Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Cherry-Vanilla Dutch Pancake

This sounds like a most excellent breakfast to me, how about you? It is a pancake that includes sugar and cherries. It sounds virtuous enough for a weekday, but tasty enough for a brunch. This sweet recipe comes from Lauren Katz of Ashburn, Virginia!

Cherry-Vanilla Dutch Pancake

• Prep Time: 20 Min
• Total Time: 40 Min
• Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 container Pillsbury Gluten Free refrigerated pie and pastry dough
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons Watkins™ Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) pitted dark sweet cherries

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Let pastry dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften.
2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch ovenproof skillet, melt butter in oven. In small microwavable measuring cup or bowl; microwave milk uncovered on High 30 seconds.
3. In blender or food processor, break up pastry dough. Add 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar, the milk, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla. Cover; blend on low speed 30 to 45 seconds or until smooth.
4. Tilt and rotate skillet to completely cover bottom and sides with melted butter; pour extra melted butter into blender. Blend pastry mixture with quick on-and-off motions until blended. Immediately pour batter into hot skillet.
5. Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until puffy and golden brown around edges.
6. Meanwhile, cut cherries in half, if desired. In medium microwavable bowl, combine cherries, the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoons of the powdered sugar; stir until sugar dissolves. Microwave cherry mixture uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes, stirring once, until warm.
7. Sprinkle hot pancake with remaining 1 tablespoon powdered sugar; cut into wedges. Top with cherries.

Note: the Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Check out my coverage of the 45th and 46th Bake-Off, and follow the recipes posted so far by clicking the bakeoff tag below.

January 28: National Blueberry Pancake Day

Source: phoodie.info via Cake on Pinterest

May your National Blueberry Pancake Day be sweet, sticky, and very buttery!

Yes, you heard me right. Today, January 28, is National Blueberry Pancake Day. 

If you're in Philadelphia, or if you find yourself near Philadelphia, anytime soon, please celebrate by getting a "short stack" at the Dutch Eating Place in the Reading Terminal Market. Maybe it's better if you're not in Philadelphia today, though, they're only open Tuesday through Saturday (pancake day observed, anyone?). They are an Amish business, which is why they don't open every day, although many of the vendors are only there Wednesday through Saturday, so consider yourself lucky for the Tuesday. Plus, they wear the cutest Amish garb while they serve you. But I digress. These are some of the finest blueberry pancakes I have ever tasted--fat yet fluffy, with blueberries that taste sweet and tart and have a pleasingly plump texture (not dehydrated, not weird). Plus, they serve their (huge) pancakes with a "pat" of butter that is about the size of a deck of cards--can you see it on the left hand side of the photo above?

Dutch Eating Place, 1200 Arch Street (in the Reading Terminal Market); more info here.

Sweet Morning Carbohydrates at Tecolote Cafe, Santa Fe NM

At Tecolote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, they serve "great breakfast, no toast".

Now, I know. You're thinking...what's wrong with toast? Certainly it's a likeable foodstuff.

But as I found out on a recent visit, after taking a bite or two of what they do offer here, you won't even care why they don't serve toast, because you won't miss it.

First off, the "bakery basket". When you order an egg breakfast, you get a choice of tortillas or "bakery basket" as a side when you order. I want to urge you to NOT BE A FOOL. Because while tortillas are undeniably tasty, the bakery basket is the way to go here. This is what you can expect (and this is for one person):

The sweetest basket, with muffins and biscuits! On the day of my visit, it was blueberry, corn-jalapeno, and pumpkin muffins, and a biscuit. This could change on the day of your visit, but I promise it will be tasty.

But on to breakfast. If there is even a small part of you that has an interest in pancakes, you must order a pancake here. They are delicious. They are huge--salad plate sized--so one is perfect, especially if you add fruit or an egg or something on the side. Yes, if you look at the top picture you will see I ordered an egg. I know this is a big deal because it proves that I ate something other than sweets. Don't worry, I didn't eat anything else that wasn't sugar-coated all day.

I got the Atolé Piñon pancake. To translate, this is a blue cornmeal pine nut pancake. And was it ever good. The slight grit of the cornmeal gave the pancake an interesting texture and wonderful natural sweetness, and the mellow, rich pockets of toasted pine nut gave it a nice crunch every now and again. Topped with (warmed!) syrup and butter, this was a thing of sweet beauty to behold and to then store in my stomach. It was a warming and hearty and pretty much perfect pancake. 

