Apple Pancakes

It’s time we talked about pancakes!  While pancakes are traditionally considered a breakfast staple in the States, Romanians see them as an unceremonious yet utterly tasty, usually-mid-week-kind of sweet.  Or at least that’s what they are in my family.  Yes; in my grandma’s home, pancakes are always a mid-week-jackpot dessert, fairly similar to French crêpes but lacy and soft, and usually stuffed with sweet, jammy fillings including homemade apricot preserve or with sweet cheese and raisins on occasion.  And then, there are these delightful Apple Pancakes, a traditional Saturday sweet treat in my grandma’s kitchen! 

 

With fall in full swing, markets are flooded with apples and I’ve loaded up on my fair share of this season’s favorite fruit.  My apple of choice is honey crisp and I’ve stocked up on it like there’s no tomorrow.  There’s something decisively sublime about its pleasant balance of tart and sweet that other apples don’t quite possess.  So, what better way to showcase their sweetly crisp flavor than in light and cottony apple pancakes?  

These apple pancakes are neither thick nor spongy, but are nothing short of brilliant either.  They are simple, little pockets of tender, pillowy dough that effortlessly hold tart and crisp pieces of apple.  Once out of the sizzling skillet, the pancakes are lightly dusted with nicely perfumed cinnamon-sugar that gently turns into a thin, caramelized glaze as it melts, nestled in between the blistering pile of golden pancakes.  The best part – they are mighty fabulous for a relaxed dessert, and impossibly delicious with a generous drizzle of maple syrup for a satisfying breakfast.  And truth be told, there’s nothing more inviting and comforting than the charming aroma of freshly cooked apples and steaming pancakes invading every little corner of the house on a cold, fall day!

Before I leave you with this delightful recipe, I’m overdue with a proper and very big “Thank You!” to the incredibly talented Carla Sue, who writes at the wonderful and sinfully sweet blog, Eat Sweet.  Carla Sue has nominated my blog for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!  I’m deeply honored, excited and lucky to be considered for this lovely award by a fellow blogger and friend who lives half a world away and whose sweet words, creations and gorgeous pictures always leave me drooling and hungry for more!  Again, thank you so much for nominating me, Carla Sue!   

Apple Pancakes

By Simply Romanesco inspired by my Grandma Vicki

Makes: about 20 pancakes

Ingredients for the pancakes:

·         2 heaped cups (500 ml) whole milk

·         2 large eggs, at room temperature

·         3 heaped Tablespoons (60 grams) granulated sugar

·         1/8 teaspoon salt

·         ½ teaspoon baking powder

·         Scant 2 ¾ cups (370 grams) all-purpose flour

·         1 large or 2 small apples, cored, thinly sliced (about 1/8-inch) and cut into ½-inch pieces

·         Olive oil or vegetable oil for cooking

Ingredients for the cinnamon-sugar mix:

·         ½ cup (115 grams) granulated sugar

·         1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions for the cinnamon-sugar mix:

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon and whisk well to combine.  Set aside.  

Instructions for the pancakes:

In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Gradually, add the flour to the milk and eggs mixture stirring constantly until the flour is fully incorporated, and you have a slightly thicker batter without any lumps and traces of flour.

Add the sliced apples and gently mix them into the batter. 

In a nonstick skillet, heat about 1 ½ teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Fill a 2.5-inch ladle with the pancake and apple batter (have 2 pieces of apple per pancake) and gently pour it into the pan.  Cook pancake for 1-2 minutes per side until golden-brown.  Repeat with the rest of the batter adding about 1 teaspoon of oil per pancake.  If the pan gets too hot, turn the heat down to medium-low.  

Place cooked pancakes on a platter and sprinkle each pancake with 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mix.      

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)

Honey and cinnamon plum cake for turning two!

My little blog turned two, last week!  And, you know, this journey would hardly be so much fun without all of you, dear readers!  And for that, I want to give you all a very big THANK YOU!!!  Thank you for reading my stories, trying my recipes, sending lovely and super sweet words of encouragement, and simply being out there and enjoying my blog!  You can’t imagine how much this all means to me!

