Coconut Macadamia Nut Pancakes with Pineapple Sauce

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A few years back, my boyfriend went to Seattle for training and could not stop raving about this restaurant called Café Flora. He had coconut crusted tofu with sweet chili sauce and was in love. Lucky for me, they were selling a cookbook with all of their best recipes! And he brought me back a copy, so I could recreate some of the favourite dishes he had while in Seattle. 

This morning, I was flipping through the cookbook looking for tasty things to make for dinner this week. (I am attempting to meal plan properly for the week, so I don’t go broke when grocery shopping today. *hehe*) While going through the book, I found the recipe for coconut macadamia nut pancakes that I had not made since I first got the Café Flora cookbook. Since I remember them being easy & delicious, I decided to make a batch for brunch this morning. They were more yummy than I had remembered. I love coconut anything, so this was a special treat for a relaxing Monday off. I love lazy days off!



Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted macadamia nuts
  • 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of skim milk
  • 1 egg
  • Vegetable oil for the frying pan
  • 1 small tin of crushed pineapple
  • 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Ingredient Note: You want to try and find unsweetened shredded coconut for this recipe. If you are unable to find it, it’s okay to use the sweetened coconut. However, you must use unsalted macadamia nuts for this recipe. If you cannot find any unsalted ones, simply wash the macadamia nuts (remove the salt) and then bake them a minute or two long in the oven to help dry them out a bit.


Method


1. Preheat the oven to 300’F. Melt the two tablespoons of butter in the microwave in a microwave-safe measuring cup. Set the butter aside to cool.


2. In a small frying pan on low-medium heat, toast the coconut. Keep a close eye on the coconut as it gets toasted. Once it’s slightly golden brown (about 2 minutes), set the coconut aside.


3. When the oven is preheated, place the macadamia nuts on a baking sheet. After 2 minutes, toss the macadamia nuts and allow to bake for another minute. Toss again. Continue to toast for another minute. They will become golden brown and fragrant when done. Remove from oven and allow them to cool with the coconut.


4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.


5. Mix the milk, egg and melted butter in a separate small bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet. Do not overmix the batter, or you will have rubbery pancakes. 


6. Roughly chop the macadamia nuts. Fold the nuts and coconut into the pancake batter.


7. Heat a lightly greased nonstick frying pan/griddle over medium heat. Once hot, drop 1/4 cup of the batter per pancake onto the skillet. Cook until bubbles start to form (about 3 minutes) and then flip. Cook for 1 minute on the second side. Note: you may need to grease the skillet/griddle/pan between batches.


8. Stack the pancakes on a plate and cover with a damp tea towel. Keep them warm in the oven until you are ready to serve them. Note: Oven will be off, but still warm from toasting the macadamia nuts.


Serve pancakes with warm pineapple sauce. 


Pineapple Sauce: in a small saucepan, heat one small tin of crushed pineapple with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Allow the mixture to simmer while you cook the pancakes. Serve the syrup on top of the coconut macadamia pancakes. Delicious!


Source: Café Flora Cookbook

Banana Split Cupcakes

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This past weekend, my good friend Paul hosted the the 6th Annual Cake N Shake. It’s an awesome party that he’s put on for the past six years where he serves many delicious homemade milkshakes and everyone eats cake until the feel sick from all of the sugar. It’s awesome! Many people bring cakes; cakes of all kinds. This year there was a cherry cheesecake and a sex-in-a-pan cake. And delicious vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. Some people just make a small monetary donation at the party, so they can pig out and partake in all the cake eating! 
This year, my friend Paul asked me to bring cupcakes. Last year I brought pink lemonade cupcakes and pineapple amaretto cupcakes. And since he loved the cupcakes I brought last year, he had a special request that I bring cupcakes this year. Since I was itching to get into the kitchen and bake, I agreed to bring cupcakes and decided upon making Banana Split Cupcakes. I’ve wanted to make them for quite sometime, but knew they’d be pretty time consuming. But what better opportunity to make such involved cupcakes than an actual cake party? :)
I really loved these cupcakes. There were so many layers of flavour. The banana cake itself was delicious. To be honest, I ate a few of the cupcakes prior to decorating any, simply because the banana cake was so tasty! *hehe* The strawberry and pineapple filling was really nice. And I’m a sucker for whipped cream icing, so I greatly enjoyed the topping. 
The Cake n Shake party was a blast. There was an impromptu sing-a-long, lots of great conversation, lots of lovely new people to meet and an abundance of sugar & lots of laughs. As for me, I’m on a vegetable only diet this week to make up for the crazy amount of cake I consumed on Saturday. *hah* But hey, everyone should indulge in delicious cakes every so often. Or, that’s what I’m telling myself….*haha*

