From the category archives:

breakfast

Waffles with Mango and Honey

May 31, 2011

Waffles with Honey and Mangoes

I’ve had a waffle iron for a pretty long time. I bought it, determined that I’d make waffles at least once a week. Somehow, the iron got packed away into the loft, and I forgot all about it until a few weeks ago when we rearranged the space. I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning when I found it, and I immediately set out to make waffles based on Michel Roux’s recipe that I’ve used a few times, and always turns out just right: light, with the right amount of air pockets. Yes, air pockets are vital.

While my waffle iron is the home use kind, with a non stick coating, I’ve promised myself the one with cast iron plates that will give my waffles the superior golden glow and the perfect crunch once. Of course, they’re going to have deeper squares to hold that much more honey.

Here’s the key to the perfect texture: Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Add the beaten yolks to the batter. Then, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them in gently into the final batter using a spatula. This results in a fluffy, airy interior.

Also, it’s important that you don’t pour too much batter into your waffle maker. The amount you need varies from machine to machine, and you should plan to use your first waffle as a test specimen. Pour right in the centre till it spreads to the sides. Cook until golden and crisp.

The possibilities of playing with waffles are endless. For toppings you can have ice cream, coulis, flambéd fRuit, nuts, cinnamon sugar, seasonal fruits, whipped cream, banana manna (oh, yes), You can even tweak what you put into the batter: cornmeal, buckwheat, ground nuts. And then there are batter flavourings: lime zest, orange zest, vanilla pods, cinnamon.

Hot golden waffles, doused with lychee honey and topped with sliced mangoes, are my breakfast and mid night snack of choice this season. It’s like happiness in a bite. Sometimes, when I’m lazy to slice the mango (or looking for another excuse to eat another spoonful of Nutella), I fill the squares with Nutella (that’s what they’re really meant for, you know). Ooooh.

The recipe is from Eggs by Michael Roux (USA | UK | India)

Classic Waffles

Ingredients

160g / 5.5 oz all purpose flour
15g / 0.5 oz caster sugar
A pinch of salt
50g / 2 oz melted butter
2 eggs, seperated
270 ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, melted butter and egg yolks and about a third of the milk. Whisk until smooth, add in the remaining milk gradually. Stir in the vanilla. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the batter.
Lightly brush the waffle iron with butter, ladle the batter over it and close the lid. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes until the indicator goes off, or the waffles are as golden and crisp as you like.
Serve immediately with a drizzle of honey and sliced mangoes or your choice of topping.

{ 27 comments }

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

March 1, 2010

Last night I was craving some apple cinnamon muffins. The kind I had almost a year ago at a quaint little café in New York. It was loaded with Granny Smith apples and a whole lot of cinnamon. The gigantic muffin made for a perfect breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate. Going to bed with such sweet thoughts in my head, there was no way I’d be doing anything besides baking these when I woke up this morning.

The genius of muffins is that they can be thrown together in about 5 minutes, without the need of your hand or stand mixer. It’s especially perfect for those that are intimidated by the idea of baking or for those lazy mornings when you’d rather be curled up in bed with a cup of coffee.

For the recipe, I looked up Ratio (this is one book I wish I used more of!) and adapted the muffin recipe to include apple and cinnamon. I cut up the apples into chunks, leaving the skin on, just like the ones at the café. I also tossed the apples in some freshly ground cinnamon (nothing better than a Microplane to help you through this task – I sliced a layer of my skin as well, but that’s another story.)

And you know what the best part of the muffin is? The streusel topping. The crunchy, buttery topping amplifies the taste of the muffin and after eating this, I don’t think muffins should ever be made without the streusel topping. In fact, I’m going to increase the quantity of it the next time I make muffins.

Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Adapted from: Ratio, Michael Ruhlman
Yield: 12 muffins

For the streusel topping:
4 oz / 112g butter, softened
4 oz / 112g flour
2 oz / 55g caster sugar
2 oz / 55g soft brown sugar

For the muffins:

8 oz / 225g flour
4 oz / 112g brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
8 oz / 225g milk
2 eggs
4oz / 112g butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped into cubes
1 ½ tsp cinnamon, divided – 1 tsp for the batter and ½ to toss the apples with.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C.

For the streusel topping: In a food processor or by hand, mix together the ingredients for the streusel topping until it is evenly combined. Let it rest in the fridge while you prep the muffin batter.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients thoroughly: milk, eggs, butter and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold it in, until just incorporated.

Fold in the apples(tossed with ½ tsp cinnamon).

Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins.

Top it with the crumble mixture.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

{ 38 comments }

Mulberry Yoghurt

January 29, 2010

Of late, I’ve been eating fruit yoghurt every morning. This is one breakfast item I haven’t gotten bored of ever since I discovered the goodness that a berry + yoghurt mixture can yield. Fast forward to January ‘10, I still eat berries and yoghurt with the same gusto. Of course, sometimes I use regular yoghurt instead of making my own vanilla yoghurt. But hey, such shortcuts are allowed in the mornings where all you want to do it satiate that grumbling tummy.

I like my fruit yoghurt to be really fruity – definitely not the kind that just leaves you with a hint of the flavour and you’re forever guessing what that fruit might be. Today I made myself mulberry yoghurt for the first time. And you know what made me so happy about it? It turned a much deeper shade of purple after sitting in the refrigerator for a few hours!

