut butter.
11. Place this mixture in a saucepan with milk and sugar over medium-high heat. Simmer while stirring frequently.
12. Whisk yolks with cornstarch in a bowl until smooth. Slowly add the milk mixture from the saucepan into the yolk, whisking regularly. A spoonful at a time, so the eggs do not cook.
13. After about half a cup has been whisked in, reverse the process. Now slowly stir the warmed egg yolk into the saucepan, whisking regularly until they combine and start to boil.
14. Cook for 2 minutes. The mixture should start to get thicker.
15. Remove from heat. Stir in the rest of the browned butter.
16. Place the mixture in a bowl and press a plastic wrap on top.
17. Refrigerate for a couple hours until it has set.

Make the crepes:
18. Put a pan on medium-high heat, and butter it.
19. Add 1/4 cup of batter and tilt the pan around so that it coats the the bottom of the pan evenly.
20. When the bottom of the crepe is golden brown and the top of the crepe has set, flip and cook on the either side.
21. When it's cooked, place on a plate with paper-towel covering it so that they will not stick to each other.

Assembling the layers:
22. Slice the bananas as thin as you can.
23. On a cake stand, lay a crepe and spread pastry cream and place a few banana slices.
24. You don't have to place bananas on all layers, just every third or so, making sure you are filling up the 'hollow' spaces, so the cake rises up evenly.
25. Repeat until all layers are in place.
26. Rest this in the refrigerator.

Make the ganache:
27. Add chocolate to a bowl.
28. In a saucepan, simmer cream with liqueur and pour it over a heatproof bowl of chocolate and let it sit for one minute, melting the chocolate underneath.
29. Stir until the mixture is smooth and of pouring consistency. If needed, liquefy with a little warm cream.

Finally:
30. Take the crepe cake out of the fridge and pour the ganache over it.
31. To get the ganache on the side of the cake, gently ease the ganache off the sides with a spatula.
32. Sprinkle the last of the hazelnuts.
33. Place the crepe cake back into the refrigerator to let the ganache set.

Then wait for all to finish with dinner before unveiling this beautiful creation. Revel in the ooohs and aaahs and sit back and let the complements pour in.

Red Velvet Cake:
250 grams sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
15 grams regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
300 grams granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
240 mL buttermilk (1 cup)
2 tbsp liquid red food coloring
1 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:
227 grams  cream cheese, room temperature
227 grams tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
115 grams confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted
360 mL cups cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)

Directions:
1. Grease your cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, sift flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

3. Using a stand mixer, beat butter for about 1 minute until soft.
4. Add the sugar to the butter and continue beating for about 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
5. One at a time, add in the eggs, taking care to beat until incorporated and scrape down the bowl after every addition.
6. Pour in the vanilla and beat until the mixture is well-combined.

7. In a cup, whisk together the buttermilk and the red food colouring.

8. Decrease the speed of the mixer to low and add in half of the flour mixture.
9. When it starts to come together, add in the buttermilk mixture, then add in the rest of the flour mixture.

10. In a cup, stir the vinegar and baking soda together. When it starts to fizz, quickly fold into the batter.
11. Pour the batter into the cake pans equally and use the back of a spoon to smooth the tops.
12. Bake for 25–30 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

13. Let the cakes cool in the cake pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

14. Invert the cakes on to the wire rack to let cool completely.
15. Wrap in plastic and store in refrigerator for an hour or until you are ready to frost.

16. Start making the cream cheese frosting by beating the cream cheese and marscapone cheese until mixture is smooth.
17. Beat in the vanilla extract and confectioner's sugar until smooth.
18. If you are using a stand mixer, change to a whisk attachment and slowly add int he heavy cream, whipping until the frosting takes on a spreadable consistency. If needed, add in more sugar to thicken or cream to thin out until the desired consistency is attained.

19. Even out the layers with a serrated knife.
20. Place one of the layers onto the platter and spread a layer of frosting over it.
21. Carefully place another layer of cake on top, making sure that it lines up evenly and layer with frosting.
22. Repeat until you have all your layers stacked neatly.
23. Spread frosting on the top and sides of the cake.
24. Decorate as desired.