Buttermilk Pancakes

One of my favorite things about holidays and having guests over is that I get to eat things for breakfast I normally wouldn't eat because I don't usually take the time to make something elaborate. On Good Friday I decided to make buttermilk pancakes from Denis Cotter's brilliant new cookbook "for the love of food." They didn't quite turn out as aesthetically pleasing as the ones we had at his restaurant Cafe Paradiso last summer (this was probably due to my frying pan and not having the temperature of my stove under total control). Nonetheless they were delicious and very easy to make, and have definitely made my list of favorite recipes. Can't wait to try another recipe from this lovely new cookbook. 

for 4-6

260g/9 1/2 oz plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

2 1/2 tbsp caster sugar 

1/2 tsp salt

450ml/16 fl oz buttermilk

4 tbsp sunflower oil

2 eggs, separated

clarified butter, for cooking (I used regular butter)

to serve

fresh fruit

honey (I prefer maple syrup!)

lightly whipped double cream

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and salt together into a large bowl. In another bowl, stir together the buttermilk, oil and egg yolks. Stir this liquid into the dry ingredients, without mixing too much. 

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold them into the batter. 

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush it with clarified butter and add separate tablespoonfuls of the batter to the pan. Fry the pancakes until lightly colored, then flip them over to cook the other side until they become light and fluffy. The pancakes can be served immediately or kept warm in an oven at low heat. 

Serve 2 or 3 pancakes per portion, with fruit, honey and lightly whipped cream. 

Apple Berry Crumble

What better way to spend a Sunday than making a crumble? I had some apples and frozen berries that I wanted to use up so I tried my first recipe from Cooking with Apples and Pears by Laura Washburn. I made a slightly different version as I had some slivered almonds I wanted to use up and instead of the fresh blackberries I used frozen mixed berries. It turned out really well and due to the slivered almonds the topping was a little crunchy, which I really liked. 

4-6 servings

900g apples, peeled, cored, cut into small pieces

450g blackberries

50g sugar

For the crumble

80g oats

140g flour

80g light brown sugar

80 g ground almonds

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

150g butter, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 200°C (390° F).

Mix the apples, berries and sugar in a bowl and put this mixture into a buttered baking pan.

For the crumble mix oats, flour, sugar, almonds and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter and rub into mixture until you get coarse crumble. Top the fruit with the crumble and bake 35-40  minutes until the crumble turns golden brown and the fruit bubbly. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream made with vanilla extract and powdered sugar. 

Delicious Delights in Paris

Now I know where you can get the best hot chocolate in Paris (and that's after only trying one hot chocolate in Paris so you know I'm an expert!). It can be found at Angelina. I'd read about the café in several guide books before my last trip to Paris but we had so many other chocolate shops and patisseries on our list last time that we couldn't possibly cover them all. So when my friend and I went to Paris last weekend I made a point to go there. We went for breakfast and both decided to get the Pétit Dejeuner Parisien (Parisian Breakfast). Included was a fresh-pressed juice-orange, grapefruit or lemon (who orders that?)-, a hot drink of choice (DEFINITELY go for the hot chocolate), mini viennoiserie (mini pastries) - pain au chocolat, croissant and pain aux raisins- and a roll served with butter, honey and jam. Everything was very good and the hot chocolate (which comes in a 2-cup pitcher) was thick and chocolatey. The unsweetened whipped cream, which was whipped to perfection, made it even more heavenly. Good thing they serve it on the side so you can keep adding more with every sip instead of it melting right away and leaving none for the last sips. Since the breakfast was quite expensive I'd recommend just getting a regular sized croissant or other pastry to go with the hot chocolate.  Next time I visit the café I just have to try one of their beautiful pastries.

On the first day of our trip I needed (yes, NEEded) a coffee and a sweet and we ended up at Jean-Paul Hévin, where we had only briefly stopped by to get some pastries -to-go during my last visit. This time we took a seat in the upstairs café, which was cute and cozy due to the chocolate colored interior. I had the Chocolat passion, a cake layered with chocolate sponge, chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache. It was very tasty although it could have been a tad fresher. My beverage of choice was the Viennese coffee as it came with whipped cream, which is currently my must-have accessory. 

This trip I also revisited Pierre Hermé and La Maison du Chocolat where I got some goodies to go: macarons at Pierre Hermé and chocolate at Maison du Chocolat. So far my favorite macaron is still the chocolate one with salted caramel following closely. This time I tried mint, but the flavor doesn't go along that well with the almond flavor of the macaron shells. At Maison du Chocolat I tried a couple different chocolates-Andalousie (dark chocolate ganache infused with lemon zest), Chiberta (dark chocolate mousse with orange and lemon zest), Yoko (dark chocolate ganache infused with Russian Douchka black tea) and Rigoletto Noir (caramelized mousse coated with dark chocolate). All were very good. 

Another place I finally visited was A la Mère de Famille, a shop carrying chocolates and candies. There I bought some goodies to take home. It's definitely well worth the visit.