Homemade Pancake Recipe and Tutorial (Pancake from Scratch)

As promised, I'll be sharing the pancake-from-scratch recipe I'm using for years now. I know using commercially sold pancake mix is a hassle-free stuff yet it is very important to know how to make food from scratch, in case packs ran out of stock *wink* plus it is healthier than processed mix.

It is important to keep this in mind. The ingredients are divided into two parts. First, the dry ingredients, and the latter part is the liquid ingredients of course.

Let's mark the first part as Ingredient A (dry) and Ingredient B (liquid).


Ingredient A:

1 cup cake flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


Ingredient B:

1 cup milk (can be fresh milk or evaporated milk) (must not be substituted with powdered milk)
1 tablespoon melted butter/cooking oil
1 egg (in room temperature)

Optional:
maple syrup
a slice of butter

LET'S GET STATED!

Template Changed; Le Myxilog v3.0

Hi everyone! I am finally done with my unannounced hiatus, I guess. Because finally, my girly-girl theme was installed and now I'd be able to blog more. :D Yey!

Supposedly, the photo below was my last design for my new blogger template, but apparently, the codes messed up and I wasn't able to retrieve what was lost.


This took me 3-4 days of planning and 2 days of designing+coding actually. Nothing new still. I just want to came up with a simpler version (2-column) template.


Upon seeing my new template design, Mom told me "Babaeng babae naman!" (Too feminine!). And this is how I replied, "Eh ito ang gusto ng babae niyong anak eh. :D" (That's what your daughter wants.) I don't know. She's just used of my favorite color blue perhaps. Anyways, she still appreciated the outcome and told me it is wonderful. :D

You can see my previous templates here: http://myxilog.blogspot.com/p/layouts.html

So, what do you think about my new template? Is there something else that needed to be tweaked? Just tell me. I'd love to hear your suggestions and ideas!

It's October tomorrow already! Take care everyone!

Management Monday: Chocolate Storage and Substitution

Happy Monday everyone! Today's post is about tips and tricks on how to handle and manage stuff in the kitchen (like how tos and DIYs).


Last time, I've posted about the proper way on how to melt chocolate (Read here.). Today, I'll share with you how I store chocolates for baking and cake decorations.

Chooclate buttons
Image from HERE

Storage:

Store chocolate in a dry, cool place, below 75 degree if possible. At higher temperatures the cocoa butter melts and rises to the surface. When this occurs, chocolate develops a pale gray color known as "bloom". This condition does not impair flavor or quality and the original color will return when the chocolate is melted.

To prevent chocolate from developing bloom during hot humid weather, refrigerate in the original wrappings. Remove from the refrigerator as needed, since bloom may develop as the chocolate comes to room temperature.

Substitution:

Most recipes are so carefully developed and tested that you are more sure of success when you follow the recipe exactly. Generally, it is best not to substitute a sweet chocolate for an unsweetened chocolate and vice versa.

Featured: Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter

Cookie butter craze have been creating noise in PH since the beginning of 2013. Thanks to my cousin from California, I was able to try this for free.


I've read before that Speculoos is the Dutch name for biscoff, which originally came from Belgium. Others claim that Biscoff is better than Trader Joe's Speculoos yet I only have the latter and can't prove the difference yet.


True, this product is totally creamy, flavorful (though I can't taste any hint of gingerbread like what the packaging promised, but nuts) and very spreadable plus not too sweet and greasy (like our usual spread out there).


It is good, but I wasn't really impressed since there's really nothing peculiar with the product itself, unless topped on ice cream or frozen yogurt I guess. Mom stated "Yun lang yun?" (Is that it?) cause my brother bakes cakes with the same taste. -_- In my opinion, this isn't really worth the hype. It has made me expect a lot but wasn't blown away and hooked like others was. Now wishing that Biscoff (the other one mentioned earlier) will change my perception about this "cookie spread".


So if you haven't tried this cookie butter yet, Cookie Butter Manila, Joe and Cherry, Lorena and Loreta and other online shops were selling a jar in different price range.

Have you tried this product? I'd love to hear your views about it.

Featured: Mother's Cookies' Circus Animal Cookies

While reaching out for a newly discovered song's lyrics called Roar by Katy Perry, I saw my cousins running around munching something new. "Baby, what's that?", I asked. Without further ado, they handed me this big bag of goodies for me to try it myself. It's Mother's Cookies Circus Animal Cookies!


