Puffed Apple Pancake

My fairly short food blogging stint has been more amazing than I ever could have imagined.  I have made friends and contacts from around the world, been exposed to endless fresh recipes and ideas, and had more heartwarming comments than I can count.  Tracy, of Tracy's Living Cookbook has recently added to the heartwarming comments by awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award!  Thank you Tracy, you made my day and I am most certainly honored to be among those on your list.

In receiving this award I am to list 7 things about myself and forward the award on to 7 recently discovered (to me!) bloggers.  So here it goes!

1. I was a Girl Scout Leader for 5 years during Liv's elementary school days.  I had over 25 girls pass through our troop over the years and watching these girls grow up has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I've ever had!
2. I am originally from San Rafael, just north of San Francisco.  My dad had a restaurant, the Windjammer, in Tiburon while I was growing up and I have wonderful memories of being treated as a princess by the waiters when we visited.  (Maybe that's where my foodie roots started!)
3. I don't like cold weather or the snow... it's OK for a quick visit, but given the choice I'd rather live in Hawaii.
4. I don't ski or surf very well, but based on the prior comment, I'd rather surf (so long as the water is not too cold!).  I paddle around on my board every year here along our San Diego coast and love the feeling of "catching a wave", but I have yet to actually "hang 10"!  =)
5. I love to read and am having anxiety at changing over to a Kindle.
6. I love the smell of garlic on my fingers after I chop it.
7.  I recently purchased my first jar of Nutella and I am totally addicted!!!

Now to pass this award on.  The following 7 blogs have been recently discovered by me and I've truly enjoyed getting to know the writers:


Colleen from Souffle Bombay. Colleen has a wonderful sense of humor that shows through in her writing.  I look forward to her witty posts and mouthwatering recipes.

Letizia from Letizia Golosa.  Letizia's recipes are simply amazing and her photos are stunning.  Her homemade Nutella recipe made me swoon!

Sophia & Suri's Place.  While this is not a food blog, I have truly enjoyed reading about the adventures of these adorable little girls.  Now that my kids are getting older I'm having to live vicariously through others...  The story about the Disney box had me laughing out loud!

Kim of Kimba's Kitchen.  What a wonderful blog!!  Kim is living in Australia and is torturing me with her fresh, beautiful summer recipes!  Her recent and stunning Mixed Red Berry Mascarpone Cheesecake dessert left me breathless.

While this blog is not really new to me, the word "Stylish" more than applies.  Amber at Sprinkled with Flour exemplifies style when it comes to her lovely recipes and well written posts.  She recently passed me the "One Lovely Blog Award" and I couldn't have been more honored.

Another blog that exemplifies style is Sweet Pea's Kitchen.  Beautiful photos to go with her tempting recipes.  I found her recent Pumpkin Roll simply amazing!

Felice at All That's Left are the Crumbs is another blog with style.  Living in Hawaii I'm totally envious of her and she has some amazing recipes to boot!  Most recently the Chai Snickerdoodles... amazing!

And last but not least, I'd like to also pass this award on to Hester at "Comida es me vida Y my vida es comida!"  Hester always leaves me the most wonderful comments and always makes me smile.  She has some absolutely wonderful recipes on her blog, one of my most recent favorites being her Fritata Papa, my mouth waters just thinking about it!

Thank you again to Tracy for passing this award to me!

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Now on the our Puffed Apple Pancake!

With Thanksgiving break almost over, Liv and I decided to try something new and a little special this morning.  Her eyes lit up as she discovered a recipe for an Apple Puffed Pancake.  We altered ingredients to suit our tastes, and came up with a lovely last day of Thanksgiving Break treat!

Flavored with pure maple syrup and cinnamon, this clafoutis-like treat is somewhat reminiscent of Apple Pie.  With such a small amount of flour added this recipe was almost almost custard-like in texture, the tender slices of cinnamon apple giving a wonderful flavor addition.  A dusting of powdered sugar mixed with a dash of cinnamon was the perfect topping to this fresh from the oven treat!

Puffed Apple Pancake


2 large eggs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
sant 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp butter
1 large apple, sliced
1/8 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
cinnamon mixed with powdered sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 425º.

Combine the eggs, flour, half and half, maple syrup and salt in a medium bowl and whisk vigorously until flour is completely incorporated.  (alternatively you may mix with a hand mixer)

Add the butter to an 8 inch, oven proof non-stick skillet (if your skillet handle is not oven proof you may wrap the handle with a few layers of foil).  Add the apple slices and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.

Give the egg mixture another vigorous whisking and pour the batter into the skillet, spreading out the apples.  Cook over medium heat for about a minute then transfer the skillet to the preheated oven.  

Bake pancake until puffed, golden and set, about 12 minutes.  Remove the skillet and let the pancake cool for a few minutes in the pan (it will deflate).  Slide a spatula under the pancake and slide out onto a cutting board.

Sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon and cut into slices, serve warm.  Enjoy!