Kasha Cakes

For my first recipe, I thought that it would be good to start with something totally original, at least as far as I'm concerned! I was introduced to Buckwheat by a close friend who comes from a Russian family. You can eat it at any meal, but it's most commonly served as a breakfast porridge, like oatmeal, with a little butter, sugar and salt mixed in. There was always leftover "kasha" (as it's called in Russian) in the fridge, and after waking up on a sunday morning with an American hunger craving pancakes and maple syrup, a beautiful creature was born... behold the Kasha Cake!
For this recipe it helps to have leftover buckwheat in the fridge, but if you're not so lucky, simply cook some up with a 2/1 ratio of water to buckwheat, salt and a drop of oil. Boil until water is absorbed and then remove from heat and stir till cool.

Kasha Cakes
(makes 2 pan (or man)-sized cakes)
1 cup cooked buckwheat
3 egg whites
1 yolk (if you want it)
Cinnamon

Whisk the eggs in a bowl till fluffy, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. (Make sure buckwheat is totally cooled so that it doesn't cook the eggs!)
Heat a skillet with some cooking spray and a dab of butter. When it's really hot, ladle in half of the buckwheat mixture. As it cooks, continually tuck in the sides to form a circle shape. When it's good and crispy on one side, flip carefully (these things aren't so stable) and cook until cooked through. It may help to press gently on it with your spatula. Repeat for the second round of buckwheat mixture.
Serve Kasha Cakes hot and top with Maple Syrup and salt, if you know what's good for you.

variations: i've also mixed in ripe banana with the batter, and topped cakes with sour cream and berry compote. this recipe is versatile; go wild!