Autumn Spiced Pancakes

Ok, pancakes might not be considered baking, but it's pouring over here thanks to Irene, and I decided to make a tasty breakfast.  Besides, they have the word "cake" in their name, so totally counts.

This is a recipe I've made up, inherited from my mom, but of course I added a twist to it.  Her original recipe is as follows:

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Create a pit and pour wet ingredients into it.  Mix until just moist.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter into a hot cast iron pan at a time.  Flip and serve.

Here's what I changed:

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla.

Recipe follows the same steps as mom's.  First, put your cast iron pan over medium heat.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F, and put aluminum foil on a baking sheet.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Make a well in the mixture and add your liquid.

Mix the batter until it's just moist.

Now it's time to oil up the pan.  I used cooking spray, and I wiped down the pan with a paper towel.  I didn't want fried pancakes.

Using a measuring cup for 1/4 cup, measure out and pour the batter into the pan.

Once the edges start to look solid and bubbles form and stay on the top of the pancake, it's time to flip.

Cook until the other side isn't squishy and place on the baking sheet.  Place in the oven and repeat process until all the pancakes are done.

Now for the final touches.  I use maple syrup and butter on my pancakes.

Add bacon, and you have a delicious breakfast!

Decadent Banana Bread

I'm not finished with Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess."  You've seen me make banana bread on this blog before, but this recipe is slightly different.  There's less flour and sugar, more bananas, as well as fruit and nuts.  Nigella's recipe calls for a 1/2 cup of golden raisins, but I usually use dried cranberries.  Place these in a small pan with 6 Tbsp or Rum or Brandy, and I'm sure you can recognize the Cockspur Rum from previous posts.

Let it come to a boil, then cover and let it sit for an hour, or until most of the liquid is absorbed by the fruit.

Next mix up the dry ingredients, 1 cup flour, 2 Tbsp cocoa powder, baking powder, soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Next melt 1 stick of butter, and combine with 1/2 cup of white sugar.

Add 2 eggs one at a time.

Mix in mashed bananas (4 of them).  I employed an interesting mashing method, since I forgot to mash them before adding them in.

Then add the nuts (I used hazelnuts), the dried cranberries which are now plump from absorbing the alcohol, and some chocolate chips.

Mix it all together, and then add the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time.

Pour into a pan and bake for 1-1 3/4 hours.

Perfection!