Lazy Saturday - Honeymoon Pancake

When I was growing up, lazy Saturday mornings consisted of cartoons, friends sleeping over, and the promise of Honeymoon Pancakes, hot out of the oven. The recipe was there in the box, on an old faded and yellowing note card, written in my Grandmother's handwriting. It wasn't until years later that I realized nobody else called it a Honeymoon Pancake, but instead, a Dutch Baby, or a German Pancake.

But I refuse to use the common names. I like our family name for it much better than any of the others. It has the air of special occasion about it. And you can't help but feel that way anytime you pull one of these out of the oven. The way it puffs up to present itself, the steam rising and the edges golden brown, the butter sizzling in the pan and the toppings of fresh lemon and powdered sugar on top. It's a much requested breakfast dish with my friends and family, and I can't help but feel a sense of pride when setting one on the table. It always looks and smells fantastic.

This past New Year's my best friend even made a savory version for dinner. She added garlic and caramelized onions, and we all marveled at what a simple and delicious dinner it was. It goes to show how adaptable this dish is. Like crepe's, it can be sweet or savory, served in the morning or at night. Bake it with berries added straight to the batter, sauteed vegetables on top. Cheese would be a great addition. You could serve it a million different ways. But my favorite is still the old family classic. Served around 10am on a lazy Saturday, with good friends and family, and a squeeze of lemon and spoonful of powdered sugar on top.

Honeymoon Pancake

3 eggs

1 scant cup milk

1 scant cup flour

a pinch of salt

3 tbs sugar
1 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven and an ovenproof skillet to 450 degrees. The pan needs to be very hot before the ingredients are poured in. Mix the eggs, milk, flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Remove the pan from the oven and put the butter in. When the butter has melted, pour the batter in and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pancake is puffy and golden brown on the edges. Serve with lemon wedges and powdered sugar.

For the Weekend - Cinnamon Rolls

Do you have plans this weekend? Is it raining or snowing where you are? Would you be interested in waking up on a drizzling Saturday or Sunday morning, padding about in your robe and slippers and slipping a batch of these babies into the oven? Of course you would. But there's a problem. See, this is a two day kind of affair. So what you might want to do, is start it on Friday if you'd like to eat them on Saturday, and start them on Saturday if you'd like to have them on Sunday. It does take some planning.

And maybe that's the last thing you want to do on a weekend. Plan anything. I can understand that. I myself would like to lounge in bed with a mug of coffee watching episodes of my new favorite "Friday Night Lights" until noon.


So maybe, if you're really lucky (as I am) you can con someone else into making them for you. Someone who has the wherewithal to start the recipe the day before, and who doesn't mine getting up early to stick them in the oven. My sister is good that way, and she makes her cinnamon rolls every Christmas. Another piece of the Christmas Breakfast feast, another tradition we have.

And if you've been lucky enough to have a cinnamon roll, hot and gooey right out of the oven. The pastry melting in your mouth, you'll know that a little planning and effort is well-worth it. It's perfect for a rainy weekend.


Cinnamon Rolls
an Alton Brown recipe

For the dough

4 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large whole egg, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter
6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
4 cups flour, plus a little more for dusting
1 package instant dry yeast, about 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
vegetable oil or cooking spray

For the filling

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tbsp melted butter

For the icing

1/4 cup softened cream cheese
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.

Tradition - Swedish Pancakes

One of the great things about having a recipe blog is that now, for the first time ever, all of my recipes are landing in one easily accessible spot. A couple years ago, my friend Beth and I had meant to put together a recipe book for our friends and family. We never quite got around to it, but I still have hope.

It's a relief that I can just turn to my own blog when looking for a recipe I've done in the past that I can't quite return to from memory. Also, I only post the ones I like, so if it wasn't a big hit, it doesn't make it up here (there is the exception of my marshmallows post, but I blame that on myself, and not the recipe.) Case and point, my Grandmother's Swedish Pancake recipe. One I like to make for a large group of friends on vacation, and the staple in our house on Christmas morning. I just haven't quite committed it to memory yet. Working on it. For years over the holidays, she made breakfast special with these pancakes. Now, I've taken over, and they're one of my favorite things to make.

So, Swedish Pancakes (for those of you not of Nordic descent) are like miniature crepes. Sounds delightful, no? And they are. If you've never had them, you're missing out. They're melt in your mouth delicious. Served warm, drenched in maple syrup. You will need a Plett Pan, extra equipment, but totally worth it, they come relatively cheap, here's a good one. Ours has been passed down from person to person, and I actually received one for Christmas years ago. It's come in handy on those cold winter mornings, and it's certainly impressed my friends. Even if I have to do a quick email search to find the exact recipe. No more! Now I'll just look here.

Swedish Pancakes

3 eggs

2 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 tsp salt

lump of melted butter

Beat the eggs, add salt, sugar, flour and stir until well mixed. Add the milk gradually. Melt the butter in the Plett pan and add to the batter. Stir gently to combine, don't beat.

Add a tiny bit of butter to each pancake place in the pan, when melted, add a small spoonful of butter to each place, and cook over medium heat, turning with a knife when the batter has firmed and the bubbles in the middle are gone. Cook on the other side for about a minute.

It usually takes one batch to really get going, often the first batch sticks and is a wash. No matter! Press on and the next batch should work just fine. Add butter to each slot when cooking a new batch. Serve with maple syrup.