Pancakes are so much fun because 1) there’s virtually no screwing them up 2) you can customize them to taste and look like just about anything your little heart desires.

One morning I woke up and felt like doing two things – eating some chocolate for breakfast (not something I recommend often, but a craving is a craving) and establishing culinary racial harmony. In fairness, I really just felt like the chocolate, but then thought it would be fun to do chocolate chip vanilla pancakes on one side, and some chocolatey pancakes on the other.

First off, I’m so excited to finally have the new Besotted website up. In case you hadn’t noticed (and I’m guessing you had), Besotted is now located at its own dedicated URL and has a new, much improved, look and feel! This took quite a bit of work, involved more than a few expletive-ridden rants, and increased my level of CSS stylesheet proficiency from ‘abysmal’ to just ‘really, really bad.’

In any case, I’m thrilled that it’s finally up and running smoothly (as an aside, please do let me know at jessica@besottedgourmet.com if you find any bugs, broken links, etc.) But today’s post isn’t about the new design, it’s about one of my favorite concepts… one that loses quite a bit of its appeal as we careen helplessly towards bathing suit season. Nevertheless, I thought it was time to dedicate a bit of energy and space to the ‘Breakfast for Dinner’ concept.

Brunch is undoubtedly my favorite meal, and while I have a pretty exclusive relationship with Bacon & Eggs, I do stray from time to time, but only for a really spectacular alternative, and I have it here with these Apple & Crème Fraîche Pancakes.

This pancake recipe evolved out of a recipe by the inimitable Ina Garten, Banana Sour Cream Pancakes in her Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook. However, a little tweaking, a missing ingredient or two (which, I’m convinced, is the impetus of most recipe evolution), and a desire to rid myself of a few soon-to-be-dated items yielded this fantastic recipe.

It is a composition of stunning contrasts, which tend to make the most interesting dishes. The lemon and crème fraiche add a tang to what is generally a very mild, peaceful dish. The heavy dairy component gives a velvety weight to what is still a very fluffy pancake (the pictures don’t do justice to the pancakes but do illustrate how high they rise).