I loved how thick and creamy the yoghurt was – sweet and slightly tart from the berries. I can eat a huge bowlful of it and be a happy, happy woman for the rest of the day. You know the best way to maintain the thickness of the yoghurt? Blend the fruits and stir the yoghurt separately. You might feel lazy to use up more dishes – but this is absolutely critical to achieve that unctuous texture. Once that’s done, just stir in the fruit puree into the yoghurt and that’s it! Deliciousness awaits you!

Mulberry Yoghurt

150g mulberries

400g plain yoghurt
4 tbsp sugar or honey (if you’d like it healthier)

4 tbsp caster sugar (more or less, depending on how sweet your berries are)

You can either blend the mulberries with an immersion blender or roughly squish them up with a fork for some added texture. Add the sugar as well.
Stir the yoghurt in a bowl until it loosens up to yield a uniform consistency.
Now pour the fruit pulp/puree into the yoghurt and stir together until evenly blended.

{ 22 comments }

Buckwheat Pancakes (Blinis)

August 20, 2009

You know what’s the best part of being a food blogger? You meet so many like-minded people. It’s only with them that you can whine about not finding cacao nibs where you live, or figure out why you’re having a bad photo day, or wonder why your yeast isn’t bubbling up already. A place that is especially good for such rants is Twitter.

One such day I tweeted about my curiosity about buckwheat because it’s really hard for me to find it here. In response to that, I had a package waiting for me at home with the aforementioned buckwheat and basil seeds and saplings (again, she heard me cry about how my plant almost died when I went to Goa). Who is this kind person, you’re thinking? It’s vindee from Passionate about Baking!

As soon as I got my hands on the package I made sure I put the precious little saplings in the soil and scattered some seeds in another pot as I thought about what I’d make with some “exotic” buckwheat. Just as I was looking through The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters a recipe for buckwheat pancakes stared at me in my face. I’ve never made yeast pancakes before so this would be fun, I thought. But what I was more excited about was that this needs to be made with egg whites folded in; and this is a pancake making method I’ve been meaning to try for a while.

I absolutely loved how fluffy the pancakes turned out to be with the folded egg whites. I’m going to do this for my pancakes henceforth. Also, it’s best to keep the batter ready a day before so that these can be made without any fuss the next morning doused in butter and your favourite jam.

Buckwheat Pancake with Peach and Cherry Jam + Oodles of butter

Buckwheat Pancakes (Blinis)
Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from: The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

12 tbsp milk
¾ tsp dry yeast
50g buckwheat flour
50g all purpose flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Peach and Cherry Jam + Butter to serve

In a small bowl mix together the yeast and milk. If you are confident of your yeast, you don’t need to wait. But if you’re like me, and are only satisfied when you see the yeast bubble up with your own eyes, then wait and watch. Next, mix this up with the two egg yolks.
In a large bowl stir together 25g buckwheat flour, 25g all purpose flour and sugar. Stir in the wet ingredients until well mixed. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. (This is called a sponge).
Now add the remaining buckwheat and all purpose flour along with the 6 tablespoons of milk to the sponge. Mix well. Let this rise for another hour.(You can let it rise for 4-5 hours at a cool room temperature). Stir in the vanilla extract.
When you want to fry the blinis, whisk the egg white until soft peaks are formed. Fold this into the batter until well incorporated.
Drop the batter by the spoonful on a lightly buttered griddle and let it cook until the corners start drying up. Flip over and cook for another minute or two.
Serve warm with a good knob of butter and your favourite jam.

—

Super Selector

{ 17 comments }

The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry + Banana Nutella Crepes

July 1, 2009

I can’t remember how I heard about The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry first; I think I bumped into on Amazon where it was listed as one of the books customers bought along with the one I was looking at. When I found out that this story has Le Cordon Bleu as the main focus, I was overjoyed! I ordered a copy immediately.

The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry is a lovely memoir of Kathleen Flinn who pursued her long standing dream of studying at the world’s finest culinary school. Once her job let go off her, her boyfriend encouraged her to follow to go to Paris and said, “Do you want to be on your deathbed, wondering why you never went?” 24 days later, she was at Le Cordon Bleu.

The book chronicles her way though cooking school with a little bit of life thrown in (though I would have loved to read more about what goes on in the kitchen). Through the book you will have gone to Paris and back.

Inspiring, riveting and emotional – I couldn’t keep the book down (even while climbing the stairs to my office!) I loved it so much – I want to give a new copy of this book to one of you!

There are a whole bunch of recipes in this book, but French haute cuisine is not for me (just yet ). However, I did make the Banana and Nutella Crepes from this book.

Banana and Nutella Crepes
Yield: 8 crepes
Recipe source: The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry

For the crepe batter
¾ cup / 80g all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup / 250 ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 tbsp butter, melted

Filling for the crepe:
Thinly sliced bananas
Nutella (the proportion of this can never be defined – dollop them on the crepes to your hearts content.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl, making a well in the centre.
In a Pyrex jug or another bowl, mix together the milk and the vanilla.
Add a third of the milk mixture and the eggs to the well, slowly incorporating in the flour.
Whisk in the remaining milk and melted butter.
Allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
Heat a non-stick pan on a low-medium heat and dab or brush it with a little butter. (However, if yours is a newer non-stick it will be fine so you don’t worry about it sticking to it too much.)
Scoop about ¼ of the batter and pour it on the heated pan, making sure it is not too hot.
Tilt the pan to evenly cover with the batter.
The crepe is ready to flip once the edges are slightly browned. Stack them up.
Now with each crepe, spread some Nutella on it and line with slice bananas. Have it the no-fuss way by rolling it up or simply fold it over like an omlette and serve. YUM!

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{ 80 comments }

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