Weekend Breakfast: Strawberry Oven-Puff Pancake

Speaking of strawberries, this recipe is a favorite of mine this time of year, when they are in peak season.  This makes the perfect weekend breakfast, served along with some hot, crispy bacon.  Heaven!  The "pancake" is similar in texture to a popover, but the dish itself is surprisingly filling.  I originally found the recipe on the "Rita's Recipes" blog, and I have adapted it.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Oven-Puff Pancake

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced
• powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Melt butter in a 9 inch pottery pie plate in the oven while it preheats, until butter is melted and bubbly.
2. Whisk together eggs through vanilla.
3. Remove pan from oven and add the batter.  Do not stir.
4. Return to oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until puffed high and golden.
5. When pancake is done, remove from oven and fill the center with the strawberries.  Generously sift powdered sugar over top.

Strawberry Glaze Pie

Aloha friends!  We just got back from our whirlwind 10-day trip to the mainland, and had a blast with our families in Virginia and South Carolina.  It really made me miss home, especially this time of year when we would be boating, enjoying some fresh local peaches, strawberries and tomatoes, gardening in our backyard, and all the other fun festivities of summer in the South. 

My parents are both great cooks, and really spoiled us with all the comfort dishes we love.  Ribs, cornbread, fried chicken, slaw, and strawberry EVERYTHING  (Forest Gump moment here... strawberry cake, strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream!)  And speaking of strawberry pie, my mom's recipe has been one of my all-time favorites ever since I was a little girl, and now it's a summer tradition that I make it too at the peak of strawberry season.  (And Aubrey loves it, with homemade whipped cream!)

A dear friend requested the recipe for the pie this week, so this one is for Katie B., who I miss so much!  We were so blessed to see her and her two sweet babies during our layover in DFW, for breakfast and catching up after nearly a year since her family's move to Texas.  Needless to say, we are both missing our former lives in South Carolina, but embracing the change that God had planned for us.

(And also shout-outs to my Greenville friends who we got to spend time with, and my long-time friend Kimberly who surprised me all the way from NYC for my 30th birthday!)

This pie couldn't be easier to make, and it is full of flavor and deliciousness.  And since I love y'all so much too, here is my mom's recipe for Strawberry Glaze Pie, which will be made every summer in my house for years to come.  Ahh, the sweet taste of childhood!

Strawberry Glaze Pie

Ingredients

1 c. water
1c. sugar
1 qt strawberries, cut into halves or quarters, to preference
3 tbsp. cornstarch

Preparation

1. Pre- bake pie crust according to directions. Set aside. 
2. In a pot, mix cornstarch with sugar. Add water and 1 cup of the sliced berries and cook until clear (may be pink, depending on berries.). Let cool.
3. Fill bottom of cooled pie crust with remaining berries. Pour glaze mixture over the berries. Chill before serving.