"Boscoe Bakes"......"Springish" Fruit Pandowdy

The other day my room mate received a "belated" holiday gift basket, and one of the goodies included in this Harry and David assortment was a box of their famous pears.  Now these pears have a relatively short shelf life, so I decided that a pie or tart, mixed with some of my granny smith apples, would be a great way to use them up quickly. However, after a quick trip to the store and being inundated by the fresh strawberry, raspberry and blackberry specials in the produce section, I quickly changed my mind. I had made a pandowdy just a couple of weeks ago, but my Wednesday night group loves that old fashioned dish, so this beautiful bounty learned of it's new destination and pandowdy it was. For the fruit this time, I used 5 pears, 6 apples, 2 quarts of strawberries, 2 pints of raspberries, 1 pint of blackberries and the zest and juice of one orange. Again, I added a touch of rum, but next time I think a splash of Chambord would work nicely as well. The nutmeg and allspice were omitted, but otherwise I followed the recipe as before. I had hoped to share a picture of the pandowdy plated and topped with whipped cream, but before I knew it, everything was gone! Try this recipe next time you have a bounty of fresh fruit and want a wonderful dessert without all the fuss.

"Boscoe Bakes"......Starlight Yellow Cake with Chocolate Chambord Ganache and "Basil Strawberry" Finish

My friend Joey, and apparently his entire family, are fans of my baked goodies, so when his mother's birthday approached, he asked me if I would make a cake for her big day. I had grandiose visions of making something beyond decadent....i.e "Chocolate Oblivion", but he told me his mom's favorite cake was simple yellow and frosted with something that was not "too sugary or too sweet". "Simplicity" was the key word here, so we decided to make a sheet cake instead of a layer. And learning that she was a huge fan of raspberries, I decided to make Chocolate Chambord Ganache for the finishing touch. As we applied the ganache and then the tiny chocolate curls, I realized I didn't have fresh raspberries on hand, but strawberries instead.  And the leaves on the "fresh" strawberries purchased the day before, had wilted and looked decidedly dead. So "Creativity" became the second key word of the day, and I promptly sacrificed a couple of stems off of my basil plant to complete the effect. In the end, his mother LOVED the cake, and substituting the basil for the strawberry greens provided the needed color and worked perfectly. The recipe for the "Starlight Yellow Cake" can be found in the "Betty Crocker" cookbook on page 106.  I followed the recipe, but substituted half and half for the milk and added 1 teaspoon of dark rum to the batter. My recipe for the Chocolate Chambord Ganache follows:

Chocolate Chambord Ganche

• 8 Ounces of Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate; chopped fine
• 1 Cup of Heavy Cream
• 1-1/2 teaspoons of Chambord   

Bring the cream to a low boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate. Stir constantly until the chocolate and the cream completely blend together. Add the Chambord and stir thoroughly to incorporate. Let the ganache cool till desired pouring or frosting consistency.