The Great Blogger’s Bake-off: 2020 Summer Picnic – 3 Tempting Dishes

A picnic is more than eating a meal, it is a pleasurable state of mind

DeeDee Stovel

Image from Pixabay

#Haiku – Picnic Outside the City
Music, Treats, Laughter
Skyline sunset gives warm glow
Happy memories

Good afternoon everyone! I hope you are all well and enjoying the weekend!

Mel at Crushed Caramel, Gary at bereavedandbeingasingleparent, and Jeanne, our judge, at Jeanne in the Kitchen is hosting a lovely blogger’s picnic this weekend. Mel, our moderator, is currently sharing excellent commentary and tunes to match on all of the blogger’s entries. I’m so inspired by everyone’s creations this weekend. From UFO donuts to fast food cakes, feel free to stop by Mel’s latest posts!

I had difficulty deciding what to bake this year. Since I’m at home due to lock-down, I’ve made three dishes that I have never tried before, but always wanted to taste. Two French dishes and one Dutch delight!

Mushroom Quiche

A while back, a baking magazine caught my attention with its lovely tangerine yogurt cake on the cover. Dorie Greenspan was thrilled to share her sweet and savory recipes.

I decided to go with something savory and settled on a mushroom quiche on page 54. I didn’t have a tart pan, so I settled for a pie pan. The aroma of the filling the air as it was baking in the oven. I was excited by the end result.

OH MY GOODNESS..

This quiche personally made me cry with happiness the moment I took a bite! No exaggeration here. This flaky crust was one of the best I’ve ever had. The combination of flavors really sat well with my palette.

I surprised myself. I gorged. I ate half the quiche that night!

Just finished watching Lord of the Rings and laughed at this meme! 😀

My boyfriend said it was good, and my roommate said it was very rich.

Glazed Fruit Tart

Next up is dessert! A few years ago, I found this little book for sale at a used books store and was intrigued by the prospect of 500 types of pies and its variations.

I settled on a glazed fruit tart recipe. The basic sweet crust tasted like a soft cookie. Next time, I will stretch the crust over the pie pan. It shrunk as I baked it. 🙂 I included a citrus scent to the vanilla extract mixture to my pastry cream, arranged my sliced fruit, and topped it off with a warm apricot glaze.

All the bright colors truly made my day! What I love about this recipe was that it wasn’t too saccharine. The whipped pastry was lightly sweetened and the combination of the natural sugars from the layers of real fruit was refreshing. Loved the fusion of flavors!

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Butter Cookies

As I was digging further in my ingredients bag, I found some powdered sugar, and decided to use it to make another treat. Shiran Dickman, blogger at Pretty. Simple. Sweet., shared a recipe for melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies. My cute cookies looked like a village of little igloos with snow sprinkled outside their homes.

Overall Feelings on This Year’s Picnic

This year’s blogger’s bake-off was truly special. The stress from this current events took such a toll on many people around the world. Many bloggers turned to the joy of baking for the first time as they were confined to their homes. Comfort food has a way of reminding us of our connection to family and friends. I know I feel closer to the authors who created these recipes because they brought me happiness to share with everyone I know. Hope you enjoyed my little kitchen adventure! 🙂

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Recipes Below! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