Pink Pancakes with Crushed Strawberry Oreos

I had the most fabulous Mother's Day in May. I know, the post is a few months late, but there's always an excuse to pamper your mum,or wife, or lucky lady in your life with these femininely pink pancakes. Any woman will be impressed by the sweet gesture and "your" creativity (you don't have to tell them where the idea came from) Have you ever treated her to pancakes in bed on Saturday morning? You know you want to! (for all those times you had man-flu and she waited upon you hand and foot)
It cant get much better than this...pink pancakes, smothered in strawberry jam and topped with vanilla ice cream and crushed strawberry flavoured oreos. Its rich and decadent and oh so good in bed.

PINK PANCAKES WITH STRAWBERRY OREOS (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens 07/11)

1 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
60g butter
2 tbsp honey
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
a few drops of pink or red food
4 strawberry oreos
ice cream
strawberry jam if desired

Sift flour and bicarb into a medium sized bowl. Heat butter and honey in a small saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, until the butter has melted and is smooth. Set aside to cool.
Add milk and beaten egg to the butter mixture and whisk until combined. Place a few drops of pink or red food colouring in the mixture and stir gently to combine. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the wet mixture. Stir until a smooth batter forms.
Add a little butter to the base of a large fry pan, at medium heat. Dollop four spoonfuls of batter into the fry pan at once. When bubbles begin to burst on the surface of the pancakes, flip and cook the other side until golden. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve pancakes spread with strawberry jam and with a large scoop of ice cream with crushed oreos on the top.

Serves 3-4

Care to lick the spoon?

Cinnamon Toast Scrolls

After a little break (which was perfect timing for me, due to the birth of my little daughter) The Secret Recipe Club is back. I was assigned an amazing blog this round, Kitchen Belleicious with the lovely Jessica, who sounds as obsessed with creating food stuff as I am...and also has a newborn in the house like myself.
Busy mums need those quick and delicious recipes that can be whipped out at top speed and with little hassle, and my eyes where immediately drawn to a fabulous idea that Jessica had discovered. It was all those things I needed as a mum with a newborn in the house.

Time saver. Interesting. Delicious. Amazing in its simplicity. Ingenious. 

Besides being completely quick and delicious, these little guys are practically foolproof...and you will probably have everything required for this recipe right at your fingertips. White bread? Cinnamon? Sugar? Butter?
That's all you need to create these delightful little cinnamon scrolls, twists, or rolls. Get creative and make them just the way that tickles your fancy. I even got a little bit naughty and drizzled some thin white icing and crushed nuts over them...mmmh!
This one's marked down in my memory, ready to draw out in all those stolen moments in the kitchen when the baby is sleeping for half an hour--and there are visitors expected! Not only will you have a delicious treat to serve with tea and coffee, but you will have the delightful aroma of cinnamon wafting through the house (overtaking the smell of a freshly changed nappy, perhaps)

CINNAMON TOAST SCROLLS (from Kitchen Belleicious)

12 slices of fresh white bread
melted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon powder

Preheat the oven to 190C (375F).
Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Cut the crusts off each slice of bread. Using a rolling pin, roll each slice as thinly as you can. Spread both sides of the piece of bread with melted butter. Coat one side of the buttered bread with the cinnamon sugar, ensuring that it is generously covered. Roll as desired (be as creative as you like) and fit the cinnamon roll into a greased mini muffin tray. (I used a silicone mini muffin tray that saves even more time)
 Repeat with the remaining slices. Bake for 15-20 or until golden brown. Cool in tray a few minutes before removing. Serve warm, as is, or with a little drizzling of icing sugar and crushed nuts.
Makes 12

Notes: These freeze well! To reheat, thaw in microwave and place in oven at a low heat until warm and crisp.

The Perfect Weekend Breakfast in Bed

Okay, it just about never occurs, but breakfast in bed is one of my all time favourite weekend treats. Is there anything better than waking up to the rain pouring down, and being greeted with a steaming coffee and a plate of pancakes layered with yogurt, strawberries, syrup and ice cream? I think not!
I'm of the opinion that every mum should have one of these breakys in bed at least every few months and just ooze back into the pillows with a magazine and enjoy the beginning of her "day off". Not that a housewife ever has a day off, but you know. Let's just pretend its a day we don't have to work either...just until we have to get out of bed and that plate of oozy pancakes has disappeared.
Men: you wont regret it. Who doesn't want brownie points?

PANCAKES WITH STRAWBERRIES (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens 07/11)

1 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
60g butter
2 tbsp honey
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
Strawberries
Icecream
Maple Syrup
Strawberry yogurt

Sift flour and bicarb into a medium sized bowl. Heat butter and honey in a small saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, until the butter has melted and is smooth. Set aside to cool.
Add milk and beaten egg to the butter mixture and whisk until combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the wet mixture. Stir until a smooth batter forms.
Add a little butter to the base of a large fry pan, at medium heat. Dollop four spoonfuls of batter into the fry pan at once. When bubbles begin to burst on the surface of the pancakes, flip and cook the other side until golden. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with your choice of topping and filling.
We used strawberry yogurt between the layers and slices of strawberry, maple syrup and a dob of ice cream on the top. Yum!

Serves 3-4

If You Want Breakfast in Bed...Sleep in the Kitchen

Whether he knows it or not, my husband is my inspiration and motivation in the kitchen. Before I met him, I found little joy in cooking for myself alone. My satisfaction at my own successes was the size of a crumb without someone to share it with.
Now I love being in the kitchen. Since I have been married, I feel, through him, I have come  such along way. I have come so far as to even venture from my warm covers now and then on a rainy weekend to make him breaky in bed!  It's the only way to start a good weekend!
Recently for a lazy, late Saturday breakfast, I threw the idea of a healthy meal out the window and made pancakes for a treat. You can add your choice of topping, as this recipe is great for both sweet and savory taste buds. Scrumptious and ever so easy!

PANCAKES WITH MAPLE SYRUP, ICE-CREAM AND STRAWBERRIES

1 cup Self-Raising Flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

Combine ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix until combined and form a batter.

Heat a little oil or butter in a large fry-pan over a medium heat.

Ladle some of the mixture onto the frypan and cook. When bubbles rise and burst on the top of the batter, its time to turn the pancake to cook on the other side, until light and golden.

Serve with your choice of topping. 

Bon Appitite!