Pancakes for Breakfast

I am not usually one for breakfasts, but every now and again, on a lazy Sunday I get the undeniable urge for a big breakfast. On this particular Sunday, I decided that I NEEDED pancakes. Being out of practice of making pancakes I forgot how easy it is. I used up what was left of my sour cream and made these delicious, not-too-sugary pancakes (which I then smothered in maple syrup to fulfill my sugar needs). 

This recipe is courtesy of Gourmet Magazine and can be found here.

Strawberry & Cream Cake

Contrary to popular belief, I often shy away from dishes that use an immense amount of butter, sugar, or eggs, but this last weekend our friend was in town staying with us, so I justified using an enormous number of egg yolks (see below) by saying to myself that I would really only indulge in a fraction of them as our guest would be eating most of the cake . . . . He had one slice, and then had to hurry back to LA. Needless to say, I have since consumed a disgusting amount of cake, and not regretted any of it.

I love strawberries, but I am a bit of a strawberry snob, and love the farmer's market strawberries that make it up here for about two weeks, which come from Camarillo and are small and intensely strawberry-tasting . . . mmm. Since strawberry season is here, I am eating them in all different forms, as often as possible (plain by the box, with a sauce of sour cream and brown sugar, shortcakes and now this cake). I found this recipe from an old Gourmet magazine, but I wasn't in the mood for the spicy cardamom taste so I tweaked it a bit and made mine a little more lemony instead. I would say it was good and goes down easy, but, in all honesty, I could have skipped the cake and been perfectly content eating a bowl of the cream filling with strawberries.

Savory Spring Tart

I get really into my hearty winter food when the season is upon us but nothing beats Spring/Summer produce. It is my absolute favorite - salads with fresh tomatoes, grilling, english peas, rhubarb - I love it all. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to use all of the spring ingredients that I bought with abandon. I decided to make a savory tart and just throw everything in and surround it with some egg and cheese - what's not to love?

My recipe was inspired by this tart from Aran on Cannelle et Vanille - I of course made it slightly less healthy and added in some gluten. Please find the 'best-ever' pie crust recipe below.

A Spring-y Break Conclusion - Cinnamon Bun Bites

I will preface this by saying this was definitely not my most successful recipe to date - that being said I made it for Easter, I spent a lot of time on it, I don't have a refrigerator right now, it came out quite pretty, I over-baked it, and I don't want to talk about it. 

This recipe had all the right ingredients to be delicious - namely loads of butter and sugar, unfortunately I left it in the oven a wee bit too long (and/or over -worked the dough) and it came out a bit dry BUT I believe that with a few tweaks and some finesse it would be delicious, so I am reproducing it here so if you want to try it you can let me know if you are more successful than I.

A ridiculous amount of butter.

please mentally remove the 'e' from smooth

And Good Pesach!

Basil-Citrus Shortbread Cookies

I am a shortbread lover, but I have two problems with it: 1. I can never bring myself to use a pound of butter in one recipe 2. I think due to issue #1, my shortbread, in the past, has not tasted as delicious as others'. In an attempt to make myself feel better I made a shortbread recipe that called for only 1 cup butter (but it only makes about 15 cookies - don't do the math).

I was a little wary of the basil in my cookies - I think oftentimes herbs in cookies end up making you feel like you are munching on a hotel-sized bar of soap - but these were very nice. The basil was mild but provided a nice complement to the tartness of the lemon and lime. They also did not last long which is generally a good indication.