Buttermilk Syrup

 This past Sunday I had the chance to host my family for Sunday breakfast. Our weekend breakfast tradition is generally waffles, but I decided to go out on a limb this time and try something new. My fabulous friend Sherry has this amazing buttermilk syrup recipe that I just had to share with my family. I knew they would love it, and love it they did. They couldn’t get enough of it. It’s a cinch to make and is so much better than anything bottled you can get.

photo credit: williams-sonoma

I served the syrup over aebleskivers, (or ebelskivers) which are a cute, little, sphere shaped Danish pancakes. I must admit that I didn’t make these. It not because I didn’t want to, but more because I didn’t have the right equipment. I don’t one of these (see above) special aebleskiever making pans. I see them in the Williams-Sonoma catalog and have wanted to try them for quite some time. Alas, this was not that time. So, taking yet another idea from fabulous Sherry, I headed over to Trader Joe’s and picked up a bag of, dare I say, frozen aebleskievers. Frozen or not, these babies were delicious! The best part is you can cook a ton in the oven at the same time, about ten minutes total, and they don’t get cold waiting for the others to cook. Just sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with this buttermilk syrup and you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven. If you’d like to make your own, get your self a pan, and then check out the variety of recipes Willams-Sonoma has for making aebleskievers. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube butter
1/2 cup buttermilk (low or reduced fat works also)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Bring above ingredients to a boil and make sure sugar is dissolved.

Add 1/2 tsp baking soda and continue stirring.
(Adding baking soda will double the amount of syrup by foaming and might spill over onto the stove. Use a pan is that double the size you think you would need to avoid a mess!)

Left overs will keep in fridge for a couple weeks.

Apple Cream Cheese Danish

Christmas morning is usually the big pastry holiday in our house, but this Thanksgiving I decided to make my own pastry. Last year my mom made too big of a breakfast and a lot of us remember not being as hungry for the main feast as we would have liked. I came across this blog post on Annies Eats and I knew it was time for me to try my first pastry. She adapted the recipe from Baking Illustrated and her step by step instructions make it look really easy. But it doesn't only look easy, it really was easy! It does take a while though, I started it the day before, but I repeat, it is easy. To make the dough you have to fold, and turn, and kneed in butter, and refrigerate and do it all over again a few times. So it does take some advanced planning, like I said, I did it the day before I wanted to cook it. But all that time is so worth it. This was delicious. I made two. Well actually I made one and Garrett made one. But that still wasn't enough to feed our big breakfast crew. The cream cheese was a great addition to the apple filling, but I did make part of it with just apples. Our favorite Christmas pastry is pineapple cream cheese, and I can't wait to make this again and try that and other fillings. I'm posting my pictures below of how to assemble the danish after the dough is made, but visit Annie's site for great step by step instructions for the whole process.

Apple Cream Cheese Danish

Easy Sticky Buns

Every year on my younger sister Brittany's birthday I surprise her with a birthday breakfast baked good. Something like cinnamon rolls, or blueberry muffins. This year I thought I'd use her birthday as an excuse to try out a Barefoot Contessa recipe I've had printed out forever. (Plus I'm going to her book signing on Friday at South Coast Plaza on Friday, so I thought I'd brush up on her stuff! I am so excited, but more on that Friday.)

The recipe I tried was for sticky buns that I thought looked like a quick and easy way to make cinnamon rolls using puff pastry. This was my first time working with puff pastry and I must say I'm a huge fan. That stuff is amazing. I actually tried to make this recipe a few months ago, but when I got home from the store I had bought phyllo dough instead of puff pastry, needless to say I didn't make the recipe. I loved the texture of the sticky buns. They aren't as doughy as a cinnamon roll, more like a pastry, makes sense, right? They have the same ooey gooey center as a cinnamon roll, made with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. These took all of about ten minutes to prepare and taste best warm. The brown sugar turns into a hard caramel when they cool, but still a tasty treat. I had a few the next morning and they were just a good cold! I made some with nuts and some with out. I preferred the ones with nuts. I used walnuts instead of pecans, like the recipe calls for, and I omitted the raisins. While I do love natures candy, I don't enjoy them in my cinnamon rolls!

All in all I think the birthday girl was pleased with her breakfast goodies. And I know she enjoyed her cake, same one as last year!

Easy Sticky Buns Recipe

Pumpkin Waffles

This time of year Sunday waffles turn into pumpkin waffles. Last week I fed the whole family Sunday pumpkin waffles, such a good breakfast. Brian and my sister, Mikken, request these the most, and I am always happy to whip up a batch. (When I'm not using the mix from Williams Sonoma.) A couple of years ago I went searching for a pumpkin waffle recipe and found this one on the Better Homes and Garden recipe. I think I tried out a few others I found, but ended up liking this one the rest, and the family agrees it's a keeper. I'm sure glad I printed this recipe out because I haven't been able to find it online lately. Using my new print friendly button you should be able to print it out no problem. These should definitely make an appearance on your next breakfast table.



