A Blackberry Breakfast of Pancakes and Muffins

Fresh Blackberries

August, the month for blackberries. These delicate, plump berries that resemble raspberries aren't around for long. Their expensive price tag at the supermarket make it a 'once in a while' special treat worth splurging on. The fresh flavours of blackberries + lemon + ricotta create wonderful light summer treats. I have incorporated this combination in two recipes: pancakes and muffins.

Blackberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Last week, I made some Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. I loved those light-as-air pancakes so much I had no troubles deciding on what to do with the leftover ricotta cheese. More pancakes! (If you've read my Hawaii post, you may know I have a weakness for pancakes) Blackberries work just as well with lemon and ricotta and best enjoyed in the form of these fluffy pancakes. Using the pancake batter recipe linked above, but just replacing the blueberries with blackberries in the sauce.

Blackberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins

For the sake of trying a new recipes some of the ricotta went towards a batch of muffins. Same three flavours, but in a completely different form.

Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Simple Blueberry Sauce

These will be the fluffiest pancakes you will ever put into your mouth. They are cloud-like and will take you on a field trip to heaven. Really.

Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

My family has been consuming blueberries at record amounts; the 40lbs we picked at Krause Berry Farms just a week ago has pretty much been consumed as is. Being a cook, I wanted to make something with fresh blueberries, as it is very rare I have them at hand to use in a recipe. Frozen berries turn my baking into disasters...it's very unfortunate. So I saved a small box of blueberries to create something magnificent. And I managed to reach my goal.

Time to take a bite of Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes smothered with Blueberry Sauce

I remember Peanut Crumpet telling me about her mom's uber fluffy ricotta pancakes. With that inspiration in mind, I searched the Internet for a blueberry version. Blueberry + lemon + ricotta appealed to me the most; the light and fresh flavours were perfect for a summer brunch. My mouth started salivating as I scrolled through all the photos, I was so eager to make them!

Admire the fluffiness of these Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

DIY Summer High Tea

DIY Summer High Tea

Tuesday June twenty-fifth, the day every single one of us has finally been released from the grasp of year end exams. And what better way to celebrate together than a five hour catch-up gossip session over high tea? Paying to experience high tea at a fancy cafe Downtown is not within our poor student budget, and making food ourselves allows us to have a wider variety of food. Our specialty is eating, and eating a lot. This is just the beginning of an awesome summer vacation, with many more get-togethers involving food to come. 

Here is the menu for the Summer High Tea. Please see the recipe posts for more photos!

Clockwise from top left corner: Fruit Jello Parfait, Earl Grey Cupcake, Salad (sans dressing), Green Tea Macaron, savoury bottom tier, Lemon bars

Fresh Salad with Orange Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

Open-faced Cucumber Sandwich with Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

Open-faced Avocado Sandwich

Classic Club Sandwich

Black Tea-Infused Garlic Miso Chicken Salad Cone

Bell Pepper, Green Onion, and Gouda Fluffy Mini Quiche 

Mini Beef and Cheese Sandwich Roll

Apricot Gouda Scone

Baby Strawberry Whole Wheat Shortcake

Earl Grey Cupcake

Matcha Macaron with Chocolate Ganache

Lemon Bar

Fruit Jello Parfait

Love from Papaya and Coconut Crumpet and Co.

2nd Tier: Quiches, Scones, and Devonshire Cream

DIY Mother's Day High Tea at Coconut Crumpet's home

Not having enough room on this middle tier, there are a mix of sweet and savoury goods here. My massive Lemon Cranberry Scones hogged a lot of room and there was already an overload of finger sandwiches on the lower tier. To solve this space problem, I used a few dinner plates to hold the rest of the servings of food, including the French Onion Crab Rounds and desserts. 

Continue reading for some delicious scone recipes!

DIY High Tea for Mother's Day

DIY Mother's Day High Tea by Coconut Crumpet

To celebrate Mother's Day, as well as my mama's birthday, I prepared a high tea lunch for her and a group of close friends to enjoy. It took three or four days to prepare as one would never have enough time to cook, bake, and assemble everything in one day. With some helping hands and baking elves, this ambitious project of mine was successfully presented. Even if it was with [not purposely] mismatched dishes and a plastic tablecloth...

Sharing high tea with a group of friends is truly an experience every foodie should have, whether it be at a restaurant or hosting one yourself. It's a rare chance to dress up and act like a bunch of rich old grannies sitting at a beautifully adorned table having quality gossip time. That is the Crumpets' dream life as retirees.   

My love for high tea has grown significantly after this party. I just picked up 3 sets of tiered trays from Costco in preparation for any other opportunities for me to host another high tea. They only have 2 tiers, but hey, it was $6!

Below is the menu for that day's high tea. Recipes for select goods will be accessible through the links. The ones with no links are because there isn't really a recipe, the words you read are all the ingredients used. There just ain't much to it.
 

Open-faced Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwich

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Sandwich

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Bell Pepper, Mushroom, and Cheese Quiche

Shrimp and Avocado Crostini

French Onion Crab Round

Mini Bacon and Cheese Scone

Lemon Cranberry Scone

Devonshire Cream

Mocha Cheesecake Square

Coconut Muffin

Green Tea Cream Puff

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Toasted Almonds

Meyer Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Salad with Meyer Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette

The smell of meyer lemons are intoxicating. I can't help but stick my nose by these lemons every time I pass them at the supermarket. They're the 'sweet and tart' descendant of normal lemons. If you want to make the best out of lemon recipes, meyer lemons are the way to go.

Meyer Lemons

To start off my rainy long weekend, I brought home two bags of meyer lemons. Springtime is the season for these babies, so I feel so festive using them in recipes now. They are super cheap, only $1 for both bags! But that was because they were old stock and were getting squishy and soft. Not going to stop Coconut Crumpet from experimenting with their flavours! I've been itching to cook with meyer lemons for the longest time, due to my obsession with their smell. 

The fastest way to deal with these over-ripe lemons was to start juicing them! There is a large box of mixed greens sitting my fridge still waiting to be cleared, so salad it is! This dressing is similar to my basic honey balsamic vinaigrette, but fresher, lighter, and tangy-er. Even more suitable for the warm season ahead. I can't wait for summer~