Category Archives: Desserts

Pandan Waffles

We all know waffles, right? A light, slightly eggy cake cooked in a waffle iron so that it’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. We enjoy it with a pat of butter and real maple syrup. Some people eat waffles with fried chicken as a savory Southern twist.

The Southeast Asians put their own twist on the waffle by adding a bit of pandan extract to the batter. Pandan, or screwpine, is a tropical plant that has fans of long, green leaves that, when cooked, imparts a sweet, pleasingly fragrant aroma to whatever it is cooked with. We used whole pandan leaves to infuse our nasi lemak coconut rice dish.

Here’s a pandan waffle recipe that makes a delicious breakfast, snack or dessert so good, you won’t want to stop eating them. It is a tried and true recipe, something we make quite often. The recipe comes from food blogger Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen, who is the author of “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen“.


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Crepes

Crepes weren’t a big thing for me back when I was growing up in Hawaii. Batter-based breakfasts were usually in the form of waffles, muffins or pancakes – rather bready. Nowadays, I can’t take too much of those dense kinds of foods. Thankfully, crepes are a nice alternative.

Using the “Chantilly Crepes” recipe from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s cookbook “The Cake Bible”, I whipped up a big batch of batter then set to work with the crepe pan. I couldn’t help but notice the browning patterns on the cooking crepe. They kind of remind me of a Mandelbrot set — pretty cool 😉

I made a pile of crepes for a brunch party the next day.

Spread with Nutella, sliced up half a banana, and topped it off with a few dollops of fresh whipped cream. Yum!

I like crepes because they’re so versatile. You can put all kinds of jams and fruits on top. Annie’s mum likes them with fresh squeezed orange juice and a little sprinkle of sugar. You can even put savory stuff inside…the sky’s the limit!

What do you like in/on your crepes?

Aloha, Nate