recipe : red velvet pancakes with cream cheese glaze

Red Velvet. Oh, sweet Red Velvet. Some of you may already know my obsession with it. My husband shares my obsession. So, what better way to celebrate my love of red velvet and pancakes than on Valentine's Day with my love? These pancakes had me at hello. I've been tempted to make red velvet pancakes for awhile, and finally made it happen. I knew these were going to be good as soon as I smelled them cooking on the stove. They were decadent, rich, and tasted just like red velvet cake. The cream cheese glaze added the perfect finishing touch. What a perfect combination. Yum! We will definitely be making these again. 

Add a side of {semi} heart-shaped bacon. 

Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze 
adapted from Cooking Classy

Serving: approx. 6 pancakes

Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups organic white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup organic sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tbsp red food coloring (add more or less depending on desired color)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup salted butter, melted 

Directions: Preheat a griddle on low to medium heat. In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. In a separate bowl, blend milk and vinegar together and set aside. Add in sugar, eggs, red food coloring, vanilla and melted butter. Mix until well combined. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Lightly butter griddle and scoop out 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle. Cook until bubbles form and then flip to other side until cooked through. Serve warm with cream cheese glaze and any garnishes, if desired.  

Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 ozs. cream cheese, room temperature
4 ozs. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk (add more to thin out)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
*refrigerate leftover glaze in airtight container

Directions: In a mixing bowl, blend cream cheese and butter until fluffy, with an electric mixer. Once well combined, add in remaining ingredients for about 1 minute. Add in additional milk if you want to thin out glaze. Serve over hot pancakes. 



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recipe : lemon ricotta pancakes

Sunshine Lemon Coolers. Who can forget these tasty treats? Cookies with that slight hint of lemon flavor and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. That's the taste I was hoping to replicate when I came across this recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. Talk about perfection. They were downright fluffy, with just a hint of lemon-y flavor, but not too overpowering. With a little syrup as an accompaniment, they were exactly what I was looking for to satisfy my lemon cookie craving. 

• Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
• |Adapted from Gourmet Magazine| 
• 4 large eggs, separated

• 1 1/3 cups ricotta

• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• melted butter for brushing the griddle

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, the ricotta, the sugar, and the zest, add the flour, and stir the mixture until it is just combined. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks, whisk about one fourth of them into the ricotta mixture, and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Heat a griddle over moderately high heat until it is hot enough to make drops of water scatter over its surface and brush it with some of the melted butter. Working in batches, pour the batter onto the griddle by 1/4-cup measures and cook the pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden, brushing the griddle with some of the melted butter as necessary. Transfer the pancakes as they are cooked to a heatproof platter and keep them warm in a preheated 200°F. oven. 

Enjoy. 

*If you try these out, I would love to hear about it. 

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recipe : buttermilk pancakes with rum syrup

In this household, we don't need a reason to eat pancakes and definitely do not frown upon devouring them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It just so happens yours truly was craving some delicious, buttery pancakes this week and had to have them. I followed this basic recipe and took cue from Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere's quick & easy *rum syrup recipe. I tweaked it a bit & used a 1/4 cup of rum, 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Needless to say, it satisfied my craving and then some.  *Note: When you cook with alcohol, the heat evaporates the alcohol content, leaving the desired flavor without the alcohol. So enjoy without the worry.
HAPPY FRIDAY Follow me on: Facebook | Bloglovin' | Twitter | Pinterest

fall tones

{Original Cobblestones}

{Ice Skating Rink adjoining the Standard}

{Can you spot the DVF building?}

{Standing on old train tracks @ the Highline}

{Christmas Holly Berries}

{Pier 54 - where the Titanic survivors docked aboard the Carpathia in 1912}

{Grand Central Terminal}

All photos of me taken by hubby, Larry Vila

All other photos taken by lil' ole me...

Faux Fur Vest: Michael Kors | Sweater: H&M | Gingham Top: J. Crew

Pant Leggings: H&M | Boots: Frye 

Jewelry: Forever 21 necklace; Vintage elephant cuff, Forever 21 pyramid spike bracelet + J.Crew tortoise

Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs | Lips: MAC Amorous | Nails: Essie Tiny Wine-ey

This weekend my husband, Larry, and I decided to venture across the river to New Jersey to a diner made famous by Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives {a.k.a. Triple D}. Yes, we watch that show religiously. This place coins themselves Brownstone Diner & Pancake Factory and you know any place that calls themselves a pancake FACTORY has to live up to certain expectations, right!? Being a pancake lover myself I, of course, had to try one of their 31 choices of gourmet pancake offerings. I went the simplistic route and chose the Banana Pancakes. Not only were they HUGE; they were also delicious! I could only get about 1/2 of it down before the food coma promptly hit me. What we do for yummy goodness! Our trek back into the city had us stop at the Highline in the Meatpacking District to snap some photos {and burn some calories} before the sun went down. It was a perfect, cool + crisp Fall Day! It wasn't planned, but my outfit matched the fall tone day perfectly. And, as always, play time goes by too quickly. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. :)

Happy Monday {and hurray to a short work week)!

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recipe : pumpkin pancakes

I have fond childhood memories of waking up on weekend mornings to the smell of breakfast wafting through the house, specifically the smell of pancakes. To this day, pancakes hold a special place in my heart {and tummy}. These pumpkin pancakes are no exception and are very reminiscent of Fall. As I was making these over the weekend, the scents of pumpkin, nutmeg, brown sugar, and cinnamon permeated the air and I swear my heart smiled.


Pumpkin Pancakes




Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar {i used brown sugar}
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl.
2. Whisk together the milk, pumpkin, butter and egg in a separate bowl. Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients.
3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
4. Pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and cook approximately 3 minutes per side.
5. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

*recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

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