Cake Ingredients
  • 2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter; at room temperature
  • 2 and 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of buttermilk
  • 1 and 1/3 cup of mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

Filling Ingredients
  • 15 strawberries; hulled and diced small
  • 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
  • 12 ounces of crushed pineapple; drained well

Frosting Ingredients
  • 1 and 1/2 cups of whipping cream/heavy cream (35%); chilled
  • 1/3 cup of icing sugar; sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Ganache Ingredients
  • 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate; chopped
  • 1 cup of heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon of light corn syrup

Garnish
  • multi-coloured sprinkles
  • maraschino cherries; with stems

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 350’F.

2. Cupcakes: Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add eggs in one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. Mix in the mashed banana. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners; filling each about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean (or with a dry crumb); about 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool completely.

2. Strawberry Filling: Combine the strawberries and icing sugar in a small bowl. Toss well and smash the berries with a fork. Allow the berries to macerate at least 20 minutes.

3. Fill the Cupcakes: Cut a small cone out of the centre of each cupcake with a pairing knife. Note: the excess cake can be discarded. Add a teaspoon of the strawberry filling to the centre of each cupcake. Top with a teaspoon of crushed pineapple. Note: make sure to only fill to the top of the cupcake.

4. Whipped Frosting: Add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the icing sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks forms. Be careful not to over-beat the icing! Blend in the vanilla.

5. Ice the Cupcakes: Add the whipped cream to a pastry bag with desired tip. Pipe a swirl of the whipped cream onto each filled cupcake. Note: you want to make sure you pipe the icing to cover the filling. Transfer the filled and frosted cupcakes to the fridge and chill for at least 30 minutes.

6. Ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Note: Make sure you watch the cream closely, so it does not burn. Remove the cream from the heat once it’s quite hot and pour the cream over the chocolate. Allow to stand for 2 minutes. Whisk together until a thick, smooth ganache forms. Blend in the corn syrup. Let stand until room temperature (at least 10 minutes).

7. Final Touches: Pour a spoonful of cooled ganache over the whipped cream topping on each cupcake. Garnish with colourful sprinkles and a maraschino cherry before the glaze sets. Chill cupcakes until ready to serve.

Yield: 30 cupcakes

Source: Annie’s Eats

Jalapeño Popper Dip

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Recently, I hosted an appetizer & cocktail style engagement party for my little sister and her new fiancé. In my recent post about the party, I mentioned that I had made a delicious dip – jalapeño popper dip – that everyone was raving about. I made another batch of it today for my boyfriend to take to his guys’ game night tonight. I may have also snuck a little for myself to enjoy while I watched some Canadian football (Go Bombers!) this afternoon on TV. *hehe* Sooooo….without further ado, here is the recipe. Enjoy!



Ingredients

  • 2 (8 oz) packages of low-fat cream cheese; room temperature
  • 1 cup of low-fat mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup of chopped green chiles (in a can); drained
  • 2 medium jalapeño peppers; seeded and diced
  • 1/2 cup of mexican-style cheese; shredded
  • 1 cup of panko bread crumbs (or regular bread crumbs)
  • 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
  • Cooking Spray

Method


1. Pre-heat oven to 375’F.


2. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise. Note: I whipped the two together with a hand held mixer to ensure the consistency was nice and smooth.


3. Add the green chiles, jalapeños and shredded mexican cheese and mix until well combined.


4. Spread the mixture into a baking dish (approximately 9 x 9-inches). Note: I used a 9-inch pie plate.


5. In a second bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the mixture over the cream cheese mixture in the baking dish. Spray lightly with a cooking spray. 


6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the mixture is hot and the topping is golden brown.


Serve warm with baguette slices, vegetables, taco chips, crackers etc. as desired.


Source: adapted from Annie’s Eats