The 'Pear'fect Pantry

I took my sister and brother out to brunch at a lovely little place called The 'Pear'fect Pantry in Wembley. It's another cafe that does vegan food! You can't even begin to understand how happy I am about that. 

I had a look at the weekend breakfast menu a while back and was totally sold by their vegan pancakes. It's vegan white choc chip pancakes with rhubarb compote, maple syrup and soy cream. Feel free to read that last sentence again. It sounds like an amazing breakfast right? Well, I will tell you now that I was not at all disappointed. In fact, it was better that I could have thought. They had run out of the soy cream so they gave me vegan ice cream instead. I really enjoyed the ice cream, but will come back and try the soy cream another day. The pancakes were unbelievably light and fluffy! Pillows of sweet goodness I tells ya. There just isn't anything I could fault with this meal. I cleaned the plate without any trouble :)

The siblings got the breakfast burger which had a fried egg, bacon, a hash brown, spinach, relish and mushroom. It looked amazing and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. The serving sizes were decent, and in the car ride home my brother literally went into a food coma and slept haha. 

The cafe is such a lovely little place. There is indoor and outdoor seating and a cute little fruit and veggie patch out the front. 

There were also lots of vegan cakes and cupcakes for sale that looked absolutely delicious. I loved this place so much that I will bring anyone and everyone I know for breakfast, lunch or a coffee date. Any reason will do.

We're so mean for taking photos of Peter sleeping :P

Self flipping popcorn pancakes

Modern Family is one of my favourite comedy shows. My brother and I have been watching all the episodes in order from season one episode one. The other week we watched episode 19 of season four "The Future Dunphys" where Phil and Luke tried to invent the self flipping popcorn pancake. The idea was to put popcorn kernels inside the pancake so that when they pop the pancake flips by itself. 

My brother and I thought this was hilarious so we decided to try it ourselves. I found a new recipe for vegan pikelets from Veggieful that I want to try so we used this as our pancake batter. We tried to cook the pancakes so many different ways in order to get it to flip over by itself, but we were unsuccessful each time. When my parents came home, they got in on the fun too and tried to come up with new strategies.

This is what we tried, in chronological order:

• Putting the popcorn kernels in the pan, then pouring the pancake mix over it. Fail. The popcorn kernels didn't even pop.
• I tested the popcorn kernels to see if they popped in the pan without the pancake batter. They only popped properly if a lid was put on the pan. 
• We got a big pot and put the kernels and batter in it and put the lid on. Fail. The kernels didn't pop. 
• Dad suggested cooking one side of the pancake and then putting it on top of the kernels in the pop with the lid on. Fail. The kernels didn't pop properly and the pancake didn't flip.
• We put the corn kernels in an egg ring and then placed the pancake on top (in the pot with the lid on). Fail. The kernels didn't pop properly again.
• We put the kernels in the egg ring but then put a teaspoon between the egg ring and the pancake so that air could get in. Fail. The kernels didn't pop properly. 
• Finally I hopped onto YouTube and found a video where they tried the self flipping pancake in the microwave. 
• So I put the kernels in the pan and put pancake batter on top and waited for it to cook enough on one side to transfer onto a plate. I put it in the microwave on high. SUCCESS!! The kernels popped after about 2 minutes and the pancake flipped!!!

Myth busters eat your heart out :P

My findings:
This only worked in the microwave, and unfortunately when the pancake came out of the microwave it was rock hard. Cooking it in the microwave absolutely nuked it. So technically, even though it flipped by itself, it's not edible. 

Even though the outcome wasn't ideal, I had so much fun trying this with my family. My dad and I are alike in so many ways and we didn't want to give up until we found a way to make the pancake flip by itself. I loved that he didn't think I was being immature because I found amusement in this. Definitely a great bonding activity :)

Vegan Hazelnut Pancakes

I still have some hazelnut meal in my pantry that I've been meaning to use, and when I saw The Lush Scoop post up on Instagram that they used hazelnuts to make pancakes, it inspired me to do the same. 

I found a recipe from Veggies on the Counter for Buckwheat and Hazelnut Pancakes which sounded nice and healthy. 

I made a few other additions to the recipe and came up with my own vegan hazelnut pancakes. I did not feel the least bit guilty eating these. They went went great with roasted hazelnuts and raspberry preserves. It was a great start to the day :)

Vegan Hazelnut Pancakes

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hazelnut meal
• 1/2 spelt flour (can be substituted for any other flour or buckwheat)
• 1/4 rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup soy milk (or any other non-dairy milk)

Directions

1. Add all the ingredients (except the oat milk) to a bowl and mix well. Slowly pour in the oat milk and whisk to combine. You’ll get a fairly thick batter, which is what you’re looking for.
2. Grease a large non-stick skillet with oil. Turn the heat to medium and, when the pan is hot, drop for each pancake 3 to 4 tablespoons of the batter. Cook the pancake for 2 to 3 minutes or until its top has just started to set. With a spatula, turn it over and cook for one additional minute.
3. Repeat the process with the remaining batter. Make sure you grease the pan with additional oil each time you drop the batter into the skillet. Serve the pancakes with agave nectar, maple syrup or raspberry preserves.

 

Vegan Red Bean (Adzuki Bean) Dorayaki (Japanese Pancake Sandwich)

I came across something amazing today by accident. I was searching for a recipe for red bean ice cream which then lead me to something called red bean dorayaki

Dorayaki is a traditional Japanese sweet dish which consists of a sweet filling (usually red bean paste) sandwiched between two pancakes. Why have I never heard of this before? And if I've only just discovered this, what other amazing things am I missing out on?

I could not find any vegan friendly versions of red bean dorayaki, so I made up my own based on this recipe I found from GinsKitchen. 