Strangely, it seems that every year on this big, celebratory occasion I’m being followed around by the same type of plums – the cloudy purple Italian prune plums that I so long for all summer until they finally make it to the markets and into my kitchen and into sinful desserts.  Last year, I stuffed them into perfectly soft dumplings; this year, I dropped them into a deep, dark, nicely sweet and moist Pudding Cake of Honey, Cinnamon and Plums that was nothing short of legendary!

This year, my parents also enjoyed a glorious plum harvest.  The plum tree in my grandparents’ garden resembled a willow tree and almost gave in to the heavy weight of its overloaded crown of ripe plums.  Most of them found their way into simmering jams, pickled compotes, beloved cakes, and some were left for eating raw.  But while my parents, conveniently, went plum picking in the backyard, I went to the market where, luck struck, and a very generous lady put an overflowing box of swiftly ripening prune plums in my lap for virtually nothing. 

So, what do you do when fortune strikes?  You say ‘thank you very, very much’, run home and stash your freezer with multiple bags of plums to make deliciously oozing potato plum dumplings until most likely next year; and with the several remaining pounds of plums you make pan after pan of Nigel Slater’s spectacular plum cake: a pan for a second birthday, one for a Sunday brunch with friends, one for a casual wedding anniversary celebration, another one for a midweek-night sweet treat, and one more because you still have a glut of plums leftover and you like this cake way more than you care to admit!  

To be quite honest, I first made this cake about a year ago with the last fresh prune plums I had languishing around and ripening too fast for me to keep up.  But I haven’t gotten the chance to tell you about it until now.  Obviously, it’s not your posh and fancy birthday cake; it’s a charming-little-every-day-kind of cake.  It’s a sweetly mix of gingerbread and moist spice cake; spongy and sticky, deeply dark in color, loaded with warm cinnamon and tart, juicy plums that turn a vivid reddish color and slowly descend and soften into the soggy batter as the cake rises and bakes into perfection and intense flavor.  It’s a no muss, no fuss yet perfect cake for a second birthday!  

Pudding Cake of Honey, Cinnamon, and Plums

Adapted from Ripe by Nigel Slater

Makes: 16 squares

Ingredients: 

·         2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

·         1 slightly heaping teaspoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 slightly heaping teaspoon cinnamon

·         2/3 cup (200 g) agave nectar

·         2 heaping Tablespoons honey

·         ½ cup (125 g) butter

·         ½ cup packed (125 g) light brown sugar

·         12 ounces (350 g) plums, pitted and halved (or quartered if they are very large)

·         2 large eggs

·         1 cup milk (240 ml)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line an 8- or 9-inch square cake pan with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon, and whisk well to combine. 

In a saucepan, warm the agave nectar, honey and butter over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts.  Once the butter has melted, stir in the light brown sugar and whisk well.  Remove the pan from the heat, and allow the mixture to cool slightly for a couple of minutes.

Break the eggs into a medium bowl, add the milk, and whisk to mix.

Pour the agave nectar mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large, sturdy spoon until combined, and the batter is thick.  Pour in the eggs and milk mixture and continue to stir until the eggs and milk mixture is fully incorporated, and you have a loose batter without any traces of flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and arrange the plums on top.  The plums will drop as the cake bakes.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Place a piece of foil loosely over the top of the cake and leave to cook for 15 minutes longer.  Switch off the oven, but leave the cake in the oven for 15 more minutes.  Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool completely before slicing.           

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)

Ginger Tea Lemonade

I’ve completely neglected the beverage department for a good while, which is somewhat disappointing considering that I’ve been happily sipping on this one particular drink all summer long.  But I’m here to make up for it by sharing with you the recipe for this wonderful Ginger Tea Lemonade that has kept me refreshed and hydrated throughout the scorching season.  And it’s still my non-alcoholic drink of choice stepping into fall!    

I hardly drink tea and hardly ever pay any attention to lemonade especially when it’s pink or comes in a dreadful cardboard container.  But pairing black tea with fresh lemon juice can put things in a very happy perspective!  This drink makes me want to comfortably lay by the pool at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, baking under the torrid dessert sun and getting crispier by the minute, while slowly sipping this lemonade before jumping in the water to cool off.  But wait!  It was only a few days ago that I was doing just that while in Vegas!  (Except that I was actually gulping a strawberry smoothie that I’ll tell you more about another time.  But you get the idea.)

