Blintzes

When we moved to Scotland, we quickly discovered that there are several sets of words that are all one-removed from US words: things like fries, which here are chips, and chips, which over here are crisps; or menswear, which is a veritable landmine of words that exist in both American and British English, but have different meanings in each: American suspenders are British braces, but British suspenders are an American garter belt; an American vest is a British gilet or sometimes a waistcoat if it’s fancy, but a British vest is a American tank top and a British tank top is an American sweater vest. American pants are British trousers and British pants are American underwear. It’s best just not to try to shop for menswear in the UK, and most definitely best not to ever discuss your legwear.

Relatedly (bear with me), tomorrow is Pancake Day here in the UK, which means it’s Fat Tuesday, Lent is about to start, and it’s time to use up all those pesky ‘luxuries’ in your pantry by… making a batch of pancakes? This is a tradition over here in Europe, and although I know it persists in some parts of the US, it definitely wasn’t a tradition I was aware of before moving to Scotland. Confusingly, though, the ‘pancakes’ served on Pancake Day over here are typically served with lemon and powdered sugar, and while they’re not usually as thin as a French crepe, they’re also definitely not as thick as American pancakes… which brings me to the confusing verbiage: in the US, we use the term ‘flapjack’ and ‘pancake’ interchangeably, but here in the UK, a flapjack is thick, soft, usually oat-based insanely sweet confection that I would most liken to a homemade granola bar. (Incidentally, I hate British flapjacks.) So the pancakes you eat for Pancake Day aren’t exactly crepes and they’re not exactly pancakes and they’re most definitely not flapjacks… so where does that leave us?

As discussed last year, my go-to Pancake Day will be, probably for the rest of time, my mom’s crepes, but in the interest of keeping things new and fresh around here, this year we went with blintzes instead, and apparently this is far more likely to be a historically accurate choice for someone like Eleanor, whose heritage was almost exclusively Eastern European. ‘What’s a blintz?’ you may be asking, if you are neither Jewish nor Eastern European, which, according to my research, are the two groups of people who most deserve credit for the wonder that is the blintz.* A blintz is a yeasted pancake (as opposed to a non-yeasted French crepe), thinner than a pancake but thicker than a crepe, and traditionally eaten this time of year to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of Lent.

Basically, it’s a double-whammy of awesome: you take a pancake, and instead of just topping it with things that are delicious, you also fill it with things that are delicious (sweetened cottage cheese with just enough lemon essence to brighten the whole thing up), and then you can even eat it for dinner if you want to. Traditionally, they’re fried after being filled with delicious cheese filling, but since this recipe came from an article about tailoring ‘blintzes to your diet,’ this version is slightly healthier as they’re baked instead of fried at the end. And they’re delicious. Even my sweet-phobic husband, who hates sweet breakfast foods, was wild about these.

*This recipe definitely takes the cake for the most offensive newspaper article so far found in the box: it starts out 'You don't have to be Jewish to love blitzes [sic]. But you'd better be skinny, because blitzes [sic] are plenty fattening, prepared according to the usual Jewish-mother tradition.' So... we'll just ignore that part and focus on the recipe at hand.

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. They’re the perfect balance of crisp and soft, warm and toasty without being overly heavy, and they’re delicious. We topped ours with apricot preserves, lemon curd, and cherries in kirsch syrup (just so we could test a variety of toppings, but you could equally use warmed honey, any kind of fruit pie filling, a dollop of yogurt, or warm applesauce. (My favourite, though, was apricot preserves). Make these and celebrate Pancake Day—even if you’re not celebrating Lent.

Pancake Day, Previously: Check out my favourite crepe recipe over here, perfect for celebrating Pancake Day British-style!

The recipe:

Blintzes

The directions:
Blintzes:

Combine flour and salt, then stir in milk, water, and eggs gradually.
Beat until smooth (a few very small lumps or air bubbles are okay).
Heat a nonstick skillet until warm, then drop in a tiny sliver of butter and let melt.
Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
Use a small ladle or measuring cup to pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan, swirling the pan as you pour to distribute the batter evenly. 
You should have JUST enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan and no 'extra' that would make the blintz too thick.
Cook about one minute, until top dries and bottom is lightly browned.
Without flipping over, turn blintz out onto a towel and set aside until you run out of batter.

Filling:

Blend all ingredients together and beat until of uniform consistency.
Put a spoonful (or 2, depending on the size of your blintzes) of filling into the centre of each blintz, and roll them 'envelope-style.' 
First, fold in sides slightly, then roll from top to bottom to make a secure pouch. 
Place filled blintzes seam-side down on a cookie sheet and heat until warmed through.
Serve with apricot preserves, lemon curd, or whatever you can think of!

