Ingredient: lemon zest, (optional)

Sour Cream Rice Pancakes

ENJOYING SHROVE TUESDAY!

Whether you call it Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or Pancake Day, Tuesday is the day of feasting and celebration before 40 days of fasting known as Lent. Celebrated by Anglo-Saxon Christians, participants would attend confession in order to be ‘shriven’ (forgiven for their sins). A bell rang to call everyone to church. This bell came to be known as the Pancake Bell and is still rung today.

Shrove Tuesday was the last day to use up eggs, sugar and fats before the fast, and making pancakes was the perfect way to do it! The ingredients of pancakes also symbolize four pillars of the Christian Faith. Flour for sustenance, eggs for creation, salt for wholesomeness, and milk for purity.

While other countries celebrate Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, with extravagant and exotic parades, in England, people race around towns and villages wielding frying pans that hold pancakes. The tradition was created in 1445 when a woman of Olney, Buckinghamshire was making pancakes when she heard the bell summoning her to church. In a rush to get to church, she ran, still in her apron and holding her frying pan. The Olney Pancake Race is now the most popular pancake race in the world. Participants must be local housewives and they must wear an apron. The goal of the race is to run while carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake inside flipping it as you run. In order to win, the woman must successfully toss the pancake three times throughout the race, reach the church and serve the pancake to the bell ringer. Hundreds of people gather every year to participate in this fun tradition!

Mardi Gras, which translates to Fat Tuesday in French, is largely celebrated in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Parades, parties, and feasts dazzled in colors of green, gold, and purple fill the city for two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday.

Personally, I have always liked pancakes, so in keeping with the Shrove Tuesday tradition Brion & I will be enjoying some today. Although I can’t quite picture myself running in a pancake race, I’m making some sour cream rice pancakes … if you like rice pudding as well as pancakes, these are for you!

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 Sour Cream Rice Pancakes
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Pancakes
Blueberry Sauce
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Pancakes
Blueberry Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Pancakes
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, sour cream, butter & vanilla.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cooked rice, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture & whisk together. Let batter sit for 15 minutes.
  4. Heat a nonstick griddle to medium-low heat. Spray with oil. Using a 1/4 cup measure, portion out batter on griddle. Cook for about 2 minutes per side.
  5. Serve immediately garnished with blueberry sauce or your choice of topping.
Blueberry Sauce
  1. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar & salt. Add water & blueberries & cook until 'clear' & bubbling. Remove from heat & stir in butter & lemon juice. Serve warm over pancakes.

Individual Strawberry Royale

Strawberry Royale puts an interesting spin on an old classic by using some little ‘Swiss Rolls’ to make seasonal individual desserts.

Despite the name, the cake does not stem from any type of Swiss tradition or cuisine. The origin of Swiss Roll is not Switzerland, but its beginning is still a mystery. Some think it is an old English recipe, some think it is possibly inspired from the Austrians. Historians believe it was invented around the 19th century. 

The earliest published reference for a rolled cake spread with jelly was in the Northern Farmer, a journal published in Utica, New York, in December 1852.

During the 1960s, manufacturing Swiss Roll as snacks became fairly popular. Big brands such as Little Debbie and Lyons Company began their Swiss Roll businesses around that time.

Different countries have their own version of Swiss Roll. Depending on the country’s taste, they develop their own flavors of cakes and choices of fillings.

In France, Bûche de Noël or Yule Log, is a traditional French dessert during Christmas. It is basically a Swiss Roll decorated with chocolate frosting to resemble a tree branch.

In Sweden, they called it Rulltarta, and some of their Swiss Rolls are made with potato flour instead of wheat flour.

There are many varieties of Swiss Rolls that can be found in most bakeries in Asia. Hong Kong styled Swiss Rolls are typically lighter than western style, because they usually only use standard whipping cream filling.

Indian Swiss Rolls are called Jam Rolls, using filling such as a pineapple jelly.

