Red Velvet Pancakes

Ah! This last installation in Pancake Week is a little bit late but I've been overcome with heat and sickness. That's me being dramatic but I have been spending my last days in bed with nothing but my laptop and occasionally my super cute dog!

A while back ago, a reader suggested that I make red velvet pancakes. She said that they would be the perfect fit for my blog, and as soon as I read her comment, I wholeheartedly agreed. I love kitschy food! Most people are sick of red velvet now, but I could never get sick of something so lovely. I mean anything that gives me excuse to eat buttermilk and cream cheese frosting is okay by me.

These pancakes are just plain fun. The red color is stunning and immediately evokes a giggle out of me. These would have been extremely lovely with a light cream cheese glaze but unfortunately I didn't have any cream cheese on me. I made a buttermilk syrup instead and it was equally as lovely. I just love buttermilk syrup because I can never find a way to use up all the excess buttermilk I have in my refrigerator! Plus, it sure is tasty.

Red Velvet Pancakes

Yields: 2 servings

Original recipe here.

1 cup flour

1 tbsn. cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbsn. sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsn. melted butter or vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. red food coloring
buttermilk syrup, for serving

Preheat a lightly greased or nonstick skillet on the stovetop. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the egg, melted butter, buttermilk, vanilla and food coloring and whisk well until the better is smooth and few lumps remain. Drop the batter into the hot skillet and cook until the edges are just starting to set and the bottom is lightly browned, about 2 - 3 minutes. Flip and cook again until the bottom is lightly browned, about 1 - 2 minutes. Serve immediately with syrup, berries, or whipped cream.

Spiced Peach Pancakes

Guess what friends?! This week at Une-deux senses is PANCAKE WEEK!

There's no shortage in my love for pancakes here. You've seen me make oodles of pancakes, from chai-spiced, to creme fraiche & pear, to matcha, to mango & coconut, to ricotta hotcakes, and even cornmeal hoecakes! Whew, that was exhausting going through all the kinds of pancakes I've made... so it's pretty clear then that I love them so dearly right?!

If you can believe it, I have tons more of pancake recipes just waiting to be published in my arsenal of good eats here at Une-deux senses. So I decided to just bang them out in a lovely week I've entitled: PANCAKE WEEK. I just realized I repeated myself but oh well, the excitement here is beyond!

What better way to celebrate a summer breakfast with fresh, juicy peaches? Surrounded in a slightly spiced and fluffy batter and topped with even more juicy, sweet peaches? Dang, I'm in heaven. I caramelized some peaches in butter and brown sugar to top my pancakes with, but that's completely optional. What a great start to my PANCAKE WEEK!

Spiced Peach Pancakes

Yields: about 12 large pancakes

Adapted from my favorite pancake recipe, here.

1 cup whole wheat flour 

1 cup cake flour or ap flour

3 tbsn. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

pinch of salt

2 eggs

2 cups lowfat buttermilk

2 tbsn. butter, melted

2 - 3 large, ripe peaches, sliced thin

crème anglaise, for serving (recipe here)

Preheat a griddle over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Throw some water on the griddle, if it sizzles, it's ready. Turn down the heat to medium-low and grease the griddle with cooking spray. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and lay about 3 - 4 slices of the peaches on top. Cook until bubbles start to arise to the top of the pancakes and the edges lose their sheen. Flip, then cook until golden brown. 

A Dinner to Remember, Plus Things I Want to Forget...

I think we all have this problem that I continually find myself having. Gift finding and gift giving. I love giving people meaningful gifts or at least gifts that someone will actually enjoy and actually use, but for someone like your father or mother, after 22 years of giving them gifts multiple times in the year, it gets well hard...

I cannot for the life of me think of what to get my dad anymore, so for the past couple years, it's become a tradition to just cook an extravagant, coursed meal. Anyways, isn't a great meal shared between loved ones the greatest gift of all?

First, we started off with appetizers. I looked no further than Smitten Kitchen for inspiration. She makes the best things, and I can always trust her when she tells me that I have to make something. Everything has always reached expectations. These eggplant salad toasts and creamed mushroom toasts were excellent in every way. Easy, simple to prepare and delicious. The eggplant was deliciously smokey from the roasting and the feta added this nice bit of zippy tang. The creamed mushroom was decadent and awesomely creamy, we could not get enough of either!

