Vegan By Mercedes Aspland / February 23, 2014 function printContent(id){ str=document.getElementById(id).innerHTML newwin=window.open(”,’printwin’,’left=100,top=100,width=822,height=600′) newwin.document.write(‘nn’) newwin.document.write(‘Print Pagen’) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.write(‘function chkstate(){n’) newwin.document.write(‘if(document.readyState==”complete”){n’) newwin.document.write(‘window.close()n’) newwin.document.write(‘}n’) newwin.document.write(‘else{n’) newwin.document.write(‘setTimeout(“chkstate()”,2000)n’) newwin.document.write(‘}n’) newwin.document.write(‘}n’) newwin.document.write(‘function print_win(){n’) newwin.document.write(‘window.print();n’) newwin.document.write(‘chkstate();n’) newwin.document.write(‘}n’) newwin.document.write(‘$(document).ready(function(){ $(“iframe”).remove();}) n’) newwin.document.write(‘$(document).ready(function(){ $(“#contactInfo”).remove();}) n’) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.write(str) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.write(‘n’) newwin.document.close() } I know I do not normally post on a Sunday but yesterday Arsenal were playing and it took all of my attention so I am doing yesterday’s post today. I have to say that Arsenal are becoming too much of a worry for me at the moment, I seem to be having a really bad nights sleep before a game and the stress is getting to me. I am sorry to say that I am actually looking forward to the end of the season. I have also been having a think today about where this blog is going. When I started it I never intended for it to be only a food blog and to have a decent amount of other things on it but I seem to have got obsesses with creating recipes. I still feel the same way though and am going to try and bring some more yoga and other health bits along for the ride. I might also bring some more of my knitting bits on to the blog which I have not done so far. Ok, so on to the recipe for today. Basically it is only just over 2 weeks until shrove Tuesday or as it is commonly know, pancake day and this has led me to get working on pancake recipes. I have seen a few pancake cake recipes around and wanted to try making one. I then remembered that I had a lot of Cherry jam left over from My Cherry Fun in the summer where our cherry tree just produced an unbelievable number of cherries. Plus I already know that almonds go amazingly well with cherries and making almond cream would be something new to try and so we ended up with this recipe. When making this I was really apprehensive and a little bit nervous, making pancakes without eggs was the first challenge, then it was getting it all together and was it going to taste ok. I don’t know what I was worried about, this is one of the nicest desserts I have made and stopping myself from eating it for breakfast has been a real challenge. It is sweet and sticky and gooey and just everything you want a dessert to be. It does take a bit of time to make this cake but it is worth it and would be the perfect centre piece for your evening meal on pancake day. Just a quick word on pancakes, in the UK we use the word pancake for crepe but also for much thicker American style pancakes. In this recipe I have made very thin crepes which helps to keep it quite light. Cherry & Almond Pancake Cake Serves 6-8 Prep Time: At least 12 hrs Cook Time: 2 hrs Total Time: At Least 14 hrs Ingredients For Almond Cream 125g/1 Cup Blanched Almonds 2 tbs Powdered Agave Sugar For Cherry Jam 500g/17.5oz Cherries, stones 500g/17.5oz Caster Sugar 125ml/1/2 cup Fruit Pectin For Pancakes 180g/6.25oz Wholemeal Flour 60g/2oz Almond Meal 650ml/2 1/2 Cups Almond Milk 1 tbs ground flax seeds Pinch of Salt A Handful of chopped almonds for decoration Instructions For Almond Cream 1. Soak the almonds in cold water over night and then drain and rinse with fresh water. 2. Place the almonds, agave sugar and 1-2 tbs of fresh water in a blender and blend to a smooth cream consistency. You may want to add a little bit more water to get you there but be careful as you want to keep this a cream. Place in fridge until you make up the cake For Cherry Jam 3. Put the cherries, sugar and pectin in a large pan and bring to the boil. Keep at this temperature for about 30 mins. Then place a small plate in the freezer and once cool put a small amount of jam on it and put in the freezer for 2 minutes, If it starts to set you are good to go. 4. Place all you jam into sterilised jars and seal. Allow it to cool completely before using. For Pancakes 5. Mix the flax seed with 3 tbs of cold fresh water and set aside for 10 minutes. 6. Place all of the ingredients in a blend and mix to form a batter. This should be quite a thin bater to spread over a pan as we are making crepes with it. 7. Coat a 6″/15cm non-stick frying pan with vegetable oil and heat well. Now coat the pan with a thin layer of batter and cook over a low heat. When the pancake is cooked on one side flip and cook on the other. I find the first 2 or 3 pancakes are usually a write off but then you get with the flow. 8. Make about 20 pancakes and set aside to cool. To Make Up 9. Once everything had completely cooled and set you are good to start making up your cake. 10. Start by placing a pancake on the plate and spreading a thin layer of cherry jam followed by a thin layer of almond cream and then another pancake. Keep repeating until you get to the top pancake. 11. Spread the remaining almond cream on top of the cake and decorate with chopped almonds. Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow it to set before serving.
