Recipe adapted from smitten kitchen

This is so yummy, however I must warn that it is definitely not a quick meal to prepare. To save time you could prep your greens and do your measuring, chopping and slicing the day before; that way the following day all you will have to do is cook your roux, assemble and bake!

1/2 stick butter

1 large cooking onion, diced

2 large bunches of red chard, stemmed and chopped

2 cups organic 2% or whole milk, 

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp flour

2 small zucchini, sliced into 1/8 inch thick rounds

4 medium russet potatoes, sliced into 1/8 inch thick rounds

1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/4 cup grated cheese of choice, I used a mix of cheddar,  mozzarella and parmesan

Onions and Chard:

in a large pan cook onions with 2 tbsp of butter over medium-low heat until softened (making sure to stir often) about 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium-high and add the rainbow chard. Stir until the chard is wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a collander and using a dish towel press down on the chard to remove andy excess liquid.

Sauce:

In a small saucepan combine the milk and garlic; bring mixture to a simmer to keep it warm. In a medium saucepan melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Continue cooking the roux by whisking for one minute then while you continue to whisk slowly add the warm milk and garlic and bring to a boil. Whisk for about 1 minute more then season with salt and pepper. set aside.

Assemble:

Preheat the oven to 400. grease a 9×13 baking dish. Spread out half of the potatoes and half of the zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, 1/4 of the herbs and 1/4 cup of cheese. Spread half of your chard over the cheese, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, 1/4 of the herbs and a 1/4 cup of the cheese. Pour half of the roux over these layers then continue with the remaining potatoe and zucchini, salt and pepper, 1/4 of the herbs and 1/4 cup of cheese. Now top with the last of the chard. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the remaining sauce over the gratin, making sure it is as evenly distributed as possible. Finally top it off with the last of the cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes to 1hr or until golden and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes and serve!

I love baking but this year I am tired. I am so tired I didn’t even bake a cake or make donuts for my twin sister Danie on her birthday! I honestly can’t remember the last time I didn’t bake for her. I feel awful but I honestly did not have the time or energy this year to bake for Danie annnd my Husband (whose birthday happens to be the day after ours) sooo I had to choose. I chose to make a cake for Kegan with the promise to Dan that I would make her the donuts and the tart she had asked for on a later date.. just not on her birthday. I will make them on a weekend when I have nothing to do but to take my time baking for Dan. This year Kegan’s Birthday was on a Monday so I spent the day with Poppy on my hip baking this strawberry and cream cake for Daddy. The batter may have been a little overmixed making the cake about half the height it was meant to be but I swear it was still delicious.  It definitely was not my best cake but I think given the fact that I had a very cranky babe glued to me I would say it was pretty darn good!

*Recipe from gracessweetlife

BUTTER CAKE:

- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract

- 2 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks

- 1/2 cup whole milk

- preheat the oven to 350.

- Grease 8 inch round cake tin ( you can also use pam baking spray )

- In a med bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a whisk. Set aside.

- In the bowl of your stand mixer , using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla on high speed until fluffy.

- One at a time add the eggs and yolks, mixing well after each.

- Turn mixer to low and add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk in 2 additions. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Mix until just combined ( do not overmix!!! )

- Pour the batter into cake pan making sure it is evenly distributed.

- Bake, alternating half way through, for 30-35 min (until when poked with a toothpick it comes out clean)

- let cool for 10 min then transfer to a wire rack until it has finished cooling.

SIMPLE SYRUP:

3 tbsp honey and 1/4 cup water. Over high heat whisk until honey has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.

STRAWBERRY CREAM TOPPING:

- 20 0unces fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

- 1/2 cup white sugar, divided

- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold

- 1 tsp unflavoured gelatin

- In a med sized bowl mix together your strawberries and  1/4 cup of sugar. Set aside.

- Place 2 tbsp of cold water in a small saucepan, add the gelatin and let soften for 5 min. Over low heat whisk gelatin until it has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool (keep a close eye on it or it will set and you will have to do this step all over again…which is not so easy to do if you have a baby on your hip but hey, now I know and I will try my best not to make that mistake again)

- In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment whip together the cream and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks begin to form.

- Continue to whisk and gradually add the gelatin mixture; beat until soft peaks have formed.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE:

- Using a serrated knife cut the cake in half horizontally.

- Cut side facing up place the bottom half of the cake on a cake plate or cake stand.

- Brush cake with some simple syrup then add a layer of berries and a layer of whip cream. Repeat on second half of cake only first add the whipped cream and then top with berries.

* I spread the cream around the sides of the cake but next time I would definitely double the whipped cream recipe so I had enough to properly cover the cake and have a thicker layer of the cream in the middle layer. I might also use some homemade strawberry jam instead of simple syrup.