T.O.bites | Toronto Food & Restaurant Blog

Not quite pancakes, more like latkes, but still good!

After seeing it on the NYTimes food blog, Sara decided that she’d try making these pancakes for “Brinner” (a cross between Brunch and Dinner). The final product is not that close to being the Aunt Jemima pancakes that we all grew up with, but seem more closely related to the Jewish potato pancakes, latkes.

These are a great and somewhat healthy alternative to the doughy fried pancakes you’d usually have for brunch, but the amount of cardamom is a bit too strong.  I’d say you could use less, or swap it out for either nutmeg or cinnamon (and Sara agrees).  The dried apricots and almonds are what really gave the pancake a burst of flavour with each bite and it would also be great to experiment with a different type of dried fruit; possibly some cranberries or some blueberries.  I recommend that you watch the video posted at the link below as the author also gives some other great substitution ideas.

Taken from the NYTimes:

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cooked oatmeal
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
Vegetable or olive oil, for frying
Honey, for serving.

served for blinner with both ham and bacon...mmmm pork!

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the flours, oats, almonds, baking powder, cardamom and salt in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and milk; stir in the cooked oatmeal and the apricots until just incorporated. Add the oatmeal mixture to the dry ingredients and stir gently; don’t overmix. The consistency should be that of thick pancake batter; add a little more milk or whole-wheat flour as needed.

3. Put a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. When a few drops of water dance on its surface, add a thin film of vegetable oil and let it become hot. Spoon out the batter, making any size pancakes you like. Cook until bubbles form on the top and pop, 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully flip the pancakes and cook until they’re browned on the other side, a couple of minutes more. You may have to rotate the cakes to cook them evenly, depending on the heat source and pan. As they finish, transfer them to a plate in the oven while you cook the remaining batter. Serve with honey.

I’m a stay-at-home Mom with a very active toddler, which means I have zero time to sneeze let alone make a big dinner. I’m also not a big fan of spending a lot of time preparing or cooking a meal (I prefer the food cook itself – in fact I’m a big microwave fan!)  So I am constantly trying to find easy, healthy, and good tasting food to make.  After all why buy it from a restaurant when I can make it for myself for  much cheaper? (Did I mention I was frugal too?)

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Yummy!

Best. Cupcake. Ever.

Seriously, these cupcakes are so awesome that if Helen wasn’t planning on selling them to raise money for a good cause (United Way) I’d be chock full of cupcaked goodness.

The Oreo on the top was Helen’s idea and it worked out great from a presentation point of view.  These ones should come with a warning…if you’ve got hungry friends, they’ll be gone before you can count your cupcakes!

Recipe taken from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskawitz and Terry Hope Romero

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup light vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies*

Frosting
Yields about 2 cups
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 cup light vanilla soy milk
3/4 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies

To make the cakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Add the milk and vinegar to the bowl of an electric mixer; allow it to sit for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix until foamy. Add the flour mixture in two additions and beat until no large lumps remain. Stir in the crushed cookies.

Fill your cupcake containers of choice about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the frosting:
Beat the butter until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla, and half the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the remaining sugar and beat until smooth. Stir in the crushed cookies.

Lemon Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

Another great holiday cookie to make.  The way my turned out tasted sorta like mini lemon meringue pies.  The recipe (take from Chatelaine, as always) calls for lemon curd.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any, so Helen and I improvised and made lemon curd completely from scratch.  It was actually kind of fun but in the end, I can’t say whether lemon curd is any different from just buying the usual Sheriff Lemon Pie Filling power brand stuff.  Honestly, it tastes exactly the same, but if you want to go from scratch on the curd, I’ll provide the recipe for that too.  I’m not so sure whether it’s necessary to use the coconut either.  See I couldn’t find the desiccated coconut the recipe asked for so I went with regular sugar coated coconut.  It was kinda tough making it stick to the cookie… perhaps you can try mixing it in the batter itself.  Oh and zesting lemons.. that’s always fun.  I heard Martha Stewart can do it with a spoon, but we used a cheese grater.

This recipe makes about 35 cookies

• 1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature so it’s easier to mix
• 3/4 cup of icing sugar
• 21/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/3 cup of store bought lemon curd (we made our own.. recipe below)
• 1 cup of toasted desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 325F (160C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Place butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat them together with a wooden spoon – beat together until creamy.
In a seperate bowl, stir flour with salt (your dry ingredients).
Gradually stir into butter mixture just until combined.
Pinch off about 1 tbsp of dough and roll into a 1-inch ball.
Roll each ball into the cup of coconut so that it sticks to the outside of the dough.
Place on prepared sheet.
Repeat with the remaining dough until it’s all used, keeping them about 1 inch apart.
Using your finger, make an indent into each of the dough balls (thumbprint) and then place them in the center of the oven to bake for about 15 to 18 minutes (until the edges are a slight golden brown).
Let cookies cool for about a minute and put in about a teaspoon of the lemon curd in the center of each one.

And now the lemon curd recipe we used

Lemon Curd Recipe taken from joyofbaking.com

• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
• 1 tablespoon (4 grams) finely shredded lemon zest
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn’t form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Makes 1 1/2 cups (360 ml).

If you want a lighter lemon curd whip 1/2 cup (120 ml) of heavy whipping cream and fold into the lemon curd.