Little Nuggets of Joy

So far this summer has been much busier than I thought it would be. I left my job right before I got married and thought I would be twiddling my thumbs most of the time before I start graduate school, but I've been traveling quite a bit, entertaining friends, and surprisingly, keeping pretty busy (and I've managed to get sick for about a week and a half as well). That's not to say I couldn't squeeze in more blog posts; I've certainly been cooking a lot and I have quite a few reviews to post, but I know once I settle into my new life as a graduate student come mid-August I will be more frequent in my posting. So I wanted to take this time to share with you all a neat pan the A-man and I received.

Getting married has meant my kitchen supply has grown immensely. I've received some pretty awesome tools, including this one: an ebelskever:

It's basically a pan that you can use to make filled pancakes. And on a lazy Sunday morning served with a side of bacon, it's pretty awesome. We filled ours with with a strawberry-rhubarb compote (strawberries and rhubarb cooked with a bit of agave) and a vanilla pudding (take 3 cups of almond milk, 1/2 cup agave, and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch, whisk together and bring to a boil. let simmer for five minutes stirring constantly until thick, take off heat and then add one teaspoon vanilla extract).


The recipe we used for the pancakes is one adapted from the recipe that came with the pan. We made it gluten free and dairy free of course. It makes a lot, and the process of making these takes some patience, but it's a lot of fun if you enjoy these types of things.

Filled Pancakes (gluten-free, dairy-free)
serves 4-6

2 cups gluten free flour mix (I used 1 cup superfine brown rice flour, 1 cup montina flour blend -- my new favorite)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs agave, or sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
4 tbs earth balance buttery spread melted, plus more for pan

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the agave, egg yolks, milk and melted "butter." Add the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined. Then, using an electric mixer beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form (about two minutes) and fold into the batter.

In the pan, put small pats of butter in each well, add 1 tablespoon of batter, then 1 teaspoon of your filling, and cover with one more tablespoon of batter. Wait a minute or so and turn with chopsticks or wooden skewers.

A great video on the ebelskever technique can be found here.

Enjoy with maple syrup. They're even good cold the next day as I just discovered. And of course Henry's a big fan.