In Japan, it is common to use Matcha (green tea powder) to flavor the sponge cake, and red bean flavored whipped cream is sometimes used as fillings.

In Malaysia, fruity flavored Swiss Rolls like coconut, strawberry, and blueberry are quite popular. 

Along with great eye appeal this is such a nice, easy summer dessert.

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 Individual Strawberry Royale
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword individual strawberry royale
Servings
Ingredients
Cake/Filling
Strawberry Sauce
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword individual strawberry royale
Servings
Ingredients
Cake/Filling
Strawberry Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Cake/Filling
  1. Line 6 ramekins with plastic wrap. In a large bowl whip cream until stiff peaks form; set aside in refrigerator. In another large bowl, beat pudding mix & milk until smooth.
  2. In a small dish, sprinkle gelatin over boiling water & stir until dissolved. Mix gelatin into pudding mixture & fold in whipped cream. Add sliced strawberries, mix gently.
  3. Cut Swiss rolls into 1/4-inch slices & arrange in ramekin dishes to cover bottom & sides. Pour pudding mixture over cake. Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate until set.
Sauce
  1. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar & salt. Add water & strawberries; cook until 'clear' & bubbling.
  2. Remove from heat & add butter, lemon juice & zest (if using). Allow to cool then place in a blender. Blender until sauce is smooth or omit the blending process & use as is with chunks of strawberries. Cool sauce completely.
  3. Invert desserts onto serving plates. Drizzle with strawberry sauce & serve.

Stuffed Raspberry Cream Pancakes

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Here in Canada, we set aside the second Sunday in May to honor our mother’s with expressions of love and gratitude.

As I grow older, I realize how many ways I unconsciously emulate my mother. I loved everything about her and as a kid I could never imagine life without her. But in the natural sequence of events, that’s not how it works. I guess along with many other things, I’m grateful for the fact that she was there through my childhood. She passed away at the age of sixty and although she is no longer on this earth, her wonderful memory will live on in our hearts forever.

We are fortunate to still have Brion’s mother, Dolores. In January this year, we were able to spend four days visiting with her. It was so wonderful to be able to do that once again.  

This blog is especially to honor: the special memories of my mother for her endless giving of selfless love – my mother-in-law, Dolores, for her kind ways and raising that ‘special’ man I love sharing my life with – to my sisters, who have given so much of themselves to be such great moms.

Pancakes are one of mankind’s oldest prepared foods, which is why you’ll find some iteration of them in virtually every cuisine around the world.

For most North Americans, the word ‘pancake’ conjures a stack of fluffy, hot-off-the-griddle ‘flapjacks’, a pat of butter slowly melting beneath some maple syrup. But pancakes take many forms around the world, from delicate French crepes sprinkled with sugar to spongy, sour Ethiopian injera to chewy-crisp Japanese okonomiyaki, studded with seafood and drizzled with sticky brown sauce and mayo.

Both pancakes and flatbreads embody the idea that the most common and basic ingredients can combine into a whole far greater than the sum of its parts. They’re quick-cooking and don’t require anything more than a pan (or a rock) and a heat source, but they’re also the basis for more involved cooking methods, canvases for countless ingredient combinations. They’re staple foods to be peppered with seafood, poultry, aromatics, or fruit; topped with whipped cream or cheeses, syrups, caviar, chutneys, or jam.

Have you ever made stuffed pancakes? If not, you’re going to love this recipe! Stuffed pancakes do take a bit more time to prepare than regular pancakes, but they are really worth it.

