Brunch, a meal blending the best of breakfast offerings and standard lunch fare, originating in England in the late 1800’s, but finding popularity in the United States in the 1930’s, or so it is described by Wikipedia. To cooks, it’s a contentious word, usually involving them having to give up their Saturday evening activities early to make their way into the kitchen before the sun rises so that they can cater to twentysomethings who want all the creature comforts of the morning meal without having to see any of the morning itself. Making the task of preparing this meal all that much more pleasurable is the certainty that someone will tell you that your soft poached eggs are “just a little too soft for my liking” or that their toast wasn’t quite toasted enough or buttered like their mom used to do it. It would seem that in order to qualify as a brunch diner you must be an expert in all things breakfast cooking, while also knowing the cheapest spot in town for eggs benedict. It almost never ceases to amaze me how much people expect during the brunch hour, and for so little. Sure, they could buy a carton of eggs, some fresh bacon, and a loaf of fresh bread at the store and throw this together in their sleep, but it’s way easier to come to the restaurant and complain about the way someone else did their work.

 

I’m not bitter about brunch at all, I swear! Maybe it’s just that I’m not really a morning person. When I am up at that time of day I tend to lean towards something quick to inhale before I race out the day. Often that ends up being a bowl of cereal packed full of fruit. Sometimes, just sometimes when I’m in the mood, and my little monster is craving something tasty to fill her up in the morning, I get a little creative though. Sometimes we throw together some banana bread French toast. Other times we do some strawberry and cream cheese smeared waffles. Other days it’s chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes. No matter what we end up whipping up, it’s always something a little fun and playful.

 

Just over a year ago we opened Hart’s Table & Bar, and with it came it’s own brunch menu. As much as the idea of opening early in the morning was met with some reluctance, I actually had a lot of fun coming up with the brunch menu, and even spent the first couple of months cooking it up myself. Thankfully we have a good group of skilled cooks there now, so I get to spend most of my weekend mornings at home with family. Here’s one of the funkiest brunch items we came up with when Chef Tony and I were brainstorming. He threw out the idea of making carrot cake pancakes, and from there we played around until we came up with this delicious recipe. Give it a try for yourself this weekend, or skip the dishes and come see us. We will even greet you with a smile!

 

Carrot Cake Pancakes w/ Cream Cheese Icing

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Special Tools: a griddle or non-stick pan is ideal, but not necessary, a mixer

Makes: about 10-12 pancakes

 

 

For the pancakes:

1 cup              AP flour

¾ tbsp.          baking powder

1 tbsp.            almonds, chopped fine

1 tbsp.            brown sugar

1 tbsp.            sugar

¼ tsp.             cinnamon

¼ tsp.             nutmeg

2 ea.                eggs

¾ cup             buttermilk

2 cups             carrots, fine grated

½ cup             raisins

1 tbsp.            lemon zest

3-4 tbsp.        melted butter for cooking

 

For the cream cheese icing:

1 stick            cream cheese

¼ cup             icing sugar

2 tsp.              cinnamon

1 tsp.              vanilla

1 cup              whipping cream

 

For eating:

Some good quality Quebec maple syrup

 

• Start with preparing the cream cheese spread
• In a bowl or the bowl of a Kitchen Aid, cream together the cream cheese and the icing sugar until smooth
• Add the cinnamon, vanilla, and the cream
• Slowly blend the cream in to combine, but don’t overmix, as it will become grainy
• Refrigerate until ready to serve, now for the pancakes!
• Begin by sifting the flour into a large bowl
• Then add the baking powder, brown sugar, sugar, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg
• Using a whisk, stir the dry ingredients to combine
• In a separate bowl combine the eggs, and buttermilk
• Whisk until combined
• Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until combined
• Lastly, fold in the carrots, raisins, and lemon zest
• Let stand for about 10 minutes for the ingredients to come together
• This recipe may require an additional couple of tablespoons of buttermilk, or even milk to attain the right consistency, it should not be thin and runny, but it also should be able to pour fairly well with a ladle, adjust accordingly, if necessary
• Once the batter is ready, heat a medium sized pan to medium heat
• Add a little bit of melted butter and swirl to coat the bottom
• Then quickly add the batter, enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but not too much, swirl the batter around the pan to cover evenly
• Let cook until it begins to brown slightly around the outside, and begins to bubble in the centre, about 2-3 minutes
• Flip the pancake over and repeat cooking on the other side
• If the pancake is too browned on the outside before it is cooked in the centre turn the heat down slightly, if the pancake is cooked through, without browning at all turn the heat up slightly
• Repeat with the remaining batter until all of the pancakes are cooked
• You don’t need to make your pancakes look the way that mine do, they will taste just as good even if you don’t present them quite the same, just smear them with the cream cheese, drizzle them with maple syrup and the kids will be in heaven!

 

Who’s hungry?