carrot cake pancakes

after eating these beauties in boston, i just couldn't get the idea of carrot cake pancakes out of my head. today i gave it a shot and i think they came out pretty well. the next time i make these i think i'd sweeten the cream cheese a bit more.

carrot cake pancakes

pancakes:
2 eggs
1 c milk
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c brown sugar
2 c flour
2 tbs baking powder
1 tbs baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 c shredded carrots

maple cream cheese:
1/2 block cream cheese
1 tbs maple syrup
2 tbs chopped pecans

garnish:
chopped pecans

beat eggs, milk,vanilla extract and oil together. in a separate larger mixing bowl combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. mix in egg mixture. mix in shredded carrots (i used orange and yellow carrots). allow mixture to sit for 15 minutes. cook on a griddle at medium heat. cook slowly to allow the pancakes time to puff up and carrots time to cook. combine cream cheese, maple syrup and pecans. top pancakes with maple cream cheese, garnish with chopped pecans.

i'm back - boston food

thanks to skybus, a friend and i scored some $10 tickets to boston. columbus foodies: if you can get $10 tickets to boston, do it! boston had some great food, unfortunately there just weren't enough meals in my 4 day trip to fit in all the food i wanted to eat.

i was surprised by the quantity and quality of ethnic food in boston. the north end had an impressive offering of italian cuisine and specialty shops. we also had a great time in china town. i'd like to go back and eat for a few days straight in china town. two meals i regret not eating in china town: shabu shabu and dim sum. maybe next time. another thing that surprised me was the quantity of french food to be had in boston. maybe it's columbus' decided lack of french food that made it seem so prevalent.

a tasty dessert of fresh berries with brown sugar and honey creme fraiche from bouchee:
doing my best to consume as much lobster as humanly possible, i had this yummy dish of lobster ravioli with crab cream sauce at trattoria il panino:
then it was on to modern pastry for the best cannoli of my life. no joke:

other notable desserts were the chocolate gateau petit robert from le petit robert:
and the giant profiterole also from le petit robert:

and the crowning jewel of the entire trip, a dish so good i've thought about it at least once a day every day since and what will be my next recipe to obsessively attempt to duplicate and perfect:

carrot cake pancakes with maple cream cheese butter

from sugar magnolia's in gloucester mass. yeah, you heard it right. carrot cake + pancakes + maple + cream cheese + butter = pure heaven. i think i moaned aloud for the -entire- meal. so light and fluffy, yet rich. texture was perfect and the taste was just the right amount of pancake and just the right amount of carrot cake. i'd fly back to boston just to eat these pancakes.

strawberry pecan cornmeal pancakes

cornmeal is my favorite variety of pancake. i think it's got way more flavor and superior texture to your average flour-based pancake. this is an easy way to dress up cornmeal pancakes.

strawberry pecan cornmeal pancakes

1 box of jiffy corn muffin mix (8.5 oz)
1 egg
2 tbs vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup diced strawberries

mix together corn meal, egg, oil and milk. let sit for 15 minutes. toast pecans in a saute pan until they become fragrant. dice strawberries. fold strawberries & pecans into batter. cook in non-stick pan. batter will bubble slightly when ready to be turned. garnish with sliced strawberries and pecans.