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 Stuffed Raspberry Cream Pancakes
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Cuisine American
Keyword raspberry sour cream stuffed pancakes
Servings
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
Cream Cheese Filling
Sour Cream Pancakes
Cuisine American
Keyword raspberry sour cream stuffed pancakes
Servings
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
Cream Cheese Filling
Sour Cream Pancakes
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Raspberry Sauce
  1. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar & salt. Add water & raspberries; cook until 'clear' & bubbling. Remove from heat & add butter, lemon juice. If you wish , press sauce through a sieve to eliminate the seeds. Set aside.
Cream Cheese Filling
  1. In a bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients beating until smooth. Set aside.
Pancakes
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, milk, sour cream, butter & vanilla.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
  3. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture & whisk together until no large lumps remain but don't overmix. Let the batter sit for 15 minutes. You can even refrigerate it overnight & cook the next morning.
  4. Heat a nonstick griddle on medium-low heat. To ensure your pancakes cook all the way through, you'll want the heat a little lower than for other pancakes.
  5. Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup & scoop the batter to fill it up & pour an evenly round circle of batter on the griddle. I find using the bottom of the measuring cup helps to create the circle.
  6. Let it cook until little bubbles form, then pop, & the indentations stay on the batter. Pipe a small amount of the filling on half of the pancake, making sure not to get too close to the edges & not to overfill it.
  7. Fold the uncooked pancake over the filling. The edge of raw batter on the top half should touch the raw edge on the bottom when folded. It will continue to cook & seal itself on the griddle.
  8. Put a 'lid' over the pancakes to help them to cook through. Flip as needed to keep the browning even. Allow them to cook until all the batter looks cooked through.
  9. Serve with fresh raspberries & sauce.

Caramilk Apple ‘Baskets’

The Caramilk chocolate bar is a Canadian creation that has been around since 1968. First produced at the Cadbury factory in Montreal then production moved to the Gladstone factory in Toronto in 1978 and has been made there ever since.

The general name for the candy confection is actually Cadbury Caramilk, but in the USA, this candy bar is more familiarly known as Caramello. The entire styling of the bar is different depending on where it is sold and this can lead to confusion that these are different candy bars when they are actually the same product. There are some variations in the recipe in different countries but the overall taste is remarkably similar.

There have been countless theories and debates about how Caramilk gets the soft flowing caramel inside the Caramilk bar. To date, it is still one of those Canadian enduring mysteries as Cadbury has guarded the Caramilk ‘secret’ for over 50 years.

These apple tart/baskets are certainly taken up a notch by simply adding a piece of Caramilk chocolate to the center. Who knew …. what’s old is new again!

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 Caramilk Apple 'Baskets'
Votes: 2
Rating: 5
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Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword caramilk apple baskets
Servings
Ingredients
Pastry
Filling
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword caramilk apple baskets
Servings
Ingredients
Pastry
Filling
Votes: 2
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Pastry
  1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar & salt. Add cold butter, vanilla & lemon zest. Cut into flour mixture with a pastry blender until dough starts to come together & form clumps. Divide 2/3 of pastry between 10 tart/muffin cups. Using fingertips, evenly press the dough into each cup. With remaining pastry, divide it into 10 balls & flatten each to form a top for each tart. Place pastry in refrigerator until filling is prepared.
Filling
  1. In a saucepan, whisk together 1 1/4 cups water, both sugars, spices, salt & lemon juice. Add the diced apples & simmer for 10-12 minutes to soften apples, stirring occasionally. Combine remaining 1/4 cup water with cornstarch & add to apple mixture; continuing to cook until thickened. Remove from heat & allow to cool.
Assembly/Baking
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Place a Tbsp of apple filling in each tart shell. Divide the Caramilk bar into 10 pieces. Place one piece in the center of each tart. Divide remaining apple filling between the 10 tarts. Top each with a pastry round & bake for about 35 minutes or until golden.
  3. Serve inverted on a serving plate, either as is or with your choice of topping.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Brownies

Pairing chocolate and cream cheese has long been a favorite of bakeries. Brownies come in a variety of forms and may be either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density.

Arguably, one of North America’s major contributions to the dessert world, the first printed mention of them appeared in the Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalog of 1897, advertising ‘fancy crackers, biscuits, cakes, brownies …. in 1 LB. papers’.

Brownies were widely baked in the 1920’s and by 1931, the first edition of The Joy of Cooking included a recipe for ‘fudge squares’.

