I was sure I had a bit of PTCD-that is Post Traumatic Christmas Disorder.
“You know what problem you have?” Mr NQN yelled from the comfort of the couch. He was playing with his new toy, a new phone that he got for Christmas-his new second best friend. I braced myself. I thought Uh oh, what is he going to bring up now?
“You have trouble doing nothing,” he said giving me a look of exasperation.
I looked at myself. I was in the bathroom scrubbing clean the new pram I had bought for myself. I had spotted it in a vintage store in Darlinghurst en route to a shoot. The producer Matt kindly stopped the car and I got out and purchased it. It was a genuine vintage pram from the 1920′s and I carefully carried it back to his car excited that at last, I had a vehicle for my wolf baby.
Yes Christmas was all fine but I was busy readying myself for Halloween next year. I pictured myself, Halloween 2012, pushing my pretty white wicker pram with a hairy assed wolf baby wearing a bonnet and dress in it. When I brought it home Mr NQN just laughed and a visiting Queen Viv cooed at what a resourceful chicken I was to have found it (she is like a mum to me so she is used to my eccentricities).
“Just a moment, I’ll do nothing soon! I just have to clean my wolfbaby pram! He can’t sit in a dirty pram!” I yelled back. ”And then I’ve just got to bake this blueberry oven puff cake…” I added, thinking of what else I had to do before I could relax.
The blueberry oven puff cake is like a sweet version of a Yorkshire Pudding. The key to a good Yorkshire pudding or puff cake is to have a cold mixture hitting a very hot pan so that it rises and puffs up in the oven. So you need to put your ovenproof handled frypan in the oven until it is very hot and then add the cold batter to ensure that you get a lovely puffy specimen. After this you simply add a scattering of blueberries- a punnet or a handful will do, some icing sugar and some scoops of fantastic vanilla ice cream and you have an easy dessert that is an easy to make as a pancake but can feed four hungry beasts for breakfast, brunch or dessert …or in a pinch a wolfbaby and a husband with a wolflike appetite…
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have trouble relaxing or doing nothing? Are you enjoying the holiday break thus far?
Blueberry Oven Puff Cake
Adapted from Donna Hay “Simple Dinners”
Serves 6
- 3/4cup (100g) all purpose plain flour
- 3 tablespoons caster or superfine sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup cold milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 45g/1.5ozs butter
- 125g/4os punnet blueberries to serve
- 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream to serve
- icing or confectioners sugar for dusting
You will also need a frying pan with an ovenproof handle. This quantity fits a 24cm/9.6 inch pan.
1. Preheat the oven to 200c/400F and place the frypan inside the oven while preheating. Heat for 20 minutes. Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine. In a jug, whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add in the eggy milk mixture and whisk with a balloon whisk until smooth (I added it in two batches).
2. Carefully and with oven mitts (doubled up if you can), take the pan out of the oven and add the butter and swirl until melted. Pour in the batter and with the oven mitts on, place the pan back into the oven (be careful not to just grab the handle without the oven mitt as I did once as you will burn yourself!). Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and puffy.
3. Top the cake with blueberries, dust with icing sugar and then serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
65 Comments | Add your own
Love this
cuz i love blueberries and with the vanilla ice-cream yum!
I dun rmb the last time i had a yorkshire pudding but would like to try a sweet one hehe
I have that issues, of doing nothing, i never seem to be able to do nothing and just watch TV or read a book. I’m always thinking of what I need to do and what I should be doing
But totally enjoying Christmas so far! Hope you’re enjoying it too!
I love that you’re making this as a dessert because it is something I regularly make for breakfast. Except we call it a Puff Pancake or a Dutch Baby.
Cold icecream on warm dessert! Yum!
I am enjoying my break even though my bargain hunting has not gone so well. I bought some items but the money I saved on them will be used to get them taken in. Ugh.
It looks delicious! A marvelous dessert.
Cheers,
Rosa
This looks so neat!
Yum!!! I have burnt my hand doing just that while making a tarte tatin.
Hmmm, looks like another dish of yours I’m going to have to make – before the New Year’s lose the 5kg baking has added weight loss campaign begins! It is a bit hard to find the time to do nothing, but I have found the time to watch some movies over the break, so am completely enjoying the days off
This looks easy and fun–and good as well! Will earmark it to use in my grandmother’s iron skillet!
I am often so busy, like you, I don’t slow down–so these holidays have been both socially busy and blissfully relaxing. A perfect combination!
How delicious – I have been thinking of a cake like this as my kids adore Toad in the hole (really I have to make it every other week) and I was wondering what a sweet version would be like. You have the best ideas. I can totally imagine your wolf baby in it’s pram
Oh, wow, that looks so good Lorraine. I will definitely have to try that one out.