Circus Animal cookies, popular in the US, are small animal shaped cookies, which are covered in pink/white frosting and rainbow sprinkles. I've read a lot of stories, reviews and rants about this popular cookie brand. Others claimed it has changed a lot since the company's discontinuity. Well, I can't brag about that, 'tis the first time I've ever tasted the product.


Nothing fancy or peculiar with the biscuits actually. Not my thing really, only to those with sweet tooth perhaps.

Have you tried these cookies? I'd love to hear from you. ;)

Management Monday: The Right Whisk

Happy Monday everyone! Today's post is about tips and tricks on how to handle and manage stuff in the kitchen (like how tos and DIYs).


Every kitchen should have a whisk on hand. It might not be a must, but it's an essential kitchen tool. Don't you just love mixing your favorite cake batter with a handy-dandy wire whisk?

So today, I'm gonna show you several balloon whisks we own. Yaps, there were different types of whisks base on their purposes. (We'll tackle that in the future. ^_^)


Among the whisk shown on the photo above, which one do you own?

Kitchen Chronicles: Perfect Pancakes (Almost!)

Did you know how lame I was before when I first worked on my pancake from a scratch recipe? Don't feel pity for me everyone. After several trial and error, I guess I finally mastered the recipe. *wink* It actually isn't the recipe's fault why my pancake happened to be so ugly like in the left photo below. I may not used a great pan and I've messed with the technique.

Management Monday: How to Melt Chocolate

Happy Monday everyone! Today's post is about tips and tricks on how to handle and manage stuff in the kitchen (like how tos and DIYs).


Without any dilly dallies, here's a short shot on how to melt chocolate which you can use as a cake/cupcake or even bread decoration. *wink*

Image taken from here.

So no matter what method we use, chocolate should always be melted with gentle heat because it scorches easily. If chocolate is to be melted alone, make sure that the boiler and stirring utensil are dry cause even a tiny drop of moisture will cause the chocolate to become lumpy and stiff, which we don't want ever to happen.

Over very low heat:

Place unwrapped and chopped chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat. Stir constantly until everything's melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

Over hot water (my most used method):

Place unwrapped and chopped chocolate in top of double boiler. Melt over hot (not boiling) water, stirring constantly until smooth, about 10 to 12 minutes.

In liquid:

Chocolate may be melted with butter or liquid (milk/cream) as the recipe calls over very low heat directly, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until thoroughly blended and smooth.

In a Microwave oven:

Place chocolate buttons or chopped chocolate in a microwable bowl or dish and heat for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir. Put the bowl back inside the microwave and heat for another 10 seconds. Remove and stir. Continue the process until smooth.

For Dip and glaze:

Place the chocolate over how water and heat only until partially melted, remove from water and stir until chocolate is entirely melted. This will keep the chocolate glossy.

Here are just few methods I know. There'd be a lot more in other sources. But still, I hope this helps! Adios! :D

Featured: JD Gross Collection Superieur

Hoping that I'd be more productive this month. I'm always tired and lazy to shout my heart out. How can I apologize? -_-

Anyhow, I wanna share with you this product I just received last week! Hooray! ^_^


No, don't ever think of that! This isn't a set of oil pastels you use for doodles and the like, yes, looks may deceive you but this is totally edible.


Why? They're chocolates! Tita Ethel gave me this JD Gross Collection Supérieur from LIDL company with some other stuff she got from Germany.

The brand isn't new to me. I've tried J. D. Gross Madagascar chocolate before, and still can't get over how luscious it was.

What I like about this set is that, there are eight (8) types/flavour of different chocolates, each individually wrapped. Each variety has a different color on top of the golden band. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, mocha, hazel nuts, almond nuts and the rest are indescribable. The whole set weighs 200 grams, and I guess a piece averagely weighs 10 grams (other goes to the packaging). It is easier to finish eating a little less of what you would eat if it came well packed like this, awesome ayt?


Some are plain and some are stuffed. You can definitely choose which flavour to take. All were translated to German so it's more challenging if you'll just pick and guess. :)


I don't crave for chocolate most of the time, but trying this one really changed my perspective about bite sized goodies. My ticklish taste buds shout for more more more! I just wish we have a lot of this!

What's your fave foreign chocolate/chocolate brand? Mind sharing it with me?