The ingredients:
The blintzes:

3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c skim milk
1/2 c water
3 eggs + 1 egg white (yolk reserved for filling)
Butter for brushing the pan

The filling:

3 c cottage cheese
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Zest from one lemon
1 egg yolk (reserved from blintz recipe above)

the topping:

Apricot preserves (Blair's favourite)
Lemon Curd (Judson's favourite)
Cherries in Kirsch syrup (totally delicious!)
Warmed honey

Holiday Almanac December 20: Cream Cheese Nut Bread

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

Today's task was supposed to be to make a batch of 'gumdrop nut bread,' which is exactly what it sounds like: a lovely loaf of warm brown breakfast bread, studded through with toasted pecans and... gumdrops?

Eww, right? Even though the directions include a specific step to 'remove black gumdrops,' this still sounded really really gross to me. I was willing to make it anyway, though, but then I went to the supermarket and discovered that they don't have gumdrops in the UK... or at least not at my Tesco, and just like that, this recipe became a Cream-Cheese Pecan Bread, and everyone in my house breathed a sigh of relief.

Anything I can eat for breakfast that involves cream cheese filling and pecans is getting an A+ in my book, and this cake, still warm from the oven, is no different.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. This cake is delicious, moist, and cosy-- the perfect breakfast for the week leading up to Christmas. However, the orange zest in it makes it incredibly citrus-y, and while that appeals to me on a very base level, some people may not like it as much.

The recipe:

Cream Cheese Nut Bread

the directions:
filling:

Make the filling by combining all filling ingredients in a small bowl, then mixing until smooth.
Set aside.

 

Bread:

Grease and flour a 9-inch loaf pan, and preheat the oven to 160C/325F.
Combine honey and milk in a large mixing bowl.
Add flour, sugar, soda, salt, shortening, and egg.
Mix until smooth.
Fold in nuts gently until uniformly distributed.
Pour half of batter into prepared loaf pan, then pour filling over batter.
Scoop remaining batter on top of filling as gently as possible, and try to spread the batter to the edges of the pan as much as you can.
Bake 40-60 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly sticky.

the ingredients:
the filling:

6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp orange peel, grated
¾ c sugar

the bread:

2/3 c honey
2/3 c milk
2 ½ c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ c shortening
1 egg
1 c chopped pecans

Holiday Almanac December 14: Pull-Apart Coffee Cake Wreath

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

There are few things in life I love more than breakfast food (cheese, wine, and Mexican food being among the exceptions, which is why my heaven is a plate of huevos divorciados with a mimosa on the side), so I was stoked to make this coffee cake, and it did not disappoint.

If you're thinking this is going to be similar to cinnamon rolls because of the appearance, think again. While it is a yeasted, stretchy dough with a butter and brown sugar filling, the dough is just barely sweetened and the entire filling takes only 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Plus, the glaze that goes on it is just drizzled lightly over the top, so the top of each slice is slightly sweeter, but the entire thing isn't sopped in icing like a typical cinnamon roll (oh, and there's no cinnamon). I couldn't get my hands on candied fruit, so I used dried currants, but this would be amazing with dried cherries, or sultanas or raisins if that's more your thing. I've also been brainstorming a version with snipped dried apricots and a lavender drizzle because I just can't leave well enough alone. I had to back out a substitute for Bisquick since I can't get my hands on that over here in Scotland, but if anything, I think it made the whole thing taste even better, so I left the substitution listed below.

It’s only lightly sweetened so you won't have a sugar crash an hour after you eat it, and it would be just as tasty without the glaze, so you could lighten the sweetness even more by omitting it. It’s insanely easy to roll and shape and it rose like a charm, even in my freezing-cold Scottish kitchen. Best of all, though, it’s beautiful, festive, and cosy: perfect fare for this time of year!

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. It's moist and delicious, decadent without leaving you feeling like you gained a kilo just from one slice, and it looks adorably Christmas-y this time of year!

The recipe:

Pull-Apart Coffee Cake Wreath

the directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
Mix in egg, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and oil.
Beat vigorously until dough comes together.
Turn dough onto flour-covered surface and knead until smooth, about 18-20 times.
Roll into a large rectangle (A3-sized or around 16”x9”).
Spread with soft butter and sprinkle with brown sugar.
Sprinkle dried fruit and walnuts evenly over the surface.
Roll up tightly, beginning at the wide end.
With the seam on the bottom, pinch ends of the roll together to form a ring.
Using kitchen scissors, cut ¾ of the way through the ring at 1” intervals, then carefully rotate each section 90 degrees so the spiral is facing upwards.
Let rise in warm place 1 hour, covered loosely with a towel.
Bake 15-20 minutes until light golden brown.
Set aside to cool completely.
Once cake is cooled, make the glaze by mixing together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until you have a thick but still runny glaze.
Drizzle over the cooled cake and serve.

the ingredients:

2 ¼ tsp yeast (if you're Stateside, this is one packet)
½ c warm water
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar
2 ½ c flour
3 ¾ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt
6 ¼ tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 c dried fruit of your choice
½ c walnuts, chopped
1 c powdered sugar, sifted
¼ tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp milk