chocolate chips | La Bonne Bouche

What’s the best breakfast you can have on a lazy Sunday?

My vote goes for pancakes with red summer fruits and a wee bit of honey. My parents sent me some honey that they extracted from their beehives not long ago and on top of this, on Friday I bought some red summer berries , so the only things missing to pull together a great lazy sunday breakfast, were the pancakes.

While growing up, my mum was always making us some thin french-style pancakes, however lately I discovered those fluffy and thick american babies a la Jamie Oliver. On Sunday I decided to go for the latter, they seemed a bit more fulfilling and more proper for a lazy weekend.

pancakes

3 large eggs

115 g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

140 ml milk

a pinch of salt

1 tablespoon sugar

vanilla

chocolate chips, strawberries or red currants

Start by separating the eggs. Beat the egg white until they form stiff peaks. Meanwhile mix well the egg yolks with the sugar, milk, flour, salt, vanilla and baking powder, until you obtain a smooth thick batter. Fold gently the egg whites into the batter.
Heat a non-stick pan on a medium heat. Add a drop of oil to the pan and then pour some of the batter into the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until the pancakes look golden and firm. Sprinkle fruits or chocolate chips on the uncooked side, gently lower them into the batter with a spatula and flip the pancake over. Continue frying until both sides are golden.

The best way to bring back summer when it is raining for days in a row is baking some summery sweets. Yeah, it is raining for a while already and I am kind of done with it, I want sun, hot weather, that kind of hotness that makes you want to move just to dive into the deep blue sea. Despite the greyness of last week, it was a great week and I wish it could last much longer, at least few years longer. A little part of family visited me, so it was a great time to spend with them, especially with my little niece. She just turned six last week, so I had the chance to bake her a Barbie cake. Growing up in a communist country, Barbie was a bit of a UFO, we’ve heard she existed, but nobody ever encountered one. Now, it was my turn to have some fun playing with Barbie, so I decided to dress her up in a strawberry tiramisu cake. About Barbie’s skirt I will write another time.

Now is time for summer blues and family leaving sadness type of therapeutic baking.

Searching for summery cakes I came across this recipe http://en.julskitchen.com/fruit/lemon-white-chocolate-cake. I adjusted the recipe a bit, but in the end it turned out great.

Sweet, somewhat delicate and light turned out to be the perfect cake next to some hot tea.

white chocolate and blueberries pound cake

4 eggs

200 grams sugar

100 grams white chocolate

150 grams butter

250 grams flour

8 grams baking powder

blueberries and dark chocolate chips

a pinch of salt

vanilla

Start by pre-heating the oven to 170C.

Melt the butter and the white chocolate on bain marie. Meanwhile beat the eggs together with the sugar until the mixture becomes whitish in color, light and fluffy. Mix in the melted butter and chocolate and incorporate them gently. Sift in the flour and the baking powder and mix well. Add some blueberries and chocolate chips to the batter and mix them in slowly.

Pour the batter into cake tins, lined with baking paper. Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.

Let it cool before slicing it.