Christmas on a Plate

Hello again dear readers. I know I've been out for long but I have a lot of new recipes I want to share with you all. I've missed staying in touch with you but there were other matters in my life that needed immediate attention, the details of which I'm not going to bore you with. But what matters is I can still count on you for continued support and love. And what better time to come back than the Holiday season! 

I could probably ramble on for hours of how much I love Christmas and how it still makes me feel like a child every year, year after year. Its a beautiful time to be thankful for all you have in life and to feel so blessed. I'm sure you echo my sentiments. Oh and who can forget our dear dear Santa, the jingling bells, the Green Christmas trees, the sparkling tinsel and the traditional ornaments, the mesmeric lights, the virgin white snow, the lovely melodies of Christmas carols, the gifts, the cheers and the laughing eyes of the cutest kids everywhere on this planet! Hmmm....just warms the cockles of your hearts, doesn't it?  :) 

Oh and you might be wondering that on a food blog during Holiday season, I haven't mentioned food yet! Well, here it is. I woke up today morning with a HUGE craving for pancakes. Now I know, for most people its not uncommon to have pancakes on daily basis, but in my home, its not as often that I do make them. So well, I wanted to have some pancakes- your usual ones, just more Christmassy. 

(I got a few nice clicks fortunately that I really wanted to share!)

Doesn't a strawberry remind you of a Christmas tree?! Well, to me it does- the red, green and the conical shape and the seeds look like tiny tree ornaments!! So well here you go! Choco pancakes with fresh strawberry syrup! 

Serves: 2

Complexity: **

Time taken: 20 mins

You'll need - for Pancakes

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

75-100 gms of dark chocolate/ chocolate chips

3 tbsp powder sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2- 2/3 cup milk

some oil/ butter to pancakes

Pinch of love

Method

Let me start by saying that you can vary the amount of chocolate and sugar depending on whether or not you're using sweetened or unsweetened chocolate chips. I didn't have Choco chips on hand and so I used semi sweet dark chocolate bar and chopped it up almost finely and added to the pancake batter. 

Alright, so combine the flour with baking powder and sugar so the baking powder is evenly distributed. 

Add the egg and vanilla extract to this and whisk.

Pour in milk, little by little so you don't make the batter too runny. Keep whisking till it reaches a pancake batter consistency. 

Now add the chocolate and whisk. Don't forget your pinch of love! 

Heat a griddle on a medium flame and add a few drops of oil or butter whichever you prefer. Let the oil heat for a minute and laddle in a batter of the pancake onto it. Let one side cook for a minute till you see bubbles rising on the surface and then flip it over and let it brown again. Takes less than 2 minutes per pancake, I do one at a time.

Make a huge stack of them and enjoy with your loved ones!

This recipe can be easily doubled. Oh n scroll down for the delicious strawberry syrup! 

You'll need

1 pint fresh or thawed strawberries, quartered

2 tbsp sugar, powdered

juice of one orange/ clementine (add pulp too)

a few mint leaves (optional)

Just dunk everything together in a blender and blend till it forms a pulpy puree.  Don't even think of straining it! You want to be able to taste the chunks of strawberry along with your delicious pancakes. Your syrup's ready! 

Drizzle it lovingly on the beautiful pancakes, grate some chocolate over the pancakes and enjoy the holiday treat! 

**Merry Christmas everyone! xx**