New Year's Traditions + Banana Breakfast Dumplings with Vanilla Maple Butter

And just like that it is 2014! We celebrated New Year's Eve at a friend's apartment this year and enjoyed a three course meal and lots of champagne of course!

The Danes have some New Year's traditions which I find pretty interesting. First, they always watch the Queen's speech at 6pm on New Year's Eve. And then we literally jumped into the new year. We all stood on our friends' couch or chairs and jumped off of them when the clock struck 12. Finally, you have to have kransekage after 12 as well. Since I don't like kransekage, it is made up of almost all marzipan, and we were bringing the kransekage, I modernized it a bit by using a recipe from Strangas. So instead of kransekage, we had kransekage macarons! You can find the recipe here. I added the icing on top so that it looked a little more like the traditional kransekage.

After 12, the fireworks start to really go off. We're allowed to buy fireworks at home in Vancouver, but the fireworks that people use here in Copenhagen are on a whole other level. These are real fireworks. Like the stuff we would see in Vancouver used by professionals, but nope, these fireworks can be used by anybody here. Last year we went out onto the street to see some fireworks (that was actually pretty dangerous) but I'm so glad we stayed on our friend's balcony and enjoyed them that way this year.

When I got up in the morning yesterday, I thought it would be nice to make the fiance breakfast in bed. I was thinking about making pancakes but then I remembered pinning this Banana Breakfast Dumpling recipe and I had one ripe banana left over to use so it was just meant to be. I really enjoyed these. The Vanilla Maple Butter is a m a z i n g. I don't think I will use maple syrup plain on it's own again after trying this! It was a great treat to start off the year.

Banana Breakfast Dumplings with Vanilla Maple Butter (adapted from Joy the Baker)
Makes about 16 dumplings

For the Dumplings:
1 1/4 cup gluten free flour mix (Joy used Cup4Cup, I used Doves Farm)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda (I omitted this because I was using a self-raising flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ripe banana mashed
butter or oil for frying the dumplings

For the Vanilla Maple Butter:
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean split and scraped)

In a medium bowl, sift together gluten free flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a large measuring cup, beat together buttermilk, one egg, and the vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Finally, fold in the mashed banana. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes while you heat up your pan.

Place a nonstick pan over medium low heat. Add enough butter or oil to lightly coat the pan and allow it to heat up.

Pour two tablespoons of the batter onto the pan and cook on the first side until it is a light golden brown. Flip and continue to fry the dumpling until it is a light golden brown and mostly cooked through. Try not to flatten the dumplings, instead leaving them tall and doughy. Let the cooked dumplings rest in a heat proof dish in the oven at 100C or 200F until they are ready to be served. Serve warm with some Vanilla Maple Butter.

To make the Vanilla Maple Butter, heat the maple syrup in a small saucepan together with the butter and the vanilla extract. Stir or whisk it continuously to help the butter and syrup combine. Keep the temperature low as maple syrup should never boil. Serve over the dumplings warm.

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a year full of love, happiness, and great health!