Breakfast 2/21/09: Jam-filled crepes and chai lattes

Today I made jam-filled crepes and chai lattes for breakfast. Check out the photos and recipes below (both originals!).

Crepes
makes 6 med-large crepes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Ener-G
1 3/4 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
several globs of Earth Balance
Canola oil (spray works best)
6ish tbsp your choice of jam (orange marmalade is wonderful)
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

1. In a medium-sized bowl mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and egg replacer. Add water and vanilla and mix until smooth. Do not over mix.

2. Heat up a non-stick pan to med heat (or if you're lucky an electric skillet- 350 degrees) and add a glob (~.5 tbsp) EB per crepe. The bigger the skillet/pan, the more crepes you can fit.

3. Pour about 1/3 cup batter onto pan and spread around with a plastic spoon as thinly as you can. Let cook for a few minutes until brown spots appear on underside. Spray upside with canola oil. Flip and continue to cook a few minutes. Transfer to a plate when finished and keep warm in the oven while you're making the rest.

4. When your crepes have all been cooked, spread about a tbsp of jam on each and fold both ends to the middle. To get the crepe to keep its form, use a little jam as glue under the last fold.

5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!


Chai Lattes
makes 2 good-sized mugs
Ingredients:
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
4 pieces crystallized ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp whole black pepper
2 tsp whole green cardamom, crushed in fingers
~1/2 tbsp black tea leaves (amt. depends on taste)
1/2 tsp whole cloves
2 tbsp sugar (I like it sweet!)
1/3 cup soy creamer
powdered cinnamon to sprinkle on top

1. Place bay leaves, ginger, cinnamon sticks, black pepper, cardamom, and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat a little and continue to boil for 10-15 minutes.

2. While the mixture is boiling, place creamer in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Set aside to get nice and frothy on top.

3. Turn the stove off and add the tea leaves, cloves, and sugar to the pan. Stir and then steep for 3 minutes.

4. With a large spoon or ladle, pour the tea mixture through a tea strainer and into two larger mugs.

5. Spoon half the froth into each mug and then pour the remaining creamer carefully into the mugs so as to not disturb the froth! Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve hot!