Food – Page 8 – ketchupface.com

Tonight, I hit a baking milestone.

Tonight, I took it to a whole new level.

For the first time ever (with ten hungry guests looking on), I served a cake that completely and utterly flopped. It was edible but unrecognizable.

As I flipped the “cake” on to the serving platter, it made this ghastly slurping, jello-like sound and landed with a splat in 3 pieces on the plate. Stunned, I did what any quick thinking hostess would do, I started to pat the thing together (in mud pie fashion) and slapped whip cream on it. “Full-speed ahead, this is not a drill, I will not be defeated”, I thought….and I wasn’t.

As my Easter cake sat in the fridge waiting for its debut, I started to worry. The cake was sinking, almost melting and I didn’t want it to spill over the edge of the platter. At least the “cake” looked festive. So what if we had to scoop and serve it with a spoon

The whole thing was ridiculous. I followed the recipe exactly. Just because I started baking at 10:00pm the night before (while dead tired) was no reason for this mishap. What was the problem?

Well folks, it looks like the problem was gelatin. Specifically, my lack of experience using clear gelatin. I also found out that my Mom doesn’t follow the recipe exactly when she makes this fabulous dessert. Sigh…now she tells me.

The moral of this story is, “it is better to have baked and flopped then to not have baked at all”.

Note: I’m happy to report that:

Everyone ate the cake and called it “pudding”
I will be getting the revised recipe from my Mom tomorrow (and will post)
I will be making the cake again shortly and will post my results
I laughed my way through this whole incident; without the aid of beer or wine (hurray for me!)

Happy Easter Everyone, check out the bunny carnage below….yikes!

…but they’re still pretty darn good.

Yes, pancakes are a great finger food for toddlers (and adults alike…I seem to be eating all the scraps these days).

I realize that I brought a new life into the world and YES, I’m trying not to taint him in anyway by feeding him crap but, “man-oh-man”, it’s hard sometimes.

Let’s face it, I LOVE my Mom’s butter laden, all white flour, crazy fluffy pancakes. You know the kind. The sort of pancake you can “down” in the flash of an eye and not feel full; that is, until you polish off number four. At that point it’s too late and you may as well loosen your belt and have a nap on the couch.

The compromise for us is to use the healthy recipe for our everyday pancakes and keep the old fashioned pancakes for our visits to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Then, we are rewarded with the pancakes of my childhood (ahhh…my childhood; the land of Tahiti Treat, Alpha-getti and Pixie Stix, but alas that’s a topic for another post).

Bottom line: pancakes are good.

If you have any awesome pancake recipes, please share them with me (good for you or bad for you). Here are the two recipes that we use most for pancakes. Enjoy!

Not My Mother’s Pancakes

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup olive oil or melted butter
1/2 cup mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (optional)

Directions
Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat.

In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, mix oats and milk. Whisk in eggs and olive oil (or butter). Pour into the flour mixture all at once. Continue mixing until smooth. Gently fold in banana and blueberries (if using).

Pour batter about 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbly. Flip, and continue cooking until lightly browned.

My Mother’s Pancakes
Makes 12 to 14 pancakes, 3 1/2 inches in diameter

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsps granulated sugar
1 egg, well-beaten
1 cup milk
3 tbsps butter, melted

Directions
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Combine well-beaten egg, milk and melted butter in a large bowl.

Add dry ingredients and mix just until batter is smooth.

Drop batter by large spoonfuls on to frying pan or grill. When bubbles form and break around rims of pancakes turn and bake second side until golden.

Note: Pancake batter will thicken as it sits therefore it may be necessary to add a little milk.

These aren’t exactly hardcore veggie muffins but they do contain zucchini and carrot which is a good start. My toddler’s vegetable repertoire consists of carrots and peas (on a good day) so it’s nice to sneak a few extra veggies in when you can.

Grown-ups love these muffins and my little guy seems to like them too. They were easy to make and really moist. I suggest buying the oat flour found in the bulk food section of your store. It’s more economical that way. Next time, I’m going to try coconut yogurt, carrots and pineapple…maybe with a splash of rum…ahhhhh….not really, just dreaming of a pina colada and a sandy beach…ahem.

The most difficult thing about making these muffins is trying to save them for the kids (and not stuffing your face while you down a cup of tea).

Sneaky Mommy Muffins
Makes 24 Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup Liberte lemon yogurt (or other full fat yogurt)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup shredded carrot

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease muffin pan.

In a bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in the zucchini and carrots into the batter. Scoop into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes in a preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Make tea and start eating.

Recipe adapted from: Allrecipes.com, Zucchini Yogurt Multigrain Muffins

Hipp-ity, Hopp-ity, FLOP-ity…

They’re not my mother’s pancakes…

Veggie-filled muffins even a mother could love