Eggplant Salad Toasts

Yields: about 8 toasts

Original recipe here.

1 medium eggplant, about 3/4 lb., cut into 1/2" cubes

2 tbsn. olive oil, plus more for oiling baking sheet

1/4 tsp. salt

hfreshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 scallion, thinly sliced

8 1/2" thick slices of baguette, brushed with olive oil

1 small clove garlic, peeled and halved

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly oil a baking sheet, set aside. toss the eggplant, olive oil, salt and a generous amount of black pepper together in a medium bowl until evenly coated. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes, moving pieces around occasionally so they evenly brown. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and toss in the vinegar, feta and scallion. Broil or toast the baguette slices then rub them with a garlic clove, top with the warm eggplant salad and enjoy!

Creamed Mushrooms on Chive-Butter Toast

Yields: 4 servings

Original recipe here.

1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms

2 tbsn. unsalted butter, more for toast

1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped

2 tbsn. dry white wine or white vermouth

1/4 cup heavy cream

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

slices brioche or good white bread, crusts cut off if desired

1 tbsn. fresh chopped chives

coarse sea salt, for garnish

Clean any excess dirt from the mushrooms, then slice in half lengthwise and brush away any grit. Chop into 1/4" pieces. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the shallots and saute until very limp, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the wine, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook, for about 5 minutes more. Uncover the pot and continue cooking, siring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cream, simmer until slightly thickened, 2 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toast the bread and spread with butter. Cut each slice diagonally and sprinkle lightly with chives. Top each toast with some of the mushroom mixture, sprinkle with additional chives, garnish with sea salt and enjoy!

For our main course, we decided to make lamb kabobs. Lamb isn't something we eat often, so when we eat it, you know it's a celebration! This lamb was easy to prepare, and although it is kind of a pain to heat up the grill to cook them, it's well worth the process. The stunner of this entree was definitely the couscous though. This couscous is something I will make over and over and over again because it's beyond simple and quick to prepare the and flavor is DIVINE. I wrote that in all caps because I was blown away by how delicious this couscous was! The sauce, simple though it looks, was really great too.

Lamb Kabobs with Couscous

Yields: 4 - 6 servings

Original recipe here.

For the kabobs:

lbs. top round lamb

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsn. minced fresh rosemary leaves

2 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves

good olive oil

1/4 cup dry red wine 

2 tbsn. red wine vinegar

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 - 3 small red onions

2 pints cherry tomatoes

For the sauce:

1/2 cup good chicken stock

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 tbsn. freshly squeezed lemon juice

pinch of minced fresh rosemary leaves

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For the couscous with pine nuts:

4 tbsn. unsalted butter

3/4 cup chopped shallots (3 - 4 shallots)

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups couscous

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup dried currants

2 tbsn. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Cut the lamb into 1 1/2" cubes - you should have about 20 cubes. Combine the garlic, rosemary, thyme, 1/4 cup olive oil, red wine, vinegar and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Add the lamb cubes, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight for up to 2 days. Toss occasionally. Heat a grill with coals. Spread them out in one dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Cut the red onions in quarters and separate each quarter into 3 or 4 sections. Loosely thread 3 - 4 pieces of lamb onto the skewers, alternately with sections of the onion. Sprinkle both sides of the lamb with salt and pepper. Next, place the cherry tomatoes on the skewers, threading them through the stems of the tomatoes. Brush the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Place the lamb skewers on the hot grill and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, turning 2 - 3 times until the lamb is medium-rare. Approximately 5 minutes before the lamb is done, place the tomato skewers on the grill, turning once, until seared on the outside but still firm inside. For the sauce, bring the chicken stock, olive oil and lemon juice to a boil in a small pot. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Add the rosemary, salt and pepper. 

To make the couscous, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the shallots and cook them over medium-low for 3 minutes until translucent. Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, stir in the couscous, cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Add the pine nuts, currants and parsley and fluff with a fork to combine. Serve the couscous alongside the lamb and tomato skewers, with the sauce on the side. 

On to things I want to forget... these lemon souffles. We wanted a stunner, but something light to finish the meal, what better than a souffle right? That was the plan anyway. Souffles are pretty tricky, they require love, patience and care. In the midst of chaos in which we were preparing dinner, the souffle process kind of got pushed to the side and I shouldn't have been surprised with the results I was faced with. Out of the oven, they showed such promise, they actually rose!  

