PotW: Chai Pancakes with Black Tea-Poached Plums

[last Pancake of the Week: Whole wheat rosemary pancakes with garlic-chive goat cheese and fresh peas]

I must apologize in advance if this post is short on words.  It's just been one of those days.  You know, one of those days where you're perpetually late for everything, get stuck at literally every single red light at every single intersection possible, and basically start off with too much to do and absolutely no hours in which to do it all.  Yeah, it's been one of those Mondays, and the rest of the week isn't looking much more promising....  *sigh*

Yet, it's nice to come to this space and write about pancakes.  Because pancakes conjure up images of leisurely weekend mornings, when one can just kick back with a bottomless cup of milky black tea, a stack of magazines or newspapers or a long-put-off novel, and breeeeeaaaatttthe.  These chai pancakes with black tea-poached plums are a spiced-up incarnation of one of my favorite type of pancakes: those with poached fruit.  There's just something about the combination of sweet, fork-tender poached fruit and fluffy pancakes that I love as a robust yet light way to start off a carefree day.

I've been really into spices lately, favoring chai teas and Mexican or spicy hot chocolates as my drinks of choice to nurse for caffeine.  I think that part of it has to do with the threat of the upcoming chills of autumn, despite the fact that the weather here has been wavering schizophrenically between humid summer heat and overcast, day-long fog.  That and, as I sit late into the night reading, studying, or writing, having that little kick of spice definitely helps get me through.  Thus, these spices that I've been craving, translated into pancake form, with just-tender-enough, melt-in-your-mouth poached plums, were a perfect breakfast for the weekend.  Now, if only that had meant a leisurely week ahead...

Read on for recipe...

Chocolate Overload, addendum: Caramel Chai Dark Chocolates

A reader asked whether I'd share the recipe for the caramel chai dark chocolates from the Chocolate Overload post here.  I originally didn't post the recipe because I didn't write down what I did while I was making the chai chocolates, so I didn't have exact amounts.  But, I do have a pretty good guess from my memory, so Rebecca--this one's for you.

Chai tea dark chocolate ganache
(for Caramel Chai Dark Chocolates, I used some leftover store-bought caramel from another project.  For chocolate molding directions, check out the post here.)

6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4-5 Tbspn Darjeeling tea leaves
2-3 tspn ground cardamom
dash of cloves
a few grinds of fresh black pepper (white would work, too)
1 Tbspn butter
2 Tbspn Godiva chocolate liquor

1. Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream, tea leaves, cardamom, cloves, and pepper. Stir and bring to a gentle boil, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for ten minutes.
3. Return the spice and tea cream to heat and add the butter. Bring to just barely a boil. Make sure the honey is completely dissolved.
4. Remove the cream mixture from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer over the prepared dark chocolate. Allow to sit for two to three minutes, then stir until the chocolate melts into the cream.
5. Stir in the Godiva chocolate liquor. Allow the ganache to set in the fridge overnight before use.


Enjoy!

Chai tea sandwich cookies

This Christmas was most definitely not a cookie Christmas for me.  Actually, I was up to my elbows with chocolate making, since pretty much everyone I knew (that I saw) received a box of chocolates.  But more on that later this week.  I did get around to making one kind of cookie, and, given my infatuation with sandwich cookies this year, of course it had to be another sandwich cookie.

Vanilla-cardamom cookies

with Darjeeling tea filling

The original spark of inspiration for these cookies came from leafing through Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen (by Georgeanne Brennan), a book that one of Richard's aunts gave me as an early Christmas present (of course with the string attached that she wanted something out of the book for Christmas this year).  Amongst the recipes that I'd flagged to try during my first flip-through of the book were these awesome-looking vanilla cardamom cookies.  But, these are not it.  For some reason, I wanted something more.  And nothing was more natural a companion to vanilla and cardamom than Darjeeling tea.  :-)

I was hugely lucky also that my roommate, Maria, had brought me some Darjeeling tea from Darjeeling, India! on her trip there last year.  Of course, being me, I had to find a way to bake with it rather than sitting down and enjoying a cup....

Anyhow, I hope that everyone enjoyed a very Merry Christmas!  Have a great final week to 2009!

Read on for recipe...