Goats Cheese and Pine Nut Pancakes

Pancakes are always a great one for kids but they don't always have to be sweet, why not opt for a savoury version...this is a great basic recipe so feel free to substitute for a different cheese if you fancied :) 

Goats Cheese and Pine Nut Pancakes

125g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

50g hard goats cheese

25g toasted pine nuts

Pinch of salt

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon olive oil

150ml (5 fl oz) milk

In a bowl add the flour, Baking powder, cheese and toasted pine nuts. In a jug add the egg, olive oil and the milk and whisk until frothy. Pour into the flour/cheese mixture and whisk to make a thick, smooth batter.

Heat a frying pan over a medium/high heat with a little oil, pour out the excess oil once its heated.

Spoon some of the batter into the frying pan. Don't overcrowd the pan, and cook in batches if needed. Cook for about 2 minutes or until almost set and bubbles are breaking on the surface, and the bottoms are golden.

Turn the pancake over and cook for a further 1–2 minutes or until golden on the other side. Transfer to a plate while you cook the remaining pancakes.

Please feel free to add other ingredients such as different cheeses ie cheddar, blue cheese and walnuts or add some basil leaves :))

  

Caramel, Cream, Raspberry and Chocolate Crepe Cake

What a busy weekend I've had, so much cooking and baking. We've had friends over on both Saturday and Sunday and made feasts both days. I made a Spanish feast on Saturday which I promise to share the recipes but I will save those for another day. Sunday of course had to be a roast, it's cold outside and it was well overdue. For pudding I decided that as it was almost pancake day I would try something a little different so decided on a crepe cake, now just to figure out what to fill it with...much simpler than I thought...everything hahaha :) Caramel, Cream, Raspberry and Chocolate Crepe Cake....you can thank me later :) it truly is amazing...heavenly and out of this world! Okay the pancake making is time consuming but once that's done, your laughing, I promise you won't regret it.

Caramel, Cream, Raspberry and Chocolate Crepe cake

Pancakes -
240g plain flour
4 eggs
600ml semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp sunflower oil or vegetable, plus extra for frying
pinch salt

Dulce de leche or any other caramel sauce (you can of course make this yourself but if time is short you can buy it already made)

Cream filling
200g mascarpone
300ml double cream
2tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Tub Raspberries

Bar of milk chocolate

Put the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the middle, then pour in about 50ml milk and 2 tbsp oil. Start whisking from the centre, gradually drawing the flour into the eggs, milk and oil. Once all the flour is incorporated, beat until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add a little more milk if it is too stiff to beat.
Finishing the batter: Add a good splash of milk and whisk to loosen the thick batter. While still whisking, pour in a steady stream of the remaining milk. Continue pouring and whisking until you have a batter that is the consistency of slightly thick single cream. There's no need to let it stand, this is a myth. Make up your pancakes in a frying pan and put onto a plate and leave to cool.

Cream filling
Whisk the double cream until firm and holds it shape
In a separate bowl mix the mascarpone with the caster sugar until soft and smooth
Add the mascarpone mixture to the double cream and mix well then add the 1 tbsp vanilla extract and mix.

To make the crepe cake
Place one of the pancakes onto a plate and spoon some of the cream mixture onto the pancake and smooth all over
Spoon a small amount of the dulce de leche and spread lightly over the cream
Take another pancake and lay that on top.
Spoon some of the cream onto the pancake and then add some of the raspberries
Keep repeating this until all the pancakes are used and top with the final pancake
Top off with more raspberries
Melt the chocolate and pour this over the cake
And now it's time to enjoy :)