Tart Cakes and Fruity-O Cakes

These freaky-deaky breakfast pancakes are the spawns of seeds planted by Kenny Shopsin of Shopsins in NYC.  You may recognize his name as the inspiration for my French Toast Bagels post several months ago.  I've been reading his book Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin and have been very entertained and inspired by his writings and recipes.  

Ingredients

Pancake Batter (whatever kind you would normally use)

Butter

Cereal or Granola

and/or

Your favorite toaster pastry (we used strawberry)

Directions

Read Kenny's book.  Heat up your griddle and wet with butter then pour on pancake batter.  Sprinkle cereal or chopped toaster pastry bits on top.  Flip the pancake, topping side down, after about 2 minutes of cooking or until the pancake becomes bubbly.  Cook with topping side down for another 2 minutes.  Serve topping side up. 

I like to keep a warm plate in the oven (about 200F) if I'm cooking for a lot of people, and place each finished pancake on the plate until I am done cooking .  That way everyone can enjoy hot pancakes at the same time.

The Results

Well, the the Tart Cakes turned out far better then the Fruity-O Cakes.  The jammy parts from the pastry made a great filling and the iced tops added a bite of sweetness.  The cereal cakes were comparatively flavorless and overly carbohydrated.  In the future I'm going to experiment with raisin bran and granola with dried fruits, chocolate and nuts to try and enhance the flavor.  

Any other ideas?  

Happy experimenting!

CREATIVE LEFTOVERS!! Maple Pecan Sweet Potato Pancakes and Cranberry-Orange Sauce

Every year for Thanksgiving I make Sweet Potato casserole sweetened with  maple syrup and a pecan brown sugar topping.  Given the chance, I also make homemade cranberry sauce with orange juice and zest.  This year was no different and after most of the leftovers had been eaten for lunch the next day, there were still a few scoops left.  While I was laying in bed this morning, I was thinking about how I wanted pancakes for breakfast and the idea for this recipe popped into my head.

Leftover Maple-Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole Pancakes

makes 3 large pancakes 

Ingredients

1 cup Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

           (or any ol' smashed sweet taters)

1 cup flour

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbsp maple syrup

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately and then mix together.  Poor 1/4-1/2 cup batter into pan.  When bubbles start appearing in the center of the pancake and the edges look cook, it's ready to flip....be patient or you'll make a mess!

Heat up (or not) leftover cranberry sauce and plop on top of your stack of flapjacks.  Top with extra syrup if you like.

  

Homemade cranberry sauce is easy and quick to make...

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag fresh cranberries

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

This year, I added a shot of rum and a few chopped-up cubes of crystallized ginger I had lying around the kitchen.

Bring OJ and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add the cranberries (and ginger and rum) to the pan. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on the stove for about 10 minutes-20 minutes. Cranberries will pop!  It's super-cool.  Stir in the orange zest and take off of the heat.  I enjoy it warm, but many like it cold.