Pancakes for One

Yesterday I made a batch of fluffy pancakes only for myself. It's a basic recipe which I use every time. What can be better than a serving of pancakes with sweet strawberries and syrup just for you and yourself?





Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
 pinch salt
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk 
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
butter or coconut oil (for griddle)

In medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt.
In another bowl, beat together eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients to liquid mixture, combining only enough to moisten the flour.
Heat skillet to medium-low heat. Brush the bottom with some butter or oil.
Ladle batter onto the skillet.
Cook pancakes for 2-4 minutes or until the underside is golden brown and bubbles break on topside.
Flip and bake another minute or so longer until second side is golden brown.

I served my pancakes with strawberries. 

Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Bars

These cream cheese bars are absolutely amazing, however, there's one thing I'd change. Next time I would definitely use milk chocolate for topping. Actually  I hated the bitterness of the chocolate so I simply took it out and ate it without chocolate. I made some modifications in the original recipe: I reduced the amount of sugar and it was sweet enough for me so I recommend reducing sugar for you as well. And I omitted nuts. I just didn't have any but actually I didn't even miss them. I think these bars are better creamy without any crunchiness.

Sorry about the photos. I've no idea why the color of these bars looks so strange. Well, I'm not a professional photographer. It was a dark and foggy day.

Cream Cheese Bars

1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour (divided use)
1 cup sugar (I used 180g)
2/3 cup butter, softened
225g (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar (I used 100g)
2 eggs
340g (12 ounces)  semisweet chocolate chips* (divided use)
½ to ¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (I omitted)

*I used less chocolate and I didn't add any inside the bars, I used it only for topping. And as I've mentioned before I prefer milk chocolate.


Preheat oven to 180C (350 F) degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1½ cups flour, sugar, and butter. Beat at medium speed about 2 minutes or until crumbly and well blended.  Press mixture into an ungreased pan.  Bake for 12 minutes; remove from oven.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and eggs at medium speed until smooth, approximately 2 minutes. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips.  

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the partially baked crust.  Bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until topping is almost set.  

Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle the remaining cup of chocolate chips over top.  Return to oven for 1 minute to melt chips.  

Remove from oven. Gently spread melted chips over top.  Sprinkle with nuts, lightly pressing them into the chocolate.  

Refrigerate 1 hour.  Cut into bars.  Store in the refrigerator. 

Pumpkin Buttermilk Cake

This time I decided to follow the trend and make something with pumpkin. I wasn't a fan of pumpkin desserts until I made this fabulous cake. And of course, I realized how much I love pumpkin spice! This cake has everything in it! Although I didn't add ginger (didn't have any) and cloves (which I hate). This cake is soft, moist and sooo fragrant. It's a fall must-make cake. And now, can you believe? I'm already planning to make pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins etc.. Truly, this cake made me fall in love with pumpkin.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Cake

225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan

315g (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin

177ml (3/4 cup) well-shaken buttermilk

1/2 teaspoons vanilla

245g (1 1/4 cups) granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1) Preheat oven to 180C. Butter and flour bundt pan.

2) Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl.

3) Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

4) Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute.

Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

5) Spoon batter into pan and bake until a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack.

Apple Cake

3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (170g) sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
110g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1) Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan.

2) Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl. 

3) Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1 - 2cm chunks. 

4) In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk to blend. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter. 

5) Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it's coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it's evenish. 

6) Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes. 

Ricotta Gnocchi with Browned Butter Garlic Basil Sauce

Welcome back! I've been away for a long time but now I'm ready for baking/cooking and photographing my creations again! The summer was eventful and I have so many experiences to share with you. I will post some photos from my journey in my upcoming posts. 

Now be ready for an amazing gnocchi recipe! This is my favorite gnocchi recipe. They're incredibly easy to make, I think everything was ready in about half an hour. They are soft, airy and very light, the flavor is balanced perfectly. And OMG that browned butter sauce! BROWN BUTTER, it's an amazing thing, isn't it? I added some garlic and fresh basil to it as well. Believe me, you're going to love them. Just make them.

Ricotta Gnocchi

250g Ricotta
1 egg yolk
1/4 to 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
30g Parmigiano, freshly grated, extra for sprinkling
50-70 g all-purpose flour, extra for dusting the dough/board

1. Add Ricotta cheese, egg yolk, salt and freshly grated Parmigiano into a large bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Add the flour and stir in briefly, just until combined – the dough will still be sticky.

2. Generously flour a board, take a big tablespoon of the dough and scoop it onto the board. Dust with flour, before rolling it into a finger-thick roll. Cut it into little pillows.

3. Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and reduce heat until the water bubbles lightly. Add the gnocchi and stir once, so they don’t stick to the bottom – then let cook until they start floating on top. Depending on their size this may take 2 to 4 minutes. Take out with a skimmer.

6. If you want to brown your gnocchi to make them crispy outside, place them in a non-stick pan (no oil needed) and let them brown nicely on both sides. Don't move them around too much. Once done, arrange them on a plate and drizzle the sauce over.



Brown Butter Sauce:
~60g butter
1 clove garlic
Handful of fresh basil, chopped

Melt the butter in a small skilet and let it brown for about 4-5 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally. Be careful not to burn them. When the butter is light brown - remowe from heat, add chopped garlic and basil. Drizzle over the gnocchi, sprinkle some parmesam and serve. (makes about two)