When we digged in... oy vey. Something had definitely gone awry. They weren't lemony enough, they weren't cooked through, and near the bottom they actually tasted kind of like scrambled eggs. No, no, no. Definitely not what we had planned on ending our fabulous dinner with at all. In the end we just enjoyed our fabulous homemade blueberry compote with some vanilla bean ice cream and all was well again.

Lemon Souffles

Yields: 6 servings

Original recipe here.

1 tbsn. unsalted butter, plus more, room temperature, for dishes

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for dishes

4 large egg yolks, room temperature

5 large egg whites, room temperature

1 tbsn. flour

3 tbsn. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsn. finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup whole milk

powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter 6 12-oz. souffle dishes, then dust with sugar. Whisk together the yolks, flour, zest and 2 tbsn. sugar. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Slowly pour the milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent yolks from cooking. Return mixture to the pan and whisk until thick like a pudding, about 1 - 2 minutes. Strain through a sieve and whisk in the butter and lemon juice. Beat whites until foamy, then gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup + 2 tbsn. sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture and gently fold in. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites using a rubber spatula. Fill each prepared souffle dish to the top and smooth. Run your thumb around the edges to remove batter from the rims. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet until the souffles rise and are golden, about 16 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.  

Blueberry Compote

Yields: about 1 1/2 cups

2 cups blueberries

2 tbsn. sugar

1 large lemon, zested and juiced

1/4 cup water

In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, water, lemon zest and lemon juice. Heat over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until most of the blueberries have opened and the sauce has reduced. It should be the consistency of maple syrup.

Coconut & Mango Curd Cupcakes

Don't you just love summer? It's starting to get hot in my part of town and even though I live for cold weather, the sun just has this way of making everything seem right in the world doesn't it? My favorite part of summer is all of the seasonal foods that come along with it - bright citruses, light salads and sweet mango! My all time favorite fruit is definitely the mango. I usually resist doing anything to it at all since it's perfect as is, but I wanted to try baking with it at least once before I resumed consuming them 5x a day.

So... I decided to make some lovely mango curd. I'm a big fan of curd - it's velvety, sweet and decadent. Mango curd just sounded ten times better! After successfully making a delicious mango curd, I then decided it would be an awesome idea to stuff some into some light coconut cupcakes. I wanted to try this small batch recipe for cupcakes I'd seen because sometimes you just want cupcakes... without having to eat all 24 of them or having to pawn them off on friends (haha... like that's ever been a problem).


The mango curd recipe yields much more than needed to fill these cupcakes, but I'm sure you'll find many more uses for it. This recipe for small-batch cupcakes is nothing short of amazing! The cupcakes came out fluffy, light and delicious - I could not believe it. The combination of the light cupcakes, velvety curd and fresh coconut on top is beyond. BEYOND! Really, you could use a light shmear of any type of frosting on top, but I just wanted something to moisten the tops just enough so that the shredded coconut would stick. Thinking about it now, you could just smear some curd on top to stick the coconut on and skip making the frosting all together.

Coconut & Mango Curd Cupcakes
Yields: 6 cupcakes

Coconut cupcakes adapted from here. Original curd recipe here. Frosting adapted from here.

For the cupcakes:

1 large egg

1/4 cup sugar

4 tbsn. unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

1/4 cup coconut milk


For the mango curd:

1/4 + 1/8 cup sugar

1/8 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup mango puree

2 egg yolks

1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

1/2 stick (4 tbsn.) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

For the flour frosting:

2 tbsn. flour

1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 tbsn. unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup shredded coconut, for topping

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with 6 liners, set aside. In a bowl, whisk the egg and sugar until well combined. Add in the vanilla and melted butter and whisk until combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and combine until no streaks remain. Mix in the coconut milk until smooth, then fold in the coconut flakes. Divide the batter among the 6 liners and bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely. 

To make the mango curd, in a saucepan, whisk the sugar and cornstarch to combine. Whisk in the mango puree, egg yolks and vanilla seeds. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until thick, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, 1 tbsn. at a time until incorporated. Scrape the filling into a glass bowl and press a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. 

