The Novel Bakery

Clary spoke up hastily. “What’s all the raw meat for?” she asked, indicating the third page of her menu.

“Werewolves,” said Jace. “Though I don’t mind a bloody steak myself every once in a while.” He reached across the table and flipped Clary’s menu over. “Human food is on the back.” 

…Clary, after a moment’s hesitation, chose a large coffee and coconut pancakes. The waitress winked a blue eye at her and flounced off. 

I recreated a scrumptious and cozy breakfast that Simon and Clary would have enjoyed together before their lives got turned upside down by Jace and the Lightwoods, when they didn’t have to worry about finding the “human side” of the menu at Taki’s. Simon would bring his nerd gear while Clary sketched away.

 

Of course, coconut pancakes needed something tropical and delicious with a slight kick, thanks to the ginger. Thus enters a divine Pineapple-Ginger Syrup. Pancakes are hardly a daily occurrence in our house and I wasn’t sure how to store all that extra syrup. It was too delicious to throw out! So I made it into a marinade by throwing in a few minced garlic cloves and 1/2 cup of soy sauce. There’s more sugar in the syrup than I’d usually allow in my marinades, but I’m betting there’s no more sugar in it than any sauce you’d buy at the store! It made a delicious chicken stir fry spooned on top of brown rice.

Enjoy these very human coconut pancakes. Perhaps my next post will be a toasted bat sandwich…

Pineapple-Ginger Syrup

Ingredients: 

1 pineapple

Fresh ginger root

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 cups water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Cut the rind from the pineapple. Chop the pineapple, including the core.
2. Peel the skin off the ginger root.
3. Combine the chopped pineapple, sugar, and honey in a small saucepan with 2 cups of water. Peel 8-15 slices of ginger into the saucepan, depending on how much of a ginger “kick” you want.
4. Simmer for 20 minutes until the pineapple softens.
5. Remove the pan from heat and blend with an immersion blender, until smooth. Make sure the immersion blender is fully immersed so that hot liquid doesn’t splash up!
6. Return the mixture to heat and simmer for another 15 minutes.
7. Strain the mixture into a bowl and add the lemon juice.

Coconut Pancake Recipe

Ingredients: 

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

14 ounce can light coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: 

1. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. In a small bowl, measure out 1 and 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons of light coconut milk. (Reserve the remaining coconut milk). Whisk eggs and vanilla with the coconut milk.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry and gently mix to combine. Do not overmix. Allow the pancake batter to sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before cooking.
4. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. While the pan heats, place a cookie sheet in the oven and turn the oven on to 200 degrees F. After the oven preheats, turn the oven off.
5. Once the pan has heated, grease with non-stick spray and pour 1/3 cup of batter into the pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom is golden brown. Flip over and cook for about 2 minutes. Keep warm in the oven on the cookie sheet while cooking the remaining pancakes.
6. Serve a hot stack of pancakes with pineapple-ginger syrup (recipe above), desiccated coconut, and a drizzle of the leftover coconut milk.