Saturday, May 16, 2009

Cinnamon Bun Ebelskivers

I broke down and bought the Ebelskiver pan from Williams-Sonoma because these just looked so fun and delicious. We brought them out post-community garage sale and the neighbor kids gobbled them up. I know you girls have limited kitchen space but these are as fun and tasty as they looked--so go get the pan!
A few notes: I would recommend halving the recipes for the filling and icing. They are both pretty sweet and we found that a little went a LONG way. I did not get a chance to take pictures but you can sneak a peak here. The recipe is on the Williams-Sonoma site and is a little more labor intensive than I bargained for, not difficult but there were a lot of steps. I tried to reduce some of the calories by using fat free milk and reduced fat cream cheese with good results.

Ingredients:

For the cinnamon filling:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes,
at room temperature

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 to 4 Tbs. milk

For the pancakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. granulated sugar

4 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking

Directions:

To make the cinnamon filling, in a bowl, still together the granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and, using the back of a spoon, mash the butter into the flour mixture until all of it is absorbed into the butter, forming a paste. Set the cinnamon filling aside.

To make the cream cheese frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, reduce the speed to low and beat until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add 3 Tbs. of the milk and beat until combined, about 1 minute. The frosting should be thick but still pourable; add more milk if needed to thin it. Transfer the frosting to a small bowl; set aside.

To make the pancakes, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 Tbs. melted butter. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/8 tsp. melted butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well. Spoon 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon filling into the center of each pancake and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Using 2 skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the pancakes to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling.

Drizzle the pancakes with the frosting and serve immediately. Makes 35 to 40.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Quinoa...Where Have You Been All My Life?!

Probably hiding in Co-Ops and Health Food Stores...

In any case, I had my first quinoa salad today and it was SO SO excelent and not that unhealthy to boot. I liked it because it didn't taste so much like yucky grain but had a really neat texture without being too aggressively healthy. You know that health food that you eat and it just TASTES like health food and its totally unsatisfying...yeah, that was not it. Anyway, I was inspired to try and find a recipe and I think I will try this bad boy on for size.

Maybe its just a pregnancy fad and by the time I make this I will hate it again. True story.