To make the frosting, in a small saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of brownie batter. Remove and let cool completely to room temperature. Once cool, whisk in the vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until completely smooth and almost no sugary graininess is left. Add the flour mixture and beat the living daylights out it. If it looks separated, this means you still need to beat it some more. When finished, it should resemble whipped cream. 


To assemble the cupcakes, use a knife to scoop out some of the center of the cupcakes (set aside to consume later). Use a spoon to fill the hollowed cupcakes with 1 tbsn. of curd for each cupcake. Use an offset spatula to smear a thin layer of frosting across the tops of each cupcake. Dip each cupcake in the shredded coconut to cover. Enjoy!

Sweet Cherry Scones

I've been kind of, in reality, totally obsessed with scones at the moment. I guess I actually can't even say 'at the moment' because I've been obsessed ever since I tried the most monumentally, mind-blowing scones ever at the Diamond Head Market & Grille in Oahu, Hawaii. I was never one to love scones. They have a bad reputation of being dry and chalky... but ever since I met the 'one' I can't get the idea of delicious scones out of my damn mind!

I've come to realization with the fact that I will never be able to duplicate the glorious scones that come from the Diamond Head Market & Grille and that's okay by me. I guess I'll just have to visit more often ;)

Anyway, despite failures to replicate their famous Blueberry-Cream Cheese scones, I now know that scones can be very loveable. They don't have to be dry, bland or chalky. These scones are easy, delicious and moist beyond belief. Seriously, I had a craving for scones and whipped these up in less than an hour with not a drop of sweat or a wave of stress. The best part is that you can toss anything you want into them - I happened to have some fresh cherries on hand so that's what I threw in and it was delicious.

I imagine any fresh fruit would be perfect, possibly some dark chocolate? Lemon zest? Cream cheese? The possibilities are really endless!

Sweet Cherry Scones

Yields: about 10 drop scones

Adapted from here.

8 tbsn. unsalted butter, cut into cubes and frozen

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Fold in the frozen cubed butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, but do this fast so that the butter does not melt. In a large measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream and milk together to combine then add to the butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Use a large ice cream scoop to drop the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Chewy Matcha Chip Cookies

I did the unthinkable. I still can't believe I did it; something magical, something so beautiful I thought it only existed in dreams. I made matcha chips. Yes, yes I love tea. Blah blah blah, I say it so many times I don't think I need to say it again. I'm always searching for new ways to get tea into my baked goods and people, I have struck the tea-in-baked-goods gold!

I was inspired on a day of boredom to create such goodness. I've recently seen Nutella being made into chips, which of course, I plan on making soon as well - I mean, come on, how could I not? With the last bit of my matcha, I decided to mix it into some melted white chocolate and voila! Matcha chips, literally in 10 minutes. It... could... not... be... simpler! 

Kermit, you were surely wrong. It is very easy being green - especially when you are as lovely as Matcha. I mean come on with that stunning color! Of course, I had to toss these into these a chewy cookie batter and then nom, nom, nom on them as if my life depended on it! Oy vey... such is the life of a baker.


About the matcha chips, I only had 1 tablespoon of matcha powder left, so that's what I added to my melted white chocolate. After they had hardened, and I popped one in my mouth, the matcha flavor was not as distinct as I had wanted them to be, so in the recipe, I upped the amount to 2 tablespoons. Although, after being baked into the cookies, the matcha flavor was a bit more prominent - score! But next time, I still would double the matcha since a "pow" of matcha flavor is highly welcomed.

The cookie dough in all of its wispy, lovely goodness:

A celebration of GREEN!

Chewy Matcha Chip Cookies

Yields: 24 - 30 cookies

Highly adapted from here.

For the cookies

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 tbsn. strong-brewed green tea

2 cups matcha chips

For the matcha chips:

2 cups white chocolate chips

2 tbsn. matcha powder

To make the matcha chips, carefully melt the white chocolate over a double boiler, making sure not to burn it. Once smooth, whisk in the matcha powder until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe into 'chips' onto a piece of foil. Allow to harden completely, about 1 hour or you can speed this up in the freezer.

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until very smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and green tea. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients until well combined. Fold in the matcha chips carefully. Roll rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, then place on the prepared cookie sheet, about 1 1/2" apart. Use your palm to press them down slightly. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to cool completely on a rack.