That does look good, Lorraine. I am all over anything with ice cream… playing with my new toy in the dead of winter is a little crazy but , hey, why not! One of my favorite combinations is warm, cold, soft and fresh… sort of the whole world of tastes in a bite… your dessert fits the bill perfectly.
I had my first taste of a yorkshire pudding not too long ago and I loved it. By the sounds of it, I will be enjoying this very much if I make it
Hope you had a superb Christmas!
where’s the picture of the wolf baby and pram????!!!!
Hi Lorraine
Hope you had a good Christmas. This looks amazing! I love how it’s puffed up so beautifully. I find it hard to relax as there’s always something to see or do. I do however love to do just nothing when I have time
Ooooohhhh!!!! I love the look of this!!!!!
Sounds like a very interesting cake. I have the same issue – can’t do nothing, though buying prams never crossed my mind:)
Mmmmm, delicious! I agree with you Lorraine, how could you sit back and relax knowing wolf baby had a dirty pram? I can tell you’re going to be a wonderful mother, but if MrNQN is left in charge, your babies will be looking like wolf babies in no time
There us plenty of time to do nothing once all the jobs are done!
Yummy!!!!
Oooh, so pretty! I have trouble relaxing too – but I’m getting better. Next year I am definitely going to make it to your famous Halloween party!!!
holiday!!! big mess day…everyday going out..my house becomes big mess..love your detail ..certainly try this cake..
I PRAY for holidays every year and then three days in, I am bored stiff. Thinking of having long service leave later in ’12 but secretly terrified. I had pre-christmas stress. Hideous and mental. Loving the blueberry ‘yorkshire’
Pram?
Well, I have to admit a liking to Yorkshire puddings and I love blueberries, so . . .:) ! I don’t think I have ever taken what could be called a ‘holiday break’ – time ‘off’ is always combined with half-a-dozen other activities which have oft been waiting for months! For books, music, friends I simply allot a few hours during any workday to enjoy a breather: it works well for me
! If I have not ‘accomplished’ a certain number of tasks by the evening I do feel I have ‘wasted’ a day . . .
Love desserts with blueberry and ice cream!
“YES MORE!”, have been known to
S-C-R-E-A-M!
Used to burn life’s candles 24,7, TRUE!
Now “have seen the light”, can disconnect, relax and simple enjoy EACH and EVERY moment life presents itself with too!
What a great way to serve Yorkshire Pud. A must for the Glam Teens and now they can have it for main course and dessert! GG
as much as i would love to eat this i need to avoid desserts for at least a little while! and i have no trouble doing nothing….
If you whipping up luscious desserts instead of doing nothing, I can’t see why he would complain. This reminds me of a German pancake, but I’ve never seen it served with ice cream. Fabulous idea! I’ll look forward to the wolf baby! xoxo Mum
This looks sooooo inviting, wish we were neighbours but my waistline probably doesn’t lol!
Will try to make this but like Victoria I have burned my hand pulling out a hot frypan from the oven when making a Tarte Tatin, so am a little ‘frightened’.
Relax….what’s that? I can never totally relax if at the back of my mind I know there are still chores not completed. The only way I can do so is to be out of the house , sitting in a nice restaurant sipping a glass of bubbly!
I’ve discovered that most people have a problem doing nothing! I have absolutely no problem with it however and am happy to sloth away. The Boy however thinks this is an act of laziness and constantly nags at me
My son is reading this with me, and we agreed that I have trouble doing nothing. And we also drooled over your recipe and agreed we should try making this for dessert tonight. That recipe should make enough for two hungry children with wolf-like appetites. (Love that you bought a pram for your wolf-baby!)
Love the pram and the pudding : ) Yorkshire pud and blueberries are both in my top 10 – can’t believe I didn’t think of it before!
Back at work today after 4 awesome days off so all good : )
I make this also called Dutch Baby or Pannekeon. It is German, Austrian dish You can buy the pans for this.
Yummy! What an easy and delicious dessert!
I can’t wait to make it, and my family can’t wait to eat it.
I’ve recently made a savoury bread and butter pudding (sourdough bread, ham, garlic mushrooms, grainy mustard and cheese..delish!) so a sweet yorkshire pud makes complete sense. it looks beautifully delicious!
i have so many problems doing nothing. i can’t! i get bored. i do get a bit annoyed when my Mr is quite capable of coming home and plonking down on the couch to unwind while i do things. I have to do things then relax…he needs to relax before doing things! gah!
I’m relaxing today (sort of, with family plans too), and I have absolutely no trouble doing so hehe. Yay for this cake and yay for the 1920s vintage pram!!!! double swoon.