Vegan Red Bean (Adzuki Bean) Dorayaki

Serves 2

Ingredients

Bean paste:

• 1 cup uncooked red bean
• 3 cups water
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar (if you don't want it too sweet, you can omit the sugar or add in less)

Pancakes:

• 120g (1 cup) all purpose flour (i.e. plain flour)
• 95g granulated sugar (I used Low GI cane sugar. These pancakes were very sweet. Next time I'll only add about half the sugar)
• 1  tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese seasoning)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• Egg replacer for 2 eggs
• ½ cup water

Directions

Bean paste:

1. Soak beans for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.
2. Heat adzuki beans in a pot with 3 cups of water. When they come to a boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer until the beans are soft.  If necessary, add water so that the beans are always covered.  Skim off any foam that appears on the surface
3. When the beans are soft enough to break between your fingers, drain them in a colander.
4. Return the beans to the pot again and mix in the sugar.
5. Process beans in a food processor until you get the consistency of paste

Pancakes:

1. Whisk egg replacer with sugar and agave in a mixing bowl.
2. Combine flour and baking powder and add sifted flour in the wet ingredients gradually.
   Slowly add water while whisking until smooth (add water a little by little until the mixture is slightly runny).
3. Drop small ladles full on a lightly oiled fry pan to make pancakes that are about 3 inches in diameter. When bubbles start to appear, turn over the pancakes and cook briefly on the other side until brown.
4. Spread about two tablespoons of adzuki bean paste on one pancake, then cover it with another to make a sandwich.  Slightly press the edges.

Note: In order to get that lovely even brown colour on the pancakes, I recommend not putting oil in the pan. Instead, use a good non-stick pan if you have one.  

Vegan oat pancakes with apple and raisins

I woke up this morning with the plan to make apple and raisin oatmeal but somehow I turned the ingredients into oatmeal pancakes with apple and raisins. 

The original recipe calls for coconut milk but I'm not a huge fan of using it in my cooking because it's usually quite high in saturated fats, so unless it's necessary I will sustitute it if I can. I used soy milk instead but this made the pancake batter more runny so I had to up the measurements of the dry ingredients. 

After making the fluffy pillow pancakes from the Post Punk Kitchen website, I haven't wanted to try any other recipe because I have serious doubts that they could be as fluffy and thick as the PPK recipe. These pancakes however turned out pretty good. I added both baking soda and baking powder so I'm not sure if that's what did it, but they were thick none the less so I was happy :)

I was even more happy when my brother told me that he liked them too. In the past I have made healthy vegan pancakes which was wasn't so keen on, but he really liked these; and for a boy who's not really into fruit, he ate the pancakes with the sauteed apples too. 

Vegan Oat Pancakes with Apple and Raisins

(Makes 6 large pancakes)

Ingredients

• 2 cup Whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp ground Flax Seeds (mixed with 2 tbsp Almond (any non dairy milk)
• 1 cup of non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened soy milk)
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp vanilla

To Garnish

• 2 tbsp sultanas
• 1/2 apple, thinly sliced
• 1-2 tsp sesame seeds
• Handful of chopped hazelnuts
• 1-2 tsp pepita seeds
• Maple Syrup or agave to drizzle

Method

1. Make your flax “egg” first by mixing 2 tbs ground flax with the 2 tbsp milk and set aside.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside for a few minutes
3. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda & the oats, then add the soy milk, water, flax mixture and vanilla and use a whisk to combine all together. Let the mixture stand for 3 – 4 minutes then whisk again adding more milk if needed.
4. Heat a non stick pan (I greased my pan with some spray soya oil) and spoon a ladle full of mixture into the frying pan, it will fill out naturally into the correct pancake shape, cook for 2 minutes each side on a medium heat.
5. In the same pan, saute the apples until soft. You can use some coconut oil or vegan margarine if you like. 
6. Fill with your favourite fillings, mine being apple, raisins, sesame seeds, hazelnuts and pepita seeds and sometimes a dash of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Vegan matcha pancakes

I woke up earlier than I needed to today and because I knew I wouldn't have time today to do anything new, I decided to use up the last of my matcha powder and make some matcha pancakes. 

I did a quick Google search and came across a great recipe for fluffy vegan pancakes from the website Post Punk Kitchen. I've always had the trouble of my pancakes never being thick and fluffy enough, so I put a lot of hope into these ones. 

To my total and utter delight, these were by far the best pancakes I have ever made. Ever. In my whole 21 years of life. Hands down, today's were the best. I should frame this pancake recipe for sure. 

So the recipe on the Post Punk Kitchen site was actually just for normal buttermilk pancakes, but they tasted just as good with the matcha powder. I made a few substitutions which I've included below, but the Post Punk Kitchen recipe is a bit more user friendly.

With or without the matcha flavouring, nothing can spoil a day which starts with these pancakes. 

Vegan matcha (greentea) pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon matcha
1 cup vanilla soy milk  
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar  
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds  
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons sunflower oil

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add the matcha and mix to combine. Make a well in the center.

Measure the milk into a measuring cup. Add vinegar and ground flax seeds, and use a fork to vigorously mix the ingredients until foamy (I used a hand blender on high). This will take a minute or so.

Pour the milk mixture into the center of the dry ingredients. Add the water, sunflower oil and vanilla and use a fork to mix until a thick, lumpy batter forms. That should take about a minute. It doesn’t need to be smooth, just make sure you get all the ingredients incorporated.

Preheat the pan over medium-low heat and let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly coat the pan in oil. Add 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake, and cook for about 4 minutes, until puffy. Flip the pancakes, adding a new coat of oil to the pan, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. Pancake should be about an inch thick, and golden brown.