This Ginger Tea Lemonade is tea and lemonade all in one.  It’s sweet and lemony, bubbly and invigorating with a subtle spicy note from the ginger, and a full boost of energy from the black tea.  Skip the afternoon pick-me-up cup of coffee or can of soda and opt for a chilled and fizzy homemade Ginger Tea Lemonade to calm down your thirst during any season!  Cheers, everyone! 

Ginger Tea Lemonade

Adapted from Ginger Tea Lemonade by Giada De Laurentiis

Makes: 6+ servings

Ingredients for the Tea:

·         2 cups water

·         3 black tea bags

·         2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, from about 3 juicy lemons

·         Ginger Simple Syrup, ingredients and recipe follow

·         1 liter sparkling water, chilled

·         Optional: lemon slices, for garnish

Ingredients for the Ginger Simple Syrup:

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         1 cup water

·         1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

Instructions for the Tea:

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil over high heat.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the tea bags.  Stir and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.  Remove the tea bags and discard them. 

In a large pitcher, pour the tea mixture, lemon juice, Ginger Simple Syrup, and sparkling water.  Add the lemon slices and serve the lemonade over ice. 

Instructions for the Ginger Simple Syrup:

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine the sugar, water and ginger.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool, about 30 minutes.  Strain before using the syrup.  

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)

Goat Cheese Cake with Berries

It was only a short while ago that I went on an epic rant of how American cheesecake is not really my cup of tea.  How I can’t get over the obscene discrepancy between crust and custard, and all the nitty-gritty and scandalous number of hours required to make what is virtually just a cake.  Long story short, I still haven’t come to terms with this American classic.  But then I came across this delightfully decadent Goat Cheese Cake!

Yes, this week I’m bringing you even more goat cheese paired with outrageously bright berries.  Aside from desperately getting my hands on these lively little treasures before their season is out the window, I have to come clean and admit that I never really thought beyond the savory qualities of goat cheese.  I could never have imagined that goat cheese could represent the epitome of a sensational... cheesecake! 

Then again, this is neither your classic cheesecake nor a Romanian cheesecake!  There’s no crust involved, no appallingly excessive cream cheese filling, no ridiculous amount of time needed to whip it up.  In fact, this goat cheesecake comes together in less than an hour!  How fabulous is that?  

When you take a bite, it’s like eating a tangy, pleasantly rich yet airy, sweet and silky cheese mousse spotted with juicy, tart, fat berries.  And while in the oven, the cake forms a crusty and caramelly outside coating that pleasantly crackles between your teeth.  Heaven!   And, to make this cheesecake even more heavenly: add a spoonful of berry sauce right on top!  

                  

Goat Cheese Cake with Berries

Adapted from Bon Appétit (June 2013)

Makes:  8+ slices

Ingredients for the cheesecake:

·         Unsalted butter for the pan

·         ¾ cup sugar, plus more for the pan

·         12 oz. goat cheese, at room temperature

·         1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, from 1 lemon

·         1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice from half a lemon

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         6 large eggs, separated

·         3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         150 grams (1 heaped cup) berries (I used raspberries and blackberries)

Ingredients for the Fresh Berry Sauce (this is the same berry sauce I used for the Panna Cotta):

·         2 cups assorted fresh berries, plus a few fresh berries for decoration

·         1 ½ Tablespoon sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Butter a 9”-diameter springform pan and dust it with sugar, tapping out any excess. 

Using an electric hand mixer on medium speed, beat the goat cheese, ¾ cup sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.  Add the egg yolks two at a time, beating to blend and scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.  Reduce speed to low, add the flour, and mix just until blended.  Gently stir in the berries.  Set aside.  

Using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.  In batches, fold the egg whites into the goat cheese and berry mixture just until blended. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap the pan to level the batter.  Bake the cheesecake until the top is set but still jiggles slightly in the center, about 35 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool in the pan.  The cake will pull away from the pan.  If it doesn’t, run a thin knife around the sides of the pan and gently unmold the cake.   

Instructions for the Fresh Berry Sauce:

Place the berries in a small saucepan and sprinkle with sugar.  Heat up the berries over medium-low heat until juicy and soft and mash some of them with a fork.  Continue to stir until the sauce thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.  Let it cool.  Serve it with the goat cheesecake.   

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)