I love breakfast food. I could (and often do) find myself craving something designated "for breakfast" throughout the entire day. I like to think that it's a twisted form of the Russian within me. I've heard that in Russia, there's no actual designated "breakfast foods" (this is where the twisted form of Russian comes in); rather, they just eat whatever they want, essentially. It's interesting to see how different breakfast can be cross-culturally, and I think it's refreshing to see a culture that acknowledges the arbitrary nature of time-specific recipes. Just as they might have, I don't know, beet salad and vodka for breakfast (I may be way off here, but you get the gist - they aren't eating cereal simply because it's morning and that's what you do), I find myself wanting to have pancakes for dinner and cereal for lunch. It's fun to turn food conventionality on its head sometimes. Kind of like eating dessert first, but that's a whole other topic...
Because of all of this, every so often I plan breakfast for dinner. A little while back, I did this with pancakes. Now, I don't know about you, but I was raised an Aunt Jemima girl. Those pancakes are tres bien, and as they are among the few processed, packaged mixes of any kind of food that I can still eat, it somewhat pains me to leave Aunt Jemima behind in search of my own, from-scratch version. But, being that I can't leave things well alone, search I do. This journey becomes increasingly disheartening each and every time I try a recipe and discover that it, well....sucks. I am becoming ever more frightened that I am incapable of making a from-scratch pancake as good as dear old Aunt Jemima.
These pancakes are not bad. They don't burn or have any kind of off flavors. They do taste like pancakes, and they turn a relatively acceptable color. The problem that I have with them is that they are quite literally, as flat as a pancake. And I like my pancakes very un-pancake like in that regard: fluff is key. I like restaurant pancakes that come out as big as your plate and as thick as, well, a thick and fluffy pancake. Maybe I did something incorrectly and this recipe isn't supposed to yield surprisingly thin pancakes, but I have too many pancake recipes to try to give any one of them a second chance. One strike, you're out, and I move on, determined to find my Aunt Jemima equivalent.
Because I didn't approve of the pancakes, and because I didn't change a darn thing about the recipe (to my knowledge), I'm just going to direct you to 2 Make Ends Meet, where you can find the original post. It's entirely possible that I did something careless, since her pictures look adequately fluffy, and it's also entirely possible that there are readers out there who would really enjoy a thinner pancake. They did have a nice flavor to them. So, don't be discouraged by what this jaded pancake critic has to say, at least not without checking it out yourself.
Still, the fruit and yogurt puree I threw together with it was pretty good, if not a little pungent from an accidental overload on the extracts I used. I will definitely use greek yogurt next time to thicken it a little, but overall, it was very nice.
Because of all of this, every so often I plan breakfast for dinner. A little while back, I did this with pancakes. Now, I don't know about you, but I was raised an Aunt Jemima girl. Those pancakes are tres bien, and as they are among the few processed, packaged mixes of any kind of food that I can still eat, it somewhat pains me to leave Aunt Jemima behind in search of my own, from-scratch version. But, being that I can't leave things well alone, search I do. This journey becomes increasingly disheartening each and every time I try a recipe and discover that it, well....sucks. I am becoming ever more frightened that I am incapable of making a from-scratch pancake as good as dear old Aunt Jemima.
These pancakes are not bad. They don't burn or have any kind of off flavors. They do taste like pancakes, and they turn a relatively acceptable color. The problem that I have with them is that they are quite literally, as flat as a pancake. And I like my pancakes very un-pancake like in that regard: fluff is key. I like restaurant pancakes that come out as big as your plate and as thick as, well, a thick and fluffy pancake. Maybe I did something incorrectly and this recipe isn't supposed to yield surprisingly thin pancakes, but I have too many pancake recipes to try to give any one of them a second chance. One strike, you're out, and I move on, determined to find my Aunt Jemima equivalent.
Because I didn't approve of the pancakes, and because I didn't change a darn thing about the recipe (to my knowledge), I'm just going to direct you to 2 Make Ends Meet, where you can find the original post. It's entirely possible that I did something careless, since her pictures look adequately fluffy, and it's also entirely possible that there are readers out there who would really enjoy a thinner pancake. They did have a nice flavor to them. So, don't be discouraged by what this jaded pancake critic has to say, at least not without checking it out yourself.
Still, the fruit and yogurt puree I threw together with it was pretty good, if not a little pungent from an accidental overload on the extracts I used. I will definitely use greek yogurt next time to thicken it a little, but overall, it was very nice.
Yogurt & Fruit Puree Topping
The Ingredients
1 cup frozen fruit (I used a tropical mix), thawed
6 ounces plain or vanilla greek yogurt
splash extract (I used rum-flavored)
6 ounces plain or vanilla greek yogurt
splash extract (I used rum-flavored)
The Method
Once the fruit has thawed, puree it to your desired consistency. You may reserve several pieces for garnishing at the end. Combine the puree in a small bowl with the yogurt and stir to combine. Mix in the extract or any other desired flavorings, and serve alongside any reserved fruit.
Notes:
*For pancakes as thin as the ones that I made, you don't need a lot of the yogurt mixture for topping in order to achieve the right pancake:topping ratio. I only used a small portion of the puree when I ate my pancakes, (really, no more than 2 tablespoons should be fine) and had a lot leftover. However, if you're using it with something more substantial (like a thick waffle) or you'd like to enjoy it as more of a stand-alone with some granola or cake or something, it won't yield quite so many servings.
*For pancakes as thin as the ones that I made, you don't need a lot of the yogurt mixture for topping in order to achieve the right pancake:topping ratio. I only used a small portion of the puree when I ate my pancakes, (really, no more than 2 tablespoons should be fine) and had a lot leftover. However, if you're using it with something more substantial (like a thick waffle) or you'd like to enjoy it as more of a stand-alone with some granola or cake or something, it won't yield quite so many servings.
Sometimes I wonder if I should bother writing about recipe flops here. I know most food blogs, especially the really "successful" ones, only share successes because, really, how many people come here to find a recipe that isn't endorsed by the person who made it? But I'm not a professional, or even really good at this cooking (or blogging!) thing yet, and I think my flops are a key component to my learning process. So, it isn't that I'm trying to lure you in with a delicious-sounding recipe only to tell you two paragraphs later that I hated it; I just like to keep tabs on the things I've made. This blog does more than share my journey with other people and hopefully inspire some readers to make some of these recipes on their own - it's about keeping a record of what I make so that I can notice trends in things that work or don't work, and really improve myself as a cook.
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