SUMMER SMOOTHIE PANCAKES (+ a Food of Thrones Weeks 4-6 recap)

The other day I posted a capture of these very pancakes on Instagram along with the claim that “… the only thing that really differentiates this recipe from that of a smoothie is the addition of baking powder! Yup- the deliciousness & benefits of a summery smoothie, in pancake form… “. I had quite a few curious comments about this, but there’s no real trick to it at all.

As you can see, the ingredients list below is not extensive and does indeed bear smoothie similarities. It includes buckwheat, albeit of the flour variety and not the soaked kind (so I hope no one finds my “smoothie-like”claim entirely disingenuous! 😉 ).

You could always add a spoon of berry powder, protein powder or other favourite supplement to the mix to give it an extra boost (much as you would a smoothie).

I hope you like the recipe!

And for those who are interested in happenings of a Food of Thrones nature (these pancakes were one of my own FoT-related creations), read on!

<3 MM xx

SUMMER SMOOTHIE PANCAKES

with strawberries & banana

INGREDIENTS
75 ml mashed ripe banana
75 ml puréed strawberries (approx. 5 strawberries)
450 ml buckwheat flour (or plain organic flour if you prefer)
1 tbsp rice malt/maple syrup
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
400 ml unsweetened cashew milk
Olive or coconut oil for frying

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Add all wet ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add buckwheat flour and baking powder and stir.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
4. Ladle batter into the pan and cook each pancake for around 3 minutes or until you see the edges have cooked and small bubbles are forming on the surface. Flip. Cook the other side for around the same amount of time. Repeat until all batter is used.
5. Serve pancakes with fruit & berries (something summery, ideally!), syrup and/or other toppings of choice*.

 

*I served mine here with roasted rhubarb, fresh strawberries, coconut cream and Loving Earth Buckinis (Deluxe Clusters).

*To make roasted rhubarb the way I did, simply cut the rhubarb into sticks of around 10 cm long, 2 cm wide. Clean them under cold running water (don’t bother to pat them dry). Pop them in a baking tray lined with baking parchment, sprinkle with a small amount of stevia sugar/caster sugar (NOT pure stevia) and cover the tray with foil, ensuring foil doesn’t touch the rhubarb. Bake at 180°C for around 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 5 or so minutes or until rhubarb is cooked to your liking and stevia sugar/sugar is dissolved.

FOOD OF THRONES RECAP

WEEKS 4 – 6

As I explained in my first Food of Thrones post, for each week of this Game of Thrones season, I’ve been setting a themed food challenge. The theme for week 4 was Creatures of Ice & Fire, and animal lovers had the chance to express themselves creatively and pay homage to their favourite furry (and scaly!) GoT characters.

Joining this week’s round with some truly stunning work were @mmmoky with a gorgeous cashew smoothie bowl inspired by the qualities of House Stark’s dire wolves, @voilavegan with a delicious Tunisian couscous salad with green harissa yoghurt (ice & fire right there, folks). 

@the_artful_foodie made a delicious dragon-inspired fiery dahl. @my_abundant_plate was similarly inspired by dragons (but one in particular: Viserion) created an aptly golden-hued pudding with Turmeric and cinnamon. @myvitalingredients made a scrumptious and hearty looking cauliflower dish which she entitled “The Sight of the Wolves”. And @vie_fondue created a dish of custard-filled puff pastry topped with strawberries and caramelized orange slices for the mother of dragons. Inspired too by our scaly friends, @erin_dreamingofalmonds made an amazing baked avocado egg creation, the recipe for which you can find here on her blog!

@plantfuelledchaos made an utterly appropriate and creative dragonfruit smoothie (served in a dragonfruit!), whilst @maaikesmunchies created a vibrant “fire-breathing breakfast smoothie”. Also feeling the smoothie love, @foodelight16 contributed a beautiful “Dragonfruit Banana Smoothie Bowl”.

@fabulouslymadeup contributed the only white walker themed creation (the ice shards were genius!) and, thanks to  @applefalltree (and @huskypupslife ), we had the appearance of not only a frozen direwolf paw print dessert, but our first real direwolves too (well, technically huskies, but still awesome 🙂 )!

Houses and House Words was the challenge for week 5, and the foodie creations for the GoT houses we love (and love to hate) did not disappoint.

Giving love to House Targaryen, we had @nutriholist (welcome to the party!) & her gorgeous “Fire & Land” smoothie bowl, @the_artful_foodie with mouthwatering dahl-stuffed tomatoes, @balancedlivingbyjj with refreshing blood orange & dragon fruit (I see what you did there!) smoothie, @applefalltree with ace kale, bean, turmeric tofu tacos and fab FoT first-timer @vivacious_eats with stunning cacao oats & compote.

For House Tyrell, we had @gingeredwhisk‘s beautiful rose-shaped apple tartlets, another first submission. Representing House Tully with patriotic red, white & blue berry parfait we had @fabulouslymadeup. Remembering House Stark, were @thehealthyfoodheaven with an awesome ice blue chia parfait, @foodelight16 with delicious matcha oats & @vie_fondue with an amazing spiced tapioca weirwood pudding. Backing mysterious House Reed was @myvitalingredients with amazing cranberry snack balls.

And, in apt GoT-style, we had a curveball submission for House Bolton (eek!) by @my_abundant_plate; a scrummy cherry sauce-drizzled pancake stack.

From lilac & vanilla salt, to deliciously decadent chocolate quinoa cake, watermelon pizza, cocktails, porridges, rainbow rolls & dumplings, the Food of Thrones week 7 dedications to the Landscapes of Ice & Fire made up an utterly delicious spread!

For the North, we had FoT first-timer@birdseedtweet‘s stunning Sprouted Quinoa Chocolate Cake with Cherry Coconut Tofu “Cream”, @nudefoodies‘ beautiful warming winter porridge and @vie_fondue‘s momos (Nepalese dumplings) in hot sauce
Sending much-needed love to Dorne, we had @erin_dreamingofalmonds with what might be my idea of a “dream hummus” (added turmeric = next level, I am sure you’ll agree), the most moreish spiced “golden” cake by amazing @my_abundant_plate and “A Dornish Feast of Mediterranean Eggplants & Exotic Parfaits” by legendary GoT fan and fantasy food creator, @ros13, who never fails to deliver.

The Reach was honoured with @thehealthyfoodheaven‘s lilac-infused salt, @fabulouslymadeup‘s delish Apple Pie Oatmeal and @elavegan‘s adorable watermelon pizza. In honor of The Vale, we had @gingeredwhisk‘s clever raspberry-infused take on mulled wine & @myvitalingredients‘ green goodness smoothie bowl. And mysterious Yi Ti received a beautiful rainbow rice paper roll dedication from @theradiantkitchen.

For the record, @nourishmemum & @birdseedtweet are intrigued by the show, but have never actually watched GoT. So let it be known; I do not discriminate or favour the hardcore fans. 😉

The FoT theme for week 7 was Triumphs & Tragedies; the scenes that have moved us. Plenty to draw inspiration from there, I am sure show-watchers will agree! Stay tuned for the week 7 recap and if you too are interested in participating in the virtual feast, there are 3 more episodes (and therefore 3 more rounds) to go. Find me on Instagram for more details or search the hashtag #FoodofThrones2016 to see what participants are getting up to. And, as I mentioned in my last Food of Thrones post,  information is forthcoming as to how this collaborative creative experiment will transform into something that gives back… in more ways than one!