Valentine’s Day Pancake Breakfast

We love a great big breakfast in our house, but it doesn’t happen very often because it’s just hard to get going when we have to get out the door on the weekdays and still have activities Saturday and Sunday morning.  But when we finally get a chance, our favorite part of a big breakfast is pancakes. Pancakes mean love and togetherness for us, and hopefully it will for you too!

Not only are we going to make pancakes, but we are going to make them heart shaped, and have a bunch of sweet toppings on the side! Our toppings are going to be fresh pink whipped cream, nutella, and a simple berry compote!

Gather up the following

Favorite pancake recipe (I gave you my favorite below!)

Metal heart shaped cookie cutters

Cooking Spray

Nutella

Frozen berry mix and/or fresh berries

Heavy whipping cream

Granulated Sugar

Red (or pink if you have it) food coloring

Optional

Ziploc bags or pastry bags

Decorating Tips

Before we start, guys, let me tell you.  I am a pancake snob. Actually, for the longest time, I just thought I didn’t like pancakes all that much.  But then a friend made me this recipe and I realized that it’s not that I didn’t like pancakes, it’s just that I could never get a hold of good pancakes. My dear friend sent me this recipe for “Fluffy Pancakes” through Allrecipes.com.  I keep this recipe pinned to the fridge and make a double batch for our family of 4 because the regular recipe is not enough!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk

• 2 tablespoons white vinegar

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 egg

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

• cooking spray

Directions

1. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Yields 12 small pancakes

Personal note:  Milk and vinegar are often used as a substitute for buttermilk, but even if I had buttermilk I wouldn’t use it because I think the reaction of the vinegar and the baking soda is a great leavening agent!

Making the Heart Shaped Pancakes

After making your pancake batter, spray the inside of your cookie cutter and lay it down on the hot pan and spoon some batter inside the cookie cutter. We just need enough to make fairly thin layer.  Too much batter will leave you with an uncooked middle. To reach the corners, use a skewer or similar tool to push the batter to the edges. Once the edges and batter have firmed up, we can remove the cookie cutter, and flip the pancake to finish cooking on the other side.  As an adjustment, I would cook these on a medium low heat so it has a better chance to cook evenly and firm up without losing its shape. Repeat until out of batter.

Pink Whipped Cream

Fresh whipped cream is so easy and tasty to make.  All you need is 1 cup heavy whipping cream, and 2 tbsp sugar. You can adjust the sugar to your tastes as well! Using a chilled metal mixing bowl and chilled metal whisks produce the best results creating a nice firm whipped cream that’s not weepy.  Just add the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and red or pink food coloring into a bowl and whisk away with an electric mixer until you have stiff peaks (3 - 5 minutes). Add a little food coloring at a time and adjust as you go.  I then chose to put mine in a ziploc bag with a star shaped decorating tip so we could decorate our pancakes.

Simple Berry Compote

Compote sounds fancy, but it’s just so simple. At its most basic form, its cooked fruit and some sugar.  I’m using a 2 cups frozen berry mix because it’s easier for me, but fresh cut up fruit will work as well along with 2 tablespoons of sugar!  Simply pour the fresh or frozen fruit in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until you’ve reached a slow boil. With fresh fruit, add 2 tablespoons of water to get things going.  You’ll know it’s done when the fruit is very soft. Taste your compote adding sugar a little bit at a time and adjust to your tastes. If you want, you can use a potato masher while cooking to get a smoother texture, or you can full on blend it up when your done.

Nutella

No recipe to add.  Nutella is God’s gift to the world.  All I did was put some in a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the tip for writing messages!

Serve it up!

You can make individualized messages for your sweethearts and serve them up, or just place it out on the table and make some for each other!  

Read More