Hello January 2025!
In my last post, I talked about having a birthday brunch on December 24th. After lots of indecision about what to serve, I landed on creating a toast bar. If you’ve been here for a while you already know I eat toast pretty much every morning. If you’re new-ish to BFB, now you’re in the loop too. Toast is my jam. Anyway, I picked up a pine nut, black pepper, pecorino sourdough loaf from my favorite bakery, Burque Bakehouse, which happens to be a James Beard finalist. There was no question it would make the best toast ever. Toast fixings included sliced, smoked salmon, mustard dill sauce, San Daniele ham, hard-boiled eggs, a variety of cheeses, sliced tomatoes and crunchy romaine lettuce leaves, and sliced oranges with pomegranate seeds and mint.
It was divine, not just because everything was delicious, but because it was the first of what I hope will be many celebrations in our new home.
Also in my last post, I contemplated making two birthday cakes since I couldn’t decide between Tres Leches or my grandmother’s chocolate layer cake. But honestly, the thought of making and probably eating two birthday cakes was a bit much. Then, as if the NYT Cooking was listening to the conversation in my brain, a recipe for Nutella Tres Leches cake found its way to my inbox. How could I not make this cake? Obviously, there was no way I wasn’t going to make the recipe. I’m here to tell you it was as delicious as it looks. It’s also a cake that is made in advance so it’s a perfect cake for entertaining. Get it made ahead of your event, then serve it in all its sweet, creamy glory. The recipe called for Nutella to be added to the whipped cream topping, but since there was already Nutella in the cake layer, plus added sugar, I opted to omit the Nutella in this step, and I’m glad I did. All the cake needed right before serving was a quick sprinkle of nutmeg. And do you see those candles?
Those are the candles I had included in a list of things I would like to have from a post several weeks ago.
I may have already said this at some point, but I consider myself a pretty lucky person when it comes to having good friends. Two very close friends each sent me a set of these delightful cherry birthday candles from Happy Organics. They, and my friends, are just the best.
One of the tastiest things I’ve made for breakfast in a while is this Pear Cardamom Pancake. I received six beautiful pears as a birthday gift. They were ripening a little too quickly, so I decided to make a skillet pancake, essentially a Dutch Baby. This is probably best attempted on a weekend morning since it requires 25 minutes in the oven. But it is easy and quick to prepare otherwise and would be delicious with apples or berries if you don’t happen to have pears on hand. I also think a gluten-free version would work quite well using your favorite GF baking mixture. The recipe includes whole milk, but my hunch is that any kind of milk alternative would work just as well. The only equipment you’ll need is a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, a whisk and a mixing bowl.
Pear Cardamom Pancake
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE PEARS:
3 tablespoons butter
3 medium pears, sliced ½-inch thick
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Juice from half a lemon
FOR THE BATTER:
2 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
¾ cup AP flour or your favorite GF flour alternative
½ teaspoon Diamond Kosher salt
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup whole milk or plant based milk of choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
Position rack in center of the oven and pre-heat to 400ºF.
Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat on the stove top. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the pan and let melt. Once melted, add sliced pears, ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, juice from half a lemon, and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pears are just tender, and the sugar is beginning to caramelize.
Turn burner off and let pan sit on stove top while you make the batter.
Make the batter:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ¾ cup flour and salt.
Add 4 eggs. Whisk to combine.
Slowly, add in the 1 cup of milk, continuing to mix until the batter is smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract and melted 2 tablespoons butter.
Now pour the mixed batter on top of the cooked pears.
Transfer skillet into the oven.
Let cook until golden and puffy, about 25 minutes. The pancake will deflate almost immediately after removing from the oven. That’s totally normal.
Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar, or drizzle with maple syrup, or dollop with room temperature mascarpone cheese.
There is much to celebrate this year. A move to a new home which I am loving. The sale of our previous home. A successful hip replacement surgery in May. This Substack, where I get to talk not only about my love for breakfast and food in general, and fulfill a commitment I made to myself to pursue a newfound love for writing. These are all wonderful things. I have so little to complain about.
And I’m ready to take on 2025.
The Christmas season is a difficult one for me mostly because December 29th is the anniversary of my mother’s death which will forever fall five days after my birthday. It is inevitably a series of days leading up to the saddest, most difficult day of my life.
There’s also the fact that I celebrate Hanukkah. I love Hanukkah and lighting the menorah which commemorates the rededication of the Temple after it was occupied in the second century BCE. But with every passing birthday, (hello 65!) the more grinchy I become around Christmas time. I am glad I won’t be hearing Christmas music in the grocery stores anymore, at least until next year. And those inflatable Christmas decorations people put up can’t come down fast enough. Christmas for me is ho-hum rather than ho, ho, ho.
And while I’m definitely not a New Year’s Eve reveler, seeing January 1, 2025 on my new calendar is uplifting.
Resolutions don’t usually work for me. But there are some voids in my life that I’m wanting to fill in this year. They include increasing my friend circle, joining a singing chorus, learning Spanish, and playing Pickleball.
Also, I’m still struggling to digitize and organize the jumble of handwritten recipes I am fortunate to have. If anybody has any suggestions for how best to get them out of their shoebox and onto the computer without me tearing out each and every hair from my head, I’d be eternally grateful.
So, here’s to 2025. May we all find joy, may the world get to experience peace, and may you never burn your morning toast.