They also had "Tollhouse" pancakes -- with chocolate chips and nuts. 

Now. Tecolote has sweet French Toast offerings too (I didn't ask why it was ok to have "no toast" but French Toast was OK): on the day of my visit, there were various fruit and chocolate and nut options. Tasty town!

Basically what I am saying here is that if you do not go to Tecolote Cafe as soon as possible, you are doing yourself a great disservice. 

Tecolote Cafe, 1203 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe, NM. Online here.

Peter Pancakes: Ricotta Pancakes With Fruit from Five Leaves, Brooklyn NY

For those of you who have ever thought "Pancakes! Great Idea!" and then carb-o-loaded only to find yourselves sugar-crashed, carb-full but oddly still hungry two hours later, I have two words for you: Ricotta. Pancakes.

This sweet stack of awesome was obtained at Five Leaves Cafe in the Greenpoint/Williamsburgish crossroads of Brooklyn, NY, after we saw the party at the next table order it and couldn't keep our eyes off of it. 

These ricotta pancakes were served with a healthy array of fresh fruits, maple syrup, and--joy!--something  called honeycomb butter.

Fluffy yet substantial, these pancakes are a little richer than most, with a beautifully filling batter that will keep you fat and happy for hours--and yet, magically, they don't make the batter leaden-dense, but somehow achieve a lightness that scrunches most satisfyingly under the hungry tines of your fork and keeps you coming back for more...until...

...of course, if you can't be in Brooklyn right this instant, you might consider this recipe from Baking Bites.

Five Leaves, 18 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY; online here.

Eat Dessert First: Chronicling Breakssert, the Beyond-Cereal Breakfast

CakeSpy Note: This is a sweet dispatch from Cake Gumshoe Shannon Connell, a food and travel writer based in Chapel Hill, NC. Visit her website here.

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. There’s nothing wrong with an old-fashioned plate of bacon and eggs or even a bowl of granola. But, I dare to dream a little bigger, and definitely a lot sweeter — allow me to introduce breakssert.

Breakssert is a collision of savory and sweet, an impatient ode to what traditionally comes as the first and last flavors of the day. It’s starting the morning off on a sweet foot. Breakssert is the reason that saving the best for last is, simply put, a mistake.

At Terrace Café in Charlotte, North Carolina, they’re getting breakssert right. Their Red Velvet Waffles (pictured top) and S’mores French Toast are enough to make even the most reluctant morning person get out of bed dancing (I know because I am that person).

The Red Velvet Waffle is a crimson grid of sweetness that’s just a tad crispy on the outside but warm and chewy on the inside. If your sweet tooth isn’t quelled by the waffle itself, the cream cheese icing, powdered sugar and a strawberry will seal the deal.

The S’mores French Toast makes any ordinary s’more look plain puny. Chocolate-dipped Texas toast is coated in graham cracker crumbs in a sandwich of chocolate and marshmallowy goodness.

But if you're not in Charlotte, how can you add more breakssert to your life, and fast? Here are some tips. Try your local diner, the non-health conscious, long-time purveyor of sweets and grease. For instance, DeLuca's Restaurant, a famous diner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that has been featured on the Travel Channel’s ever-popular Man v. Food, isn’t shy about serving up gargantuan-sized Heavenly Hotcakes and Waffle Sundaes.

Image: RoadFood.comSo what could be better than a pancake topped with ice cream? Two pancakes filled with blueberries and bananas topped with ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, honey-roasted pecans and chocolate and caramel sauce. That’s the ingredient line-up for their Banana Split Heavenly Hotcakes. Their other seven variations include the Almond Joy, Reese’s Cup and Funky Monkey – a winning combination of double chocolate banana pancakes, French vanilla ice cream, bananas, chocolate and caramel topping.

You can also bring the concept of breakssert home by incorporating sweetness and innovation into your morning meal. A personal favorite is Crème Brulee French Toast, a simple blend of bread, eggs, sugar and butter. A dash of vanilla and Grand Marnier go a long way to bring a lot of flavor to this dessert-inspired dish from Allrecipes.com.Image: Allrecipes.com

Crème Brulee French Toast

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 6 French bread slices
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Remove crusts from bread, and arrange in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange brandy, and salt. Pour over the bread. Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature.
4. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned. 

Be forewarned! Coffee is a recommended accompaniment to all of the dishes above if you don’t want to enter a post-breakfast food coma. But if you’re looking for a good start to a lazy Sunday morning, breakssert may just be a perfect ingredient.