Apple pie pancakes and OXO pancake kit review

I have a love hate relationship with apples. I mean I love apple pie and apple turnover and apple cakes and stuff, but biting into an apple as a snack or so is not preferred. That said, if I'm given a slice or two, I'd eat it without complaint. Ro has taken a liking towards apples (????!!!) and we now have apples lying around all the time. He will soon get over it, I know! ...its like his pear phase, or green tea phase. But till then, I have to play along. 

I guess a whole lot of you know about Shrove Tuesday or Pancake day as its more commonly referred to as? It was on the 12th of Feb and I was sent the OXO pancake kit to review. Due to busy schedules, I could not post it on the day or after the day or even a week after, but finally got around to doing it today. Almost a month later, but better late than never right?

Anyways, talking about OXO. Its one of my favourite brands and I have quite a few OXO products in my kitchen. The pancake kit which comprises of a batter bowl, whisk and pancake turner is a welcome addition to my already existing collection. I have had terrible luck with whisks, it breaks on me or is too flimsy to do its job properly and just when I was ready to give up, the OXO Good Grips Balloon Whisk makes its appearance. Its so sturdy that I can whisk the hell out of a batter or sauce and it doesn't give up. Heck, I even whisked cream to stiff peaks using the whisk. The silicone flexible pancake turner is another fabulous piece. The size makes flipping pancakes a treat and since I don't make pancakes that often, I have been using it for omelettes and rotis and anything that needs to be flipped (pun intended). The batter bowl looks different from all the mixing bowls I own, and has a handle which I thought was a fabulous addition. Its so much more easy to handle a bowl when you can hold it properly, trust me! It has a beak which makes pouring out batter easy as well. Although I must admit, I tried to pour out the pancake batter on to the pan and it was a bit of a disaster. But that could also be because I am, in general, clumsy.

I decided to put the pancake kit to full use by making apple pie pancakes. Its a wee bit time consuming, especially if you don't have apple sauce ready but it tastes fab nonetheless. I doubt this would make it to a breakfast table, but certainly for brunch if you ask me. The apple sauce makes the pancakes super moist and well, apple-like and the cinnamon is what takes it to a whole different level. Try these for your next brunch session and your husband, kids, boyfriend, parents... would thank you :)

Recipe adapted from here (serves 2 to 3)

 

Plain flour- 2 cups

Sugar- 1/4 cup

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon powder- 2 tsp

Grated nutmeg- 1/4 tsp

Buttermilk- 2 cups

Apple sauce- 1/4 cup (recipe follows)

Eggs- 2, medium

Milk- 1/4 cup (give or take a tsp or so)

Apple sauce (recipe adapted from here)

Apples- 2 medium, peeled, cored and cut into cubes

Cinnamon- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp

Water- 2 to 3 tbsp

Topping

Apples- 2 small, peeled, cored and sliced into thin wedges

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp

Butter- 1/2 tbsp

Maple syrup- to drizzle

In a sauce pan mix together all the ingredients for the apple sauce.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes, or till the apples become soft and of mashable consistency.

Keep aside to cool a bit and then blend to a purée using an immersion blender or food processor.

For the topping, melt the butter and sugar in a sauce pan.

Add the apples to the mix and toss around, making sure its all well coated.

Cook till you see bubbles around the edges.

Don't over cook the apples, they should still be a bit crunchy.

When done, take off heat and keep aside.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients (from the pancake section), basically the first 7 ingredients, in the batter bowl.

In another bowl mix the buttermilk, apple sauce and eggs till just combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk till the batter comes together. Make sure there are no lumps of flour. It wont be a smooth batter, though.

Add milk bit by bit just until you get that pourable consistency, making sure you don't over whisk the batter.

Heat a frying pan and when hot pour a ladle full of batter on to the pan.

Wait for small bubbles to appear on top and when they just start popping (in around 2 to 3 mins), you are ready to flip.

Cook for a further 2 minutes or so and then take it off the heat.

Continue till all of the batter is used up.

If you are not having them immediately, don't stack them up, instead, place them side by side on baking paper. 

When ready to serve, gently warm them up in a preheated oven (at 90C) for around 15 to 20 minutes.

To assemble, stack two to three pancakes on top of each other and add a layer of the apple topping and a generous drizzle of maple syrup.  

Continue till your pancakes are all used up, but make sure the top most layer is apple.

Give a dusting of powdered sugar or even cinnamon and you are good to go.

Notes: You can also use a potato masher to mash the apple sauce, but i feel small chunks would remain, which of course is not an issue.

Add chunks of apples to the batter if you prefer that instead of the apple sauce.

I love cinnamon, but if its not your thing then reduce the quantity used.

You can do the same with any firm fruit of choice- nectarines, pears, apricots etc.

With thanks to OXO for sending me the pancake kit to review.

Reposting a few entries

Sorry peeps I have nothing new or impressive to post today, so I am reposting a few entries for an event id like to take part in.

Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes is hosting a Pancake Event and I just about made it. The deadline is tomorrow. So here goes:

My decadent (if I may say so myself) Wholemeal Buttermilk Pancakes with a Berry Compotewhich id like to say is pretty healthy and is a common brunch item on a Saturday morn.

The Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes which are easy and taste just as nice and a perfect lazy day snack.

Oh and one more thing, the next season of Britain's Best Dish is starting soon, and the producer got in touch with me asking if i was interested in taking part. For those of you who are not too familiar with the show...it is hosted by ITV and is a competition for amateur cooks and they look for the best starter, main course and dessert. The winner gets 10,000 pounds(nice eh?). They are holding their regional auditions in May and if any one's interested, do put in a comment and il pass on details. I'm definitely an amateur cook, but I realised I can cook only for Ro and not anyone else....leave alone on TV! I go into panic mode if I have guests over and obviously Ro takes over then ;) So I'm gonna pass.

Have a fab weekend!

Brunch Specials

I have decided to go a little light on the cooking bit and do some healthy stuff for a while, because all the baking and the fancy food is beginning to show on me, especially around the hips. As it is i am lazy to cook and click and type it out, so imagine how its gonna be now? Worse? I am not going to abscond, but I'm gonna limit my baking to once a week and include loads of veggies and fruits to our diet. I am opening the blog out to anyone who wants to chip in a few recipes of their own, so the blog doesn't come to a stand still. So please do send me a recipe with a pic and il put it up, and its just not the bloggers I'm talking about..I know so many friends of mine who are awesome cooks and i might have to push them a bit to send in stuff, but i am gonna do that. For now here's a brunch special which is almost a week old. I whipped it up last Saturday when we had a friend staying over and Ro and W agreed to help me with it and so it wasn't really a big deal at all. I completely bossed over them and got most of the work done...cheeky me huh?

Wholemeal Buttermilk Pancakes with a Berry Compote

For the pancake:

Wholemeal flour- 1 cup

Brown Sugar- 1/4 cup

Baking Powder- 3/4 tsp

Baking Soda- /4 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Egg- 1

Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp

Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

Mix together all the dry ingredients (first 5) in a bowl.

In another bowl whisk the eggs and mix the buttermilk, vanilla and oil till well incorporated.

Add this to the dry ingredients and stir well. Its ok if the pancake batter is a bit lumpy. Keep aside for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and pour in a ladle full and cook till you see bubbles appearing on top. Carefully flip over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Berry Compote (adapted from the Low Gi-Diet Cookbook):

Mixed berries- 200 gms (i used blueberries and raspberries)

Brown sugar- 1 tbsp

Honey/ maple syrup- enough to drizzle

Put the berries in a saucepan and gently heat until they are warm and have softened. Add the brown sugar and give it on for a little longer, just to get the sugar melted.

Stack the pancakes and serve topped with the warm berries and a few drizzles of honey or maple syrup or even whipped cream :)

Notes: Pancakes are horrible once cold. So try serving them as and when its done.

The berry compote may be a bit tangy, but since you are serving with honey or syrup over pancake, it should be fine.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes on the vine- 250gms

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)- 2 tsp

Salt and pepper- for seasoning

Balsamic vinegar- 1 tsp (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C and place the tomatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Drizzle with vingar (if using) and EVOO generously and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or till the tomatoes are soft.

Sausage Veggie Bake

Onion- 1, thinly sliced

Garlic- 3 pods, mashed

Broccoli- 1/2 cup

Cauliflower- 1/2 cup

Carrots- 1/4 cup

Spinach- 1 cup

Sausages- 1 cup, chopped into in inch pieces

Salt and pepper- to season

Extra Mature Cheddar Cheese- 1/2 cup (grated)

Oil- 1 tbsp

Colman's Cheddar Cheese Sauce- 1 sachet

Milk- 350ml

Blanch the cauliflower and broccoli florets. Keep aside.

Clean the spinach leaves, drain and transfer them to a bowl and close with a lid. Cook in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Drain off the water and keep aside.

Cook the sausages in some oil. Drain on kitchen towels. Keep aside

Heat the oil in a frying pan and throw in the onions and garlic. Cook till transparent and fragrant. Add the broc, cauli, carrot and spinach, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook till done. Just before you take it off the fire, add the cooked sausages and give a final stir.

Transfer into an oven proof casserole dish.

Make the Colman's cheese sauce as per instructions. Boil the milk and add the contents of the sachet and stir till you get a lump-free mix. I went ahead and added some cheddar cheese as well.

Pour the cheese mix over the veggies in the casserole dish, sprinkle the rest of the Cheddar cheese and bake in a pre-heated oven (170C) for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with garlic bread or on its own. It is very creamy and i wouldn't say its healthy healthy, but i feel a whole lot better at having all these veggies :)

Here are a few bakes i have tried: Wonders with leftovers, Fish Bake' Pie, Tuna and Pasta Bake, Fennel and Spinach Gratin

Notes: You can basically add any veggie of your choice...beans, mushrooms, potatoes, leek etc and go fully vegetarian or add chicken, mince meat, bacon etc. and make a whole non-veg meal out of it too. If you add pasta to the above recipe, it can be a whole meal on its own.

You can make your own cheese sauce/ white sauce. The recipe can be found here.