Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Yes, I know! It's not the best time to post pumpkin recipes as the pumpkin season has ended quite a long time ago. But I can't keep this recipe unpublished any longer. We all know how good pumpkin recipes are. And I'm sure we all love thick and fluffy pumpkin pancakes. I am also sure that we all love pumpkin pie. What about a combination of these two? A pumpkin pie in a pancake form! These really have a texture of a pie and at the same time they're thick, soft and a little bit chewy pancakes. And who cares it's not a pumpkin season anymore? You can always find pumpkin at a supermarket. Or you can save this recipe in your to-bake list for the upcoming fall. But will you be able to wait so long??

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

125g flour

30g sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

1 egg

240g puree

1/2c milk
Butter, for frying & topping
Honey, for drizzling (optional)

1) In a large bowl, combine together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger.

2) In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg. Add pumpkin puree and milk and stir to combine.

3) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix just until combined.

4) Heat butter on a skillet. Fry pancakes on low heat for a few minutes on both sides until lightly browned. Serve immediately with additional butter and a drizzle of honey.

Recipe by collecting memories

Crustless Carrot Pie

I've been posting new recipes quite rarely recently. I just wish there were more hours in a day because now my life is like a hurricane. I must forget about those idyllic days when I could wake up and spend the whole day in the kitchen realizing my cupcake visions. This is a temporal period though, soon I'll come back to this. 
And here is the new and a little bit unusual dessert (but surprisingly simple). I made this as an alternative to my favourite crustless pumpkin pie. I basically replaced pumpkin puree for the carrot puree and used milk instead of sour cream (just because I didn't have any. Sour cream might work just as well as milk). So this recipe is definitely going to be another keeper. The only problem with this was that I finished it too quickly. Seriously. 
One important note: make sure you keep this in refrigerator before slicing. The center needs time to set completely, otherwise, it will be too runny. 
Go ahead and try this, enjoy!

Crustless Carrot pie

500g carrots, cooked, drained and pureed in a blender (about 2 cups)

3 large eggs

120ml/1/2 cup milk

150g/3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ginger

35g flour

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease a 18cm baking pan.

2) In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add sugar, milk and carrot puree. Whisk until incorporated. Add cinnamon, ginger and flour. Mix to combine.

3) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set in the middle. Let cool completely and transfer to refrigerator. Let sit for at least 4 hours or overnight before cutting.

Recipe by collecting memories 

Broccoli Quiche

I've been dreaming of a cheesy quiche with buttery crust for a while already. So I was pretty happy when I finally decided to make one for myself. Yes, just for myself. Since I live alone, I have a privilege to eat the entire quiche. Guess what? By the end of the day there was just one small peace left. Yep, it was that good. How can something be bad with broccoli? And cheese? Oh, and I cut broccoli into large chunks and I think it made the quiche look quite beautiful. This recipe is really easy so you won't spend much time preparing this. Enjoy!

Broccoli Quiche

Dough:
125g spelt flour (or all-purpose)

Salt

75g butter, cold

1 tbsp cold water

Filling:

400g broccoli, chopped into chunks

1 small onion, finely chopped

150g cheese, grated

3 eggs, lightly beaten

240ml Milk

Salt

Pepper

1) Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Lightly grease and dust with flour a 18cm round baking dish. Set aside.

2) To make the crust, mix together flour and salt. Cut in the butter (to save my time, I sometimes use grater). Add 1 tablespoon of water and, using your hands, knead the dough just until it comes into a ball. Wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

3) Take out of the fridge and roll into a circle. Press into the prepared pan (use your fingertips). Make a few holes with a fork in the dough and place in refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

4) To make the filling, mix together milk, eggs, salt and pepper. In a small saucepan, lightly fry the onions until they soften a little bit. 

5) Take the dough out of the fridge. Sprinkle some cheese on it, then the onions, and half of the broccoli. Sprinkle more cheese, top with broccoli, and finally, sprinkle the remaining cheese (I like to reserve a lot of cheese for the top). Pour the milk mixture on top. Do not mix. 

6) Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set and golden brown on top. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe by collecting memories

Pain au Chocolat

This is the easiest version of croissant dough I've ever made. What I really like about this is that you use room temperature butter which is really easy to spread and fold. It's not the same as working with cold butter which I find very time-consuming. I actually was a little worried about the outcome, but the result surprised me! The dough was very flaky. I think the amount of butter is also reduced a little bit in this recipe. So these weren't as buttery as traditional croissant/pain au chocolat, but I definitely can't complain. Next time I think I would do a few additional folds to create even more layers! Anyway, if you do not want to make croissants three days, wait until the dough rests in the fridge overnight and so on, this recipe is exactly what you need.

Pain au Chocolat

2 tsp (7g)  instant yeast
100g granulated sugar
250 ml warm milk
500g all-purpose flour*
½ tsp salt

150g unsalted butter (room temperature)
100g dark chocolate

1) Add yeast, sugar and warm milk in a large bowl and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Add half of the flour, salt and mix to combine. Add the rest of the flour (I had a lot of extra flour which I didn't need to use. Stop adding flour as soon as you get a soft but not sticky dough). 

2) Transfer the dough to the floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes until elastic. Lightly oil the dough and place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, from 1 to 2 hours.

3) Divide butter into 3 equal parts. Punch the dough down and shape into a rectangle (0.5cm/1/4 inch) thick, the longer side facing you. Spread 1/3 of the butter onto two right thirds of the rectangle, fold the left third over the buttered middle third, and then the remaining uncovered third over the other two folds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

4) Repeat the process two more times, for the total of three folds. Shape the dough into a rectangle and cut strips (5cm/2 inch wide and 10cm/4 inch long). 

5) Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.


6) Place a chocolate piece on the end of the strip and fold into a roll. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and flatten a little bit. (I would recommend brushing the tops with egg wash at this step, this would give a shiny top. I missed this step. If you do not use egg wash, you can dust the baked rolls with some powdered sugar instead).

7) Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden on top. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from here.

Farro & Carrot Risotto

This is one of those dishes which, despite being ridiculously simple, are amazingly good. I've been experimenting with Farro for a while already, and every time I come up with delicious combinations which are both healthy and yummy. This is actually my favourite kind of food, you can eat tons of it every day and it's still good for you. And as you know already, it contains very simple and cheap ingredients. But there's one important thing - use a really good natural vegetable stock. Try to find the one which tastes really good because it's really important in this dish. So if you haven't tried using Farro, I highly recommend to do it right now! This recipe seems like a perfect start, isn't it?

P.S. For this recipe, use pearled Farro. Whole-grain Farro requires longer cooking time - about 60 minutes.

Farro & Carrot Risotto 

2 tbsp oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 large carrot (80g), shredded

4 cloves garlic, minced

500ml vegetable stock (with salt)

100g farro

1) In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add onion and cook over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes and then add garlic and carrot. Stir to combine, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes until onions turn translucent and lightly caramelized and the carrots soften a little bit. Stir occasionally.

2) Add farro and cook for a minute. Now start adding vegetable stock into it, one cup at a time. Stir occasionally. Repeat the process of adding stock as soon as the liquid gets absorbed. You might not need to use up all the stock - stop adding it as soon as the farro is cooked through. Cook for about 20 minutes until farro is soft and all the liquid is absorbed.

You could serve this with a little bit of Parmesan cheese on top.

Serves 1-2.

Recipe by collecting memories