My Very Own Pancake Recipe

When I was still a kid, I remember playing "luto-luto" with my childhood friends. I used all the leaves that i saw in our backyard, and all the utensils in our kithcen. Hehe. Not knowing that it showed my passion for food now that i am a grown-up. More over, i used to observe my Grandma Lala while she was cooking us some pancakes when i was around 8 years old. She was also the one who taught me how to cook pancakes when i was ready enough to face the gas stove.

Well, i sure did learn from those moments. And i realized that my Grandma Lala has taught me a lot of stuffs pala while i was growing up. I miss her though.

Anyway, for a long time i have been searching for the perfect pancake recipe.. a pancake that is soft, fluffy, and yummy and of course, something i will make from scratch.. While still on the search, i tried a lot of ready mix pancakes available in the market. Not Pillsbury, Maya hotcake mix is good. But when Magnolia Pancake mix came out recently, i certainly loved it. It's the best pancake mix ever.
Now that I am in Japan, I was desperate enough to have my favorite magnolia pancakes. So i continued my research, and viola!!! I tried some internet recipes and tweaked some measurements to suit my perfect pancake! Super soft, fluffy, not too thick and yummy . And when it gets cold, it is still soft as when it was freshly cooked. And I will share it with everyone who also loves pancakes as much as i do..

1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted) (120 grams)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons white sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup whole milk (175ml)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

>extra melted butter for greasing the pan.

It's easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Place all dry ingredients in one mixing bowl -- flour, salt, baking powder, sugar. And whisk it to disperse all the ingredients.

2. Put all the wet ingredients in one mixing bowl -- egg, milk, and melted butter. And beat until blended.

3. Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat it using a wooden spoon or wire whisk. Do not overbeat, beat until just blended. It is just fine to have lumps in this pancake batter or else the pancakes will be tough.

There you have it. In cooking this pancake, I suggest a non-stick pan so it is easy to flip it.

Heat the pan on slow fire. Brush some melted butter or oil on it. When it is heated pour enough batter, just big or small enough, any size you like it eaten.

Now here is the secret, you will know when to flip the pancakes is when there are a lot of bubbles forming on top. It is important to cook the pancakes on slow fire. The slowest possible fire in order not to burn it. The other side of the pancake will cook more quickly, maybe 15 seconds or more, so don't be afraid to flip it again to check.

Serve with butter and pancake syrup. I suggest Karo pancake syrup or better yet maple syrup. If you do not have syrup, orange marmalade will do.

VERSIONS:
-- Place slices of cheese after pouring the batter on the pan, and cover it using a spoon, so it won't burn when you flip the pancake.
--If you want thinner pancakes, add more milk.


Happy Eating!!!

Cupcakes fever..

Gahd it's been a month since I have blogged. Been busy with my cake orders, and just recently someone who just added me on Facebook ordered 160 cupcakes to be used as the cake for her debut. Good thing we had 5 mutual friends, and my cousin knew her too. I thought it was a bogus customer. All the while I was hesitant to add contacts that I never was acquainted with. But it makes me think twice, like this, possible customer pala.. That was by far my biggest income in my pastries and cakes biz. Imagine, I was able to bake 160 of it in just one day. It was
a rush order. I did not have the time to prepare for the boxes since it was to be traveled by land 6 hours to Chiba, Tokyo. I am so happy with the outcome of the cupcakes. Brings out the artistic me.. Realized that when opportunity knocks, do not let it slip away, and be grateful for it.

Becoming..

I never expected that I would get to love baking. I used to hate it when I was still in highschool saying that it is too "matrabaho" and "makuti" knowing that you have to measure everything. And because wayback my ambition in life was to become a doctor. Marangal na Doktor.
So I took up a pre-med course to prepare myself for that ambition. BS Respiratory Therapy. But all throughout my internship the reality of being a doctor flashed before my eyes. It was a stiff competition. You have to be the greatest if you want to survive and earn bucks out of it. Not to mention the years it will take out of your precious life just to study 2 kilogram heavy books, and books, and books... The time it will take when I am supposed to spend it enjoying dear life. The reward is more than satisfying, yes, but TIME is important for me. Time for everything I want to do. I ended my ambition.
After graduating I employed myself so I could apply what I have learned for 4 years. I worked 3 years. But the work became routine I could even close my eyes and I still know what I am doing. I loved my work though. Saving lives, giving patients oxygen to live, aiding them to breathe. But my time was the patient's. I could not even attend family gatherings during Sundays because of the hospital shift. Then again, it was TIME I needed.
Fortunately, when I resigned I had all the time I wanted. I am a person who could not stand doing nothing at all. I saw a paper with a schedule for baking by Gerardo's. I told myself to give it a try since I had nothing to do that interests me. I attended their brownies and bars class for 1 day knowing that I love brownies so much.