Heidi xo
You are such a tease! I totally thought you were going to reveal the terrible show you watched after being told you aren’t much good at doing nothing. *waggles finger*
I think this looks lovely, by the by! And clearly just needs some peanut butter in there somewhere…
Yes I agree with Mr NQN, I think you do find it hard to relax. This blueberry puff cake does look very yummy though and I am glad that I have recently eaten.
I must admit I’m a bit like you too. I can sit still for about 20 mins and that’s my limit then it’s time to do something
What a fun dessert. So rustic and that ice cream just pushes it to the edge
Yum! And blueberries have been nice and cheap recently too
How lovely! What a fruity take on Dutch puff-pancakes! I’d love to make this, but I live with the dread that I won’t get even a bite: my family’s bound to be waiting like vultures by the oven door!
This looks delicious – I rather like Yorkshire puds so I am sure I’d love this. I can have trouble relaxing- but usually get over it in a couple of days.
This looks DELICIOUS!
Your question made me laugh cause I am laid up for the second week (and the forseeable future) and desperately wanting to go and declutter things and move furniture around and pack up Christmas and do some baking and OMG DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN SIT ON MY ARSE.
So I am planning NEXT Christmas and everyone’s birthday parties. And all the stuff I am going to do when I am allowed to move again.
I have sooooo much trouble doing nothing! Just now i am cleaning up my bedroom, cooking tea and printing off iron on t-shirt transfers whilst surfing the web
Looks comforting and nice.
Some people just cant relax it is a curse…… and I wish i was the relaxing kind
I love it, Lorraine. Yes, I too have trouble doing nothing. My version of relaxing is laying in bed reading online and making comments to all my social media friends. I used to make something similar called a puff pancake. Looks divinely puffy and yours is fabulous with blueberries and ice cream.
i have a huge issue not doing anything. i feel stupid, useless, worthless.
must do something!!!
Oooh yum, a sweet version of Yorkshire pud..mmmmm! I like to keep busy too. And mostly it’s baking or the like not the ironing that’s for sure!
honestly I have trouble finding time to do nothing – always a long list of things to do but nothing as interesting as a pram for a wolf baby – why wait til halloween – you should be wheeling it through the streets of sydney
– and if you offered people slices of your puff cake when they stopped to look you would be the most sought after person in sydney!
Yum! I braved yorkshire puds for the first time on Christmas day so this seems the perfect next step
I like to keep busy too, generally taking on so much there’s not much time to relax. Mind you. I still manage to spend a lot of time on the internet
I hope you had a Merry Christmas!
Is it wrong that I want this for breakfast? Ice cream and all???? Fabulous photos…and recipe~
I never have trouble doing nothing…well that depends on your definition of nothing. I like to sit there and read magazines and watch Japanese dramas until I fall asleep
Hope you’re having a great holiday! Although I’m sure you don’t really take breaks from blogging..
I’m not a big pancake lover, but I would go for this. And, I do so love the Yorkshire pudding too, which is now a kind of retro food. Let’s bring it back.
Your puff cake looks so delicious! I’ve always wanted to try something like that. It will be perfect for Jan. 1st!
Sometimes I stay busy doing “nothing”, it helps me put off what I should be doing~chores, etc…:)
Oh my, it seems that you and I may have been cut from the same cloth, Lorraine. I’m usually up and down for this or that throughout the evening to the point where JT exclaims “Oh my, you were actually sitting for more than 30 seconds this time!” The blueberry oven puff looks delicious. I’ve not made one of these before!
Hahahahaha my husband said the EXACT same thing to me yesterday!!! Ahhh that’s brilliant! And that cake looks beautiful – I need some new ways to use blueberries while they’re in season!
Oooh Panu looooves blueberries so I am constantly on the hunt for blueberry recipes. This one looks great!!!
hahah you don’t have that disorder Lorraine, you’re just “carpe diem’ing”! Donna Hay has so many great simple recipes, I really should do some more cooking!
Oh my, I got a big laugh out of this post
Love the “PTCD” – I think that I have a bit of that, too. Can’t wait to try out this recipe once we’re done with holiday travels. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, this looks incredible, I’m going to have to try this out! Yep, gotta do it before the new year weight loss resolution sets in!
PTCD: hehe, love it.
Lol you’re hilarious! Can’t wait to see how happy wolf baby looks! Love the pie
holiday break? what holiday break?
i love this, particularly the globs of ice cream on top.
I have tagged this recipe to make. Looks so good. I am terrible at doing nothing. But once I get started at being lazy I excel at it.
I am pretty bad at sitting down and relaxing these days: there is ALWAYS something to do. My husband’s best friend/lover is also a new phone, so he spends plenty of time doing nothing with it on the couch.
Post a Comment