There are literally hundreds of types of brownies as well as ways to eat them. Cut them up to make parfaits or add a dollop of whipped cream, berries or a sprinkle of dried fruit and nuts or maybe some ice cream.

My choice today are some blueberry cream cheese brownies that consist of four layers. With the use of the Lor Ann Company’s blueberry emulsion, that wonderful blueberry flavor is intensified. These are brownies at their best!

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 Blueberry Cream Cheese Brownies
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword blueberry cream cheese brownies
Servings
BROWNIES
Ingredients
Oatmeal Layer
Chocolate Layer
Cheesecake Layer
Blueberry Topping
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword blueberry cream cheese brownies
Servings
BROWNIES
Ingredients
Oatmeal Layer
Chocolate Layer
Cheesecake Layer
Blueberry Topping
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Oatmeal Crust
  1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a bowl, combine all oatmeal layer ingredients until crumbly. Pat into prepared pan & bake for about 8 minutes.
Cheesecake
  1. In a bowl, beat cream cheese & sugar until fluffy. Add egg; beat well then add milk & blueberry emulsion & combine well. Set aside in refrigerator until chocolate batter is prepared.
Chocolate Batter
  1. In a microwave safe dish, carefully melt chocolate then add butter. Stir until combined & slightly cool; add beaten egg & sugar. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder & salt. Add to chocolate mixture alternately with combined milk & vanilla. Fold in walnuts. Carefully spread batter over baked oatmeal crust.
  2. Pour cheesecake filling over chocolate layer & carefully smooth out. Bake 20-25 minutes or until chocolate & cheesecake batters test done. Remove from oven & cool on wire cooling rack.
Blueberry Topping
  1. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar & salt. Add water & blueberries; cook until clear & bubbling. Remove from heat; add lemon zest (if using) & blueberry emulsion. Stir & allow to cool.
  2. When brownies are cooled cut into serving size pieces. Spoon blueberry topping over brownie cheesecake & serve.
Recipe Notes
  • Don't hesitate to add a bit more Blueberry Emulsion for a stronger flavor if you wish.
  • Just for fun, I made some of the brownies as individuals to see what they would look like.

Apple Chickpea Flan w/ Raspberry Sauce

There’s a whole chickpea world out there beyond hummus. From crunchy, spicy snacks to main ingredients in baking and cooking. This is a wonderful ingredient that can adapt extremely well with herbs and spices.

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, grow in hot parts of the world so they are naturally a key ingredient in the cuisine of countries such as India, Mexico, Egypt and the southern part of Italy. Despite their origins, chickpeas are available everywhere, usually in either canned or dried form. There is very little difference in nutritional value between precooked, canned chickpeas and the dried variety you cook yourself.

In our part of the country, I remember these peas/beans first appearing in the restaurant salad bars. Chickpeas were one of several choices set out in bowls to add to salad greens. Then a few years later they became better known when ‘Mediterranean hummus’ became trendy. Then the notion came up to use them in baking. Legumes in cake? Remember the big debate when ‘someone’ decided to put carrots and zucchini in cakes etc. (not to mention tomato soup).

Chocolate chickpea cake has been a success for quite a while now so I decided to try a different take on the idea of the flourless cake.

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 Apple Chickpea Flan w/ Raspberry Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
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Course dessert
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 4 custard baking cups or a 9 X 9-inch square baking pan.
  2. In a food processor, place applesauce, rinsed chickpeas & eggs; blend until almost smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Place in a large bowl.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture & stir to combine. Pour into baking dishes & bake for about 50 minutes OR until it tests done with an inserted toothpick.
  4. To make raspberry sauce: In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar & salt. Add water & raspberries; cook until clear & bubbling. Remove from heat & add margarine & lemon juice & zest. Cool & serve over chickpea flan.
Recipe Notes
  • In place of one of the eggs I used 1 Tbsp ground flax seed plus 3 Tbsp water.