We've been known to do "breakfast for dinner" fairly often in the past, but it seems that it has been way too long since the last time. Jeff had been asking for pancakes or waffles sometime this week, so I obliged with tonight's dinner for
Coconut Pancakes with Orange-Mango Compote with a side of crisp salty bacon.
The chunky compote is a mixture of sweet red apples, mangoes, orange zest, chopped orange segments, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Tossed with a bit of water, the mixture simmers until the fruit is tender... then a touch of cornstarch, dissolved in water and lime juice, is mixed in to tighten up the extra juices in the compote. The pancakes are up next - in the dry ingredients, you will notice the use of coconut flour. This stuff is fairly expensive and honestly, it does not add much in the way of coconut flavor - I used it because I had it on hand, but I would just as well use whole wheat pastry flour or even all-purpose instead. What does give the pancakes a boost of coconut flavor comes from the use of coconut milk as the bulk of the liquid ingredients. While the taste is still fairly mild, you can tell they are coconut pancakes upon first bite. The golden round cakes are light, fluffy and not too sweet, which makes them a great background to show off the delicious compote. However, they are also not very remarkable and just kind of disappear as they have no gusto to them. I may not make the pancakes again, but the compote, on the other hand, was scrumptious and will be made again to top French toast or waffles!
The chunky compote is a mixture of sweet red apples, mangoes, orange zest, chopped orange segments, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Tossed with a bit of water, the mixture simmers until the fruit is tender... then a touch of cornstarch, dissolved in water and lime juice, is mixed in to tighten up the extra juices in the compote. The pancakes are up next - in the dry ingredients, you will notice the use of coconut flour. This stuff is fairly expensive and honestly, it does not add much in the way of coconut flavor - I used it because I had it on hand, but I would just as well use whole wheat pastry flour or even all-purpose instead. What does give the pancakes a boost of coconut flavor comes from the use of coconut milk as the bulk of the liquid ingredients. While the taste is still fairly mild, you can tell they are coconut pancakes upon first bite. The golden round cakes are light, fluffy and not too sweet, which makes them a great background to show off the delicious compote. However, they are also not very remarkable and just kind of disappear as they have no gusto to them. I may not make the pancakes again, but the compote, on the other hand, was scrumptious and will be made again to top French toast or waffles!
Joe - You had me at Coconut! The idea of coconut pancakes just sounds so good. Do you think adding in some sweetened coconut flakes would up the coconut quotient?
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice combination - since I can't go to Hawaii right now, this sure would bring Hawaii to me!
ReplyDeleteEd - I bet it would, maybe even toasting them before adding them?
ReplyDeleteDeborah - I wish to visit Hawaii one day - do you go often?
Mee too, coconut was all I needed to hear! and mango is a bonus :)
ReplyDeleteI'm quite new to pancake making, I hope I aspire to a pretty stack like yours.