The first brownies I baked was sugary sandy. I had to ask questions from Sir Gerry and Tita Angging thru text while doing it. Pero palpak pa rin. It did not rise because we did not know how to operate my first La Germania gas-type oven. I can still remember it clearly. It was so funny, even Papa did not know why everytime we closed the oven the flame would turn off. We had to ignite it a couple of times with a posporo (match) when we realized that it turned off because we closed the oven "bigla". It had to be closed slowly pala. Haha. I also did not pre-heat the oven. Pero naubos din ang brownies.

True to the saying "Practice makes it perfect". I kept practicing until I got it right. Kung palpak, my family would be happy to eat all of it. Papa and my brothers would always ask me, "Palpak yan Ate?". Kasi pag perfect na, they could not taste it. When i perfected it, being the negosyante that I am, I sold it. And oh, they also taught me how to do the costing at Gerardo's. So I displayed my bars at Yolly's and Chicken Haus where my Mom also displays the ever famous, old and original, Lola Mading's Pastillas.


I only took that one session at Gerardo's. It opened my heart to baking. I also got secret techniques and advices from fellow veteran bakers like Tita Angging who gave my first oven thermometer, Tita Liza who supplied me with many baking stuffs and ingredients from the US the moment she knew I loved it too, and Tita Rose who shared to me her cake decorating skills. The rest was history. I honed myself through searching and trying out recipes. Walnut tarts, eclairs, cookies, muffins, cheesecakes,etc. And when I became ready enough, I took the Basic Cakes at Gerardo's. They taught me the basics of baking cakes for one day. Then practiced, practiced, practiced.
And so with this new love for baking, I managed my time. I had time for my family, my hubby, my hobby, and my passion. There's always a time for everything.

Blueberry Cheesecake - No bake

Not so long ago, being a fan of expensive coffee shop blueberry cheesecakes, I have long been wanting to make my own cheesecake. Surprisingly, when i bought a cream cheese, it had a recipe on the package. So out of curiosity, i tried this one. It is a no-bake cheesecake. I had a lot of attempts before finally perfecting it. And with these attempts, my family were so ever happy to taste all of it.

This is quite difficult if you just follow the steps on the package of Magnolia cream cheese and if you have no baking experience. I had to read it all over again just to make sure i did not miss any step. So in this recipe, I made it simpler. I decided to post it anyway because a relative of mine asked for a cheesecake recipe and because I typed it anyhow.

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

CRUST:

1 1/4 cups graham crackers, crushed

1 tsp cinnamon –optional

1/3 cup melted butter/margarine

2 TBSP sugar

Dissolve sugar in melted margarine. Mix with the rest of ingredients until combined. Press on a pie plate. Chill.

FILLING:

1 pack (225g) cream cheese, softened

¼ cup sugar

1 tbsp knoxx gelatin

3 TBSP milk

1 pack(250ml) all purpose cream (Nestle or Alaska), chilled

1 cup blueberries in syrup (Comstock or any other )

Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and well blended.. Set aside. Sprinkle gelatin over milk, and heat on low until dissolved. Add to cream cheese mixture while it is still hot. Continue beating to blend well. In a separate bowl, whip cream until stiff (when beaters are lifted, it forms pointed sharp peaks). Slowly fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour into crumb-lined pan. Top with blueberries. Chill until it is firm.

Dimpay's NOTE:

--When beating all purpose cream, make sure the bowl and beaters are clean, dry and chilled. Or else it wont get stiff. Do not over beat.

-- You can also make strawberry cheesecake by substituting Strawberries in syrup(comstock or any other american brand) or fresh strawberries.

-- I only prefer Knoxx gelatin for this cheesecake. No other substitute.

Fold - To blend (a light ingredient) into a heavier mixture with a series of gentle turns: