Pancakes – How do you eat yours?
Posted: 17 February '10 by Niall
American pancakes with maple syrup
Yesterday was “Pancake Day”, the last day before Lent and a day to celebrate all of those guilty pleasures that might soon be denied us: butter, flour, milk, and eggs.
I have to admit, I was never the biggest fan of pancakes, a result of too many gluey, flavourless versions bought in convenience stores. Crepes were the only exception, especially those bought from the French Crepe stall in St. George’s Market – delicious! But Pancake Day isn’t about crepes – I was after the fluffy, sweet, bready pancakes that you see on American TV.
I came across this recipe in an old cookbook – welcome to pancake heaven!
All that remains is to decide what to have on yours..
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4
Ingredients
- 135g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 130ml milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly), plus a little more for cooking
To serve: real maple syrup
Method
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
- Pour the milk mixture into the flour and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing.
- Now for the important bit – Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
- Grease a non-stick frying pan with a little butter and place over a medium heat.
- When the pan gets up to temperature add a ladle of batter. It will seem very thick but this is how it should be.
- Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over (or toss it, if you’re feeling brave!) and cook until both sides are a nice golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm thick.
- Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven.
- To serve, drizzle some maple syrup over your pancake stack and tuck in.
Enjoy!
Other information
- You can try separating the egg-yolk from the white, mixing the egg into the batter, but whisking the whites into stiff peaks before folding the batter into the egg-whites for a lighter, souffle-like consistency.
- After you’ve made the batter allow it to rest – this resting period allows the gluten in the flour to relax so the pancakes will be tender, and lets the baking powder form bubbles in the batter.
- After the batter rests, do not stir it or you will deflate all the bubbles.
Categories: Dessert Course > Featured Post > Recipes
