If there were a finish line marking 4 years of blogging, I would have coasted, creeped and just barely crossed it. For the last couple of years the demands and reality of having two little boys has at times been overwhelming and I have gone through many periods of time when I simply have not been able to carve out time in my day to blog. And then, to top it off, only weeks before my blog’s 4th birthday, I thought all of my hard work from the past four years was lost when my website was hacked and taken over.
I took almost a week off not wanting to do anything about it. I was frustrated and angry and simply did not want to spend my time figuring out how hackers got into my website. It has been hard enough for me to find time for the “fun” stuff, i.e. cooking, photographing, writing, creating. I was annoyed that I had to spend the little time I had to deal with a security breach.
In the time it took to fix my website, when things were completely out of my control and I was faced with the tough decision to give up or keep going, I discovered two things. First of all, I realized that I was not ready to throw it all in. Moreover, the experience emphasized to me that the special moments and memories that I have and will continue to make with my family in the kitchen are what is important. My personal space had been invaded by an intruder (albeit someone else behind another computer screen somewhere). However, even though they had broken into my blog, trespassed in my space and temporarily overtaken {stolen} my website – the written and visual documentation of my time in the kitchen with my family over the last four years – they could not take away the memories. Furthermore, they could not keep me from cooking, baking and spending time with my family in the kitchen.
During that forced time off when I was trying to fix and secure my website, my boys and I created several things in the kitchen and I felt a sense of relief that I didn’t need to document or take pictures of each moment. I could just be in the moment. And afterall, that is what it’s all about.
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The first crêpe cake I saw was beautiful, decadent and oozing with chocolate. It has been on my mind for several years since and for my recent blogiversary {now much belated as I publish this} I decided to make my first crêpe cake. I layered almond poppy seed crêpes (a version of my basic crêpes) with homemade raspberry freezer jam and almond whipped cream to celebrate 4 years of itsy bitsy foodies.
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***Thank you all for your support and for being a part of my journey!***
- 1 ½ cups milk and water mixed (I use ¾ cup milk + ¾ cup water.)
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 4 Tbsp melted butter or oil
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 Tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- Almond poppy seed crêpes
- Almond whipped cream
- Raspberry freezer jam or sweetened raspberry puree
- Place all of the ingredients (except for the poppy seeds!) in a blender and mix until smooth.
- If you mix by hand, beat the eggs with a fork.
- Add the milk, water and melted butter.
- Gradually add the flour and the sugar, whisking it until smooth.
- Finally stir in the poppyseeds.
- Rest for 30 minutes-1 hour.
- Spoon the batter to coat the bottom of a lightly-greased pan on medium heat.
- For thinner crêpes, I use roughly ⅓ cup batter for a 12-inch pan. I spread the batter with the bottom of the measuring cup to completely coat the pan.
- For thicker crêpes, I use a little under ½ cup of batter.
- The thickness of your crêpes is a matter of personal taste. Crêpes do not have to be super thin to be authentic.
- When the batter starts to set, flip the crêpe and cook the other side until both sides are light golden.
- Mix the ingredients together and beat on high using a hand-held mixer or a KitchenAid mixer with the whisk attachment. It will take several minutes for the liquid cream to transform into fluffy peaks.
- If you beat the whipping cream until it is too stiff you can add more cream and continue beating. This is also a good trick if you are using leftovers the next day. Leftover whipped cream often starts to separate and lose its form. Simply add more cream (if need be) and whip it again.
- Place a crêpe on the plate or cake platter on which you will display the crêpe cake.
- Spread a small amount of whipped cream on the crêpe and then spread some raspberry jam on top of the whipped cream.
- Place a crêpe on the jam and repeat the process until your crêpe cake is as tall as desired.
- Garnish the top of the cake additional almond whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
