Hi again
Well, this will be a little longer and including a bit more options to make up for yesterday. Will be taking some family time but I have some news coming up next week so don’t miss out
Now, I have to admit it is a little tricky when I choose what to post from my “cooking scratch book” an I sometimes am in difficulty to pick so I might do this a “once a week” (or 2 when time permits) even after Christmas….What do you think?
Chai Spiced Pancakes with Whipped Vanilla-Mascarpone
What you need:
350 ml Black Chai concentrated
250 g gluten-free flour (or all purpose baking flour if you don’t want it gluten free)
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp bakins soda
1 tsp salt
a tbsp white sugar
1 tsp white sugar
225 g Mascarpone
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
290 g strawberries
150 g blackberries
How you make it:
Now, let’s get to work, this will be fun. (try to make it an activity with the kids…a bit messy but worth the laughs)
- The Black Chai concentrated: boil the water at 100C and put about 3 tsp of Black Chai to make it strong. In time you can play around with the amount of loose leaf tea and make it to your taste. Leave to brew for 10 minutes and remove the leaves (I use either a Tea Egg Ball or a Strainer but in all honesty use what you have, as long as you remove the leaves it’s fine. Let the tea cool down and let’s move on
- Combine all of the dry pancake ingredients in a large mixing bowl. So the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the white sugar go in there.
- Slowly pour in the Chai stirring to combine. Mix until you get a loose batter
- Heat a pancake griddle or large non-stick pan over high heat and spray it with cooking spray or smudge it with oil using a heat proof brush
- Spoon pancakes batter onto a griddle in 1/4 cup scoops (or just go with the flow, that’s up to you)
- Cook each pancake for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. You should have them a light, golden brown in the end.
- remove pancakes from heat and set aside
- in a small bowl, combine the mascarpone, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Whip well until well combined and slightly fluffy. Now this is very important: Try not eating all the cream before they even touch the pancakes, don’t laugh, it’s a thing in our house….I usually end up with no cream for some mysterious reason
- Stack pancakes on serving dishes. Drizzle with maple syrup, then top with a dollop of whipped vanilla Mascarpone and fresh berries
Ok….breakfast I would say it’s set, now….how does a nice cake for after lunch or for afternoon tea sound?
Ok, I love Matcha as you can clearly understand but you will see that this marvelous powder is very versatile and finds its way often in my dishes. Well a lot of the loose leaf tea do that actually…
I had a friend saying few days ago when I started this madness on my blog: “I thought that it is just making ordinary tea with this (referring to the teas she ordered) and here I see you have different ideas”
Yes, and you don’t know even half of it yet.
Matcha Glazed Vanilla Cake
- preheat oven at 180C and lightly grease three non-stick 10cm round angel cake pans with butter
- sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl (I usually hold the sifter about 5 to 7 cm from the top of the bowl to really aerate the mixture but don’t think it’s necesary). Add the salt and then whisk everything together, this incorporates more air into the dry ingredients
- combine the sour cream, olive oil and sugar for 2-3 minutes, add vanilla extract and the egg and mix untill well combined
- on a low speed, ad one third of the flour mixture and mix until just combined before adding half of the mild and mixing again. Keep alternating between flour and mild until everything is just incorporated, try to not over beat the mixture.
- Devide the batter evenly between the 3 pans and place them on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
- When done take them out of the oven and leave the cakes in the pans, inverted on a cooling rack to allow them to cool completely
Now for the glaze:
- Place sifted icing sugar and the matcha powder in a small bowl and whisk together.
- To start with add 2 tablespoons of water and mix well to produce a smooth and pourable glaze. If it’s too thick add an extra tablespoon of water or if it’s too thin add extra sifter icing sugar. If you want a stronger green color and deeper flavour, add extra teaspoons of sifted matcha and mix well. (I love matcha so I usually add here more but it is up to you)
That’s it, just have fun decorating the cakes. After the cakes are cooled just take them out of the pans and level the top if necesary so they stay properly upside down. Place the cakes on a tray and pour the glaze over the top of each, allowing it to drizzle down the sides. You can sprinke cacao nobs on the tops but on Christmas I would go with some red festive decoration
That’s it for the cake
What would you say about a fresh and light drink?
Mint Mojito
What you need:
350 ml rum
3 – 4 tablespoons dried peppermint
sugar
fresh mint leaves
club soda
lime juice
How you make it:
- Let soak the dried peppermint in the rum for at least 4 hours (even 5) and after strain the leaves out (if you use a strainer press with the back of a teaspoon to get as much liquid out of the leaves
- in a cocktail glass crush some fresh mint leaves with 1-2 teaspoons of sugar
- Fill the galss 2/3 with ice and add 30 ml rum infused with the pepperming and 60 ml lime juice
- Top up with club soda and garnish with fresh mint leaves
- Enjoy!
Well, for not that is it, Merry Christmas everyone and I’ll be back in few days with some other ideas