"heidi" news and stories

In summer, any dessert that involves fresh fruit is hard to resist. This is particularly true if the dessert is one made by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks. Her Champagne Summer Shortcakes combine some wonderful elements into a beautiful, end-of-the-summer dessert. The base is a buttery and ever-so-slightly salty shortcake biscuit, with a melting richness. The cakes are split and filled with black mission figs, pluots and nectarines, which have been tossed in a syrup made of honey, sugar and champagne. To bring the whole dish together, Heidi added scoop of vanilla ice cream to the side, but lightly sweetened whipped cream would probably work equally well if you prefer that ultra-light texture with your shortcake. Make sure to take a bit of each element onto your fork for each bite. And make extras, because you'll probably want seconds.

Source

Few things are better than a tall stack of pancakes on a lazy Sunday morning. Waffles, scones, omelets and bacon are all nice, too, but light pancakes dripping with syrup are hard to resist. If those pancakes are anything like the Whole Grain Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup from 101 Cookbooks, the task might be near to impossible. The pancakes are light and flavorful, due to the buttermilk that Heidi used to make them, and the maple syrup is mixed with whole, fresh blueberries and cooked into a smooth topping. The syrup is a long way from the blueberry-flavored pancake syrups that are stocked in many diners, much lighter and fresher.

As if the sound along weren't enough, Heidi actually thinks that these are the best pancakes she's ever made. Given that the published cookbook author has been blogging for more than 3 years, that's saying something.

Source

I just tried the Vanilla Sweet Potato Puree recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks as a side to my holiday meal. After cooking the sweet potatoes until soft and tender, I placed them in a large bowl with cream, vanilla extract, a bit of orange zest and a bit of butter and whipped them with a hand mixer until they were smooth and fluffy.
You can see Heidi's batch in the photo above because her styling of this side is far more appealing than any of my attempts. Somehow, it seems that purees look much less glamorous than they taste. No matter, because this tasted fantastic. The vanilla flavor, though I used extract rather than infuse my cream with real vanilla beans, as Heidi did, came through very well. Its delicate flavor brought out the sweetness of the potatoes without having to add a lot of sugar. Whipping the whole mixture, combined with the cream, no doubt, makes it incredibly light and fluffy. This is a standout dish and is definitely worth a repeat. Or two.

Source