We are having a wonderful Valentine's day/family day weekend with our family in town. Toronto is a frigid -40C with the windchill and so we have been staying put inside with the heat cranked up and doing all sorts of Valentine's day things. In my mind, every chance I can get to celebrate something is important, but as we hit major holidays, we are trying to move away the commericalization of it all (Except for maybe the flowers part.... I am still a huge sucker for flowers) and celebrate in ways that require, yes, some effort and time and thought--even if it seems (with small children) we have less time for that!
For the first time in many, many years, I dug out a recipe for shortbread cookies and made them with Grandma and Gabriel and iced them with cream cheese icing, topped with sprinkles.
The best part of the weekend, I've have to say, was when we came home after dropping off Gabriel at school to find a hand-written note from Grandpa saying, "I'm doing supper tonight. I'm out getting supplies." And then he proceeded to make us all an elaborate meal that evening.
Abe all cleaned up and ready to celebrate. Long overdue.
On Saturday morning, we made a big breakfast with red-coloured heart-shaped almond mascarpone pancakes pancakes and bacon. These were a huge hit with Gabriel who ate about seven. But the whole pancake thing is kind of messy at least in my kitchen. Grandpa took this picture of what he came down to in the morning after I'd made pancakes. I'm truly a disaster of a chef and work much better with a "sous-chef" then on my own. Although I generally prefer when my sous-chefs aren't the three and under variety who I either have to hold while juggling cups of flour or ones that fly around doing laps of the house with a baby stroller at warp 10.
This recipe is truly the BEST twist on the typical Saturday pancake from a box for special occasions. All I did was add red food colouring, put it in a plastic baggie and cut a small bit off the corner through which to squeeze the batter to form hearts on a skillet. The process of making the hearts is simple-ish. I mean, honestly, my kitchen looks like that when I make pancakes from a box too..... But that red look is incredible.
Here is the recipe:
Red Velvet Almond Pancakes (Adapted from Giada's recipe)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese,
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk pancake mix
4 ounces almond paste, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Preheat a griddle or a large, nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Grease the griddle or skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter. Using a ladle, pour batter into a baggy, squeeze to one corner, twist above the batter and seal the top so batter doesn't leak out. Cut a small tip off the bottom corner of the baggy and squeeze batter out on the skillet in a heart shaped form. I often use a butter knife to push at the edges to get batter in place if I make a mistake. Wait until the batter forms bubbles on top and then flip. The second side will be quicker. Do not cook too much or the pancakes will be too brown and loose that pink colour.
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese,
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk pancake mix
4 ounces almond paste, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
In a food processor, combine the mascarpone, water, sugar, almond
extract, and vanilla extract. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add
the pancake mix and pulse until just combined. Add red food colouring (as much or as little as you desire) and the almond paste and blend until smooth.
Preheat a griddle or a large, nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Grease the griddle or skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter. Using a ladle, pour batter into a baggy, squeeze to one corner, twist above the batter and seal the top so batter doesn't leak out. Cut a small tip off the bottom corner of the baggy and squeeze batter out on the skillet in a heart shaped form. I often use a butter knife to push at the edges to get batter in place if I make a mistake. Wait until the batter forms bubbles on top and then flip. The second side will be quicker. Do not cook too much or the pancakes will be too brown and loose that pink colour.
Top with mascarpone and raspberries. And maple syrup. Delish!
Recipe adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/almond-pancakes-recipe.html
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