My old roommate Nick writes a food blog--<a href="http://www.macheesmo.com/">Macheesmo</a>.  Recently we were talking and he turned me on to this amazing food blog the recipes are amazing and the pictures are beautiful--<a href="http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/">Joy the Baker</a>.  I read a few posts and thought: these are great recipes but they are too hard for me to make in Bulgaria.  Way too hard.  I can't get the ingredients and I don't have the right equipment in my kitchen.  Heck, I don't have a microwave let alone a blender or a hand mixer so my food style is now simple and satisfying.  But for some reason I added her blog to my google reader any way.

<img class="alignnone" title="The Pancakes from Joy the Baker" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2415/2902040265_8a35466d10.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" />Then came a blog post for <a href="http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2008/09/carrot-cake-pancakes/">Carrot Cake Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Spread</a>. Um. Wow. First off the pancakes look amazing but more than this these pancakes only really require a cheese grater and a frying pan.  Okay the ingredients in the recipe are a little trickier but I am a creative person.<!--more-->

All of this said, I find baking a challenge whether or not I am in the States but it's that much harder when you're living abroad. First you've got to get the ingredients. If you can, if not you have to make substitutions (gasp) or look for a different recipe. This means that you have to try to make out what things like baking soda and vanilla are or you have to look them up online so that you know what you're supposed to look for.  Then you have to readjust what your expectations are when you're shopping. Baking soda in a can? Nope.  A paper envelope.  Liquid vanilla in a small bottle? No way.  The only way I've found it is powered and mixed with sugar in a small plastic bag.  Which begs the question: um, how much am I supposed to use?

So once you've gathered, scavenged and/or assembled everything you need then you've got to determine what you dish you will bake in (pyrex? ha. 9 x 13. yeah right.), what temperature you should bake at (you shouldn't it turns out just turn your oven to high and hope that it bakes quickly and evenly) and then there's the measurements cups, teaspoons, tablespoons (I have one set of measuring cups so that's not too bad but I just have to eye-ball the teaspoons and tablespoons and when in doubt I just put in a little extra).

The thing is the actual baking isn't so hard.  It's the energy required.  You've simply got to have more of it if you're trying to bake "American" abroad.  You also have to prepare yourself for the inevitable... whatever it is you decide to bake may not turn out.  Yes, it may not work.  Even after you've tracked down everything you need, converted measurements and temperatures, stirred everything together and hoped/prayed--your final product may not be what you expect.

Luckily, this isn't such a new feeling for me.  Most of the things I bake never really turn out like the pictures in cookbooks or magazines so at least I am used to this.  But after you put in the extra time and energy to try to bake some "American" treat abroad rather than just eating another slice of baklava--your final product can be a let down.  If it doesn't look perfect fine but what's worse than that is when it doesn't taste good--when you realize the substitution you made didn't work or that you have no idea what happened but it's just not good.

I've had both these things happen before it kind of makes you want to cry because at this point, you've invested time and energy in baking and on top of this, you're hungry and now don't have anything to eat.

So I am going to spend the whole time complaining about baking abroad? No.  Because I made the pancakes.  They were delicious (but not as beautiful as Joy's) and I had to refine/revise the recipe.  (Pecans in Bulgaria? ha.)

Here's the revised the recipe from Joy's bog:

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[caption id="attachment_1267" align="alignright" width="225" caption="My ingredients"]<strong><strong><img class="size-medium wp-image-1267" title="Pancake Goods " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/dsc01158.jpg?w=225" alt="My ingredients" width="225" height="300" /></strong></strong>[/caption]

<strong>Carrot Cake Pancakes</strong>
<ul>
	<li>1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour</li>
	<li>1 teaspoons baking soda</li>
	<li>2 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li>
	<li>1/4 teaspoon salt</li>
	<li>1/2 teaspoon ground ginger</li>
	<li>1 egg, lightly beaten</li>
	<li>1/3 cup packed brown or granulated sugar</li>
	<li>1 cup milk</li>
	<li>2 cups finely grated carrots</li>
	<li>2 teaspoon powered vanilla with sugar</li>
</ul>
<div>Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in two separate bowls.  Then, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix.  Spoon the pancake batter into a hot frying pan and cook over medium heat as you would any pancake.</div>
<div>The cream cheese spread look-wise was a failure. But, it tasted great.  I think that the problem is the fact that the cream cheese I used was a spread already rather than the thick Philadelphia cream cheese block that one can get in the States.</div>
<div><strong>Cream Cheese Spread</strong></div>
<ul>
	<li>4 ounces cream cheese</li>
	<li>1/4 cup powdered sugar</li>
	<li>2 tablespoons milk (in the future I would use a lot less milk--maybe only a dash)</li>
	<li>1 teaspoon powdered vanilla with sugar</li>
	<li>1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_1268" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="My pancakes"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-1268" title="My pancakes" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/dsc01160.jpg?w=300" alt="My pancakes" width="300" height="225" />[/caption]

So all said and done, the pancakes were <em>amazing</em>. Beautiful? No. Not at all.  Tasty? Absolutely. It's like eating carrot cake. The flavors are perfect.  The best thing is that I love carrot cake and I don't think that I would ever make a carrot cake here in Bulgaria.  Too much work, too much worry and then I'd be stuck with the whole thing.

These pancakes are like instant carrot cake gratification. They are hearty, carroty and have plenty of cinnamon.  A perfect fall food.  After making them I began to think about zucchini pancakes, pumpkin pancakes and even apple cinnamon pancakes.  It seems like there is a whole new world of pancakes in front of me--move over blueberry pancakes you're no longer the only pancake in town.

In concluding this post, I would like to state for the record:  MoM, I would never make a carrot cake and eat it for breakfast but somehow it seems totally acceptable to make carrot pancakes and top them with a cinnamon cream cheese spread.