Pumpkin Waffles
Makes: 16 (4 inch) waffles
Cook: per waffle iron directions

Ingredients
2 Cups flour (can use whole wheat)
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon ground ginger
1 3/4 Cup milk
1 Cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs -separated
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 Teaspoon orange peel (optional - I don't use it)

Directions:
1.In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger; set aside

2. In a medium bowl, combine milk, pumpkin, egg yolks, butter and orange peel, if using. Add pumpkin mixture all at once to flour mixture; stir just until combined (batter should be lumpy).

3. In small bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Gently fold beaten egg whites into pumpkin mixture, leaving a few puffs of egg white.

4. Heat a lightly greased waffle iron, pour batter onto iron and bake according to manufacturer's directions.

Nutrition Info: (if you like this kind of stuff)
Per 1 4- inch waffle: Calories 225, Total Fat (g) 6, Saturated Fat (g) 3, Cholesterol (mg) 66, Sodium (mg) 436.

Pancake Soufflé (The Puffy Pancakes)

The other Sunday when Brian and I were making up our second batch of Spiced Pecan Waffles my brothers Garrett and Jeff were having breakfast with us. Garrett likes to cook too and he had seen a pancake soufflé made on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and decided to whip one up. Gar likes to call it the puffy pancake because it's basically pancake batter with whipped egg whites. He took a basic pancake batter recipe, and added a few extras like vanilla and nutmeg, plus the beaten egg whites. The result was a heavenly, cloudlike pancake, with a toasty outside and soft center, topped off with fruit, powdered sugar and syrup.

Here's how you make it:
Recipe for 4 pancakes

Turn on broiler

separate 4 eggs
combine egg yokes with:
1 cup milk
4 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
1/4 Teaspoon nutmeg
Add:
1 cup flour, stir until just combined

Whip the 4 egg whites until peaks are stiff, but not dry. Gently fold into batter, do not over mix.


Melt a pad of butter in an 8 inch pan over medium heat. Once melted add 3/4 to 1 cup of batter.


Cook for about 2-3 minutes. At this point the batter will begin to set and you can add fruit. If you add fruit at the beginning it will fall to the bottom. Cook for a few more minutes until golden brown on the bottom and moves freely in the pan.


Transfer to broiler to brown the top and finish cooking, about a minute or so. (Keep an eye on it.)

Slide out onto a plate, garnish with powdered sugar and/or maple syrup.

I can't say enough good things about these delicious little babies! Garrett is sitting here with me as I write this and I'm pretty sure we'll be making them again tomorrow for Sunday breakfast.
[Update: We did make these again for breakfast today but we used my small cast iron skillets, about 7 inches. Garrett thought the cast iron cooked more evenly. They were smaller, so a better size, but just as delicious!]

Tourist in my Town: Balboa Bakery

I live in a major tourist destination city. And sometimes, mostly in the summer, I want to do all those touristy things people come from far away to do. One our favorites is riding our bikes to the beach. My parents spent a majority of the summer here with us and we tried to go on bike rides whenever we could. The other day we took a morning ride down PCH to Balboa Island, took the ferry across the bay to the Balboa Peninsula. My Dad and I had been dying to get back to the Balboa Bakery for their amazing breakfast croissants and tasty doughnuts. We first had them while we were waiting to board the Catalina Express, to head to Catalina Island for the day. The Balboa Bakery is just south of the ferry drop at 301 Main Street.


We met some friends there, who also rode their bikes over, and we ordered our breakfast goodies. I usually like breakfast sandwiches, with ham and cheese and egg, but at a lot of places the egg seems fake. Like at most bagel places, they throw this little plastic thing in the microwave and in 30 seconds you have a rubbery, yellow substance that might resemble eggs. But at the Balboa Bakery their eggs are real, and cooked to perfection. The croissants and warm, soft and buttery, and the swiss cheese is melted over the ham (or whatever meat you choose). These breakfast croissants are big, you could easily be full with just a half, but you could will probably want to eat the whole thing, they are so delicious. You can eat inside, but the view and scenery is so nice outside. There are a few tables and benches so you can take it all in.

So if you live in the neighborhood, or happen to be here on vacation, check this place out. So fun and charming, and good food. I love being a tourist in my own town!

Sunday Morning Waffles

Waffles on late Sunday mornings is something me and Brian have been enjoying lately! They are the perfect weekend breakfast. This is mom's recipe. She found it somewhere but I know for a fact she put her own spin on it and it has been a Stiles family household favorite for years. Brian and I started making this together while we were dating. It is a great two person recipe. One can mix the wet ingredients and fluff the egg whites while the other measures out the dry ingredients. Although, since I got my kitchen aid we whip the egg whites in there and Brian thinks he doesn't have to help any more! But I'm more than happy to make them for them.
Super simple recipe, full proof. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks and then fold them in (after you mix the wet and dry). This will make the waffles amazingly fluffy. Just make sure not to over mix the batter, they will get tough. You should still be able to see the clumps of egg. You should definitely whip a batch up this weekend!


Waffles Recipe
Combine:
1 3/4 Cup Flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 Tsp salt

Whip 2 egg whites until stiff peaks

In separate bowl whisk together:
2 egg yokes
1 3/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup oil

Combine dry to wet, then fold in egg whites