The Curvy Carrot

I’ve had a bit of a rough week and literally wanted to face plant into a nice, warm plate of comfort food.

I think these gingerbread pancakes will do.

My landlord went into foreclosure on my unit. (A pretty sad situation.)  Fast forward a few months later to a sheriff’s sale, a flurry of written notices via certified mail, and a few phone conversations with a less-than-friendly attorney’s office who sent the letters.  (Remind me to tell you who not to use as an attorney if you ever need representation in Milwaukee.  Just sayin’).  Bottom line was this: as of a few days ago, I was under the impression that I was going to be evicted, even though I have been dutifully paying rent each month and have also been dutifully saving to buy a condo in six months when my lease was up.

Thankfully I was referred to an attorney’s office (via a chain of amazing people) who talked with me for about 15 minutes on the phone today, made a few phone calls, and was able to pretty much calm the rapid storm of brewing anxiety in my whole body that had been keeping me up at night (or better yet, waking me up at 2 am on the dot with a head full of circling random thoughts.)

The whole situation isn’t entirely cleared up yet, but thankfully I should be able to stay in my unit for the remaining six months of my lease and get the heck out of there when I can officially buy my own place here in Milwaukee.  (Thank God.)  The whole situation has been more than annoying and incredibly anxiety-producing, but it’s awesome to realize how many great people are out there that are willing to help a girl out.  I’m starting to feel a lot of relief about the whole situation and hopefully will be able to catch up on the sleep.

And these gingerbread pancakes would be the kind of food to make life better in general, right?  Festive, healthy, and full of your favorite holiday flavors.  A great way to spread that holiday cheer. (Also, having glittery, girly pink Christmas trees makes things a little better, too.)

Gingerbread Pancakes with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the pancakes:

1 and 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons molasses

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup water

For the cinnamon whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon (or more, to taste) ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. For the pancakes: In a  bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, molasses, two tablespoons of the melted butter and the water.

3. Add the brown sugar mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until just blended. (it’s ok if there are few lumps).

4. In a non-stick frying pan over medium heat,  lightly brush the pan with some of the melted butter.

5. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the prepared pan.  Cook the pancake until small bubbles appear and it’s able to be flipped, about 4-5 minutes or so.  Flip the pancake over and cook until the undersurface is lightly browned, about 1-2 additional minutes.

6. Repeat with the remaining batter (brushing the pan with the remaining melted butter as needed),  keeping the pancakes covered and warm until serving time.

7. For the cinnamon whipped cream:  In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), combine the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and cinnamon, mixing on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes (or until you reach your desired consistency of whipped cream.)

Source:  Pancakes barely adapted from Williams-Sonoma. Whipped cream is a Curvy Carrot original.