How to use up leftovers: Buttermilk pancakes

Quite a few cake recipes these days call for buttermilk, a foodstuff that I have never used in anything else. A quick internet search and I decided to give these buttermilk pancakes a go. They’re very nice, I would recommend them for a quick and not-too-unhealthy weekend breakfast. I quartered the recipe as I only had 1/4cup of buttermilk left over.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (I used 1tbsp egg white that I also had left over)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped fruit (optional)

Method:

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
2. Make a well in the centre and add the egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
3. Add the fruit.                                                                   
4. Fry large dessertspoonfuls, ideally on a skillet but a large frying pan will do. Don’t use a small frying pan! I fried them in a little butter for additional deliciousness, but low-fat spray would do.
5. Flip once the edges start to look brown and quite a few bubbles have formed, about 1.5mins. Cook on the other side for about a minute.
6. Serve with a little maple syrup.                                   

How to: Marvellous Maple and Pecan Cake

I’ve had a bottle of proper maple syrup hanging around my cupboard for a while, and wanted to do it justice by making something impressive with it. My good crafty friend sent me a recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery and I was inspired to make their maple and pecan layer cake.

It was absolutely delicious, even if I do say so myself! Do you like the golden pecans?

Ingredients

These ingredients will make a triple layer cake. I cut them by a third as I only made two layers. I also halved the frosting ingredients as recipes often make WAY too much. Half was a good amount for this cake.

• 120g unsalted butter
• 400g caster sugar
• 360g plain flour
• 1.5 tbsp (this is NOT a typo) baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 360ml milk
• 40ml maple syrup (be generous!)
• 3 eggs
• 100g pecans, chopped

For the frosting

• 240g unsalted butter, very soft

• 750g icing sugar
• 60ml milk
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• pecan halves to decorate (12 is an easy number to space evenly)

Method

1. Butter your 8″ (springform) cake tins. Preheat oven to 170degrees.
2. Mix the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. You can use an electric mixer but I used a wooden spoon.
3. In a separate container, mix the milk, maple syrup and eggs.
4. Gradually pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Stir in the pecans
6. Pour into your tin
7. 
8. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
9. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cakes are baking and cooling, get to work on that frosting.
10. Ensure the butter is very soft- pop in the microwave for a few seconds if necessary
11. Sift (or just put) the icing sugar into a bowl, add the butter and mix with an electric mixer until of sandy consistency
12. Mix the milk and maple syrup and add to the icing sugar mixture gradually, mixing slowly all the while.
13. Once incorporated, mix on high until soft and fluffy.
14. Once the cakes are completely cold, start frosting! First sandwich the layers together with a couple of generous tablespoons of buttercream. Then get to work on the top and sides. It’s really hard to get this icing smooth (I also need to get a palette knife!) a good tip is to have a glass of boiling water and a clean tea towel on hand. Dip the blade to heat it up, then wipe it dry and this really helps with the smoothing.
15. Once your cake looks better than this, decorate with the pecans. I sprayed mine gold first.

I love sparkly things. Soon, this…

…will be this

Yum.