PANCAKES
Don't get me wrong, I love the flat pancakes, or crêpes that traditionally come out on Shrove Tuesday or 'pancake day'. More recently, their fluffy American counterparts have become a real favourite of mine. My friends and I often go out on brunch dates to get a fix of these delicious breakfast treats, but they also happen to be really simple to make in the comfort of your own home.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
225g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/4tsp ground nutmeg
1/4tsp salt
1 lemon, zest and 1tbsp of juice
240ml whole milk
2 eggs
60g butter, melted
3tbsp soft light brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
METHOD
1
Stir 1tbsp of lemon juice into the milk. If squeezing directly into the milk, be sure to catch any lemon pips in your hands. Leave to sit for 10 minutes or so. This is your buttermilk.
2
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside. This is your dry mix.
3
To the buttermilk, add the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix together until smooth.. These are your wet ingredients.
4
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix together until just combined; if it appears lumpy, please do not worry! As long as there are no pockets of dry flour in your batter, you're all good.
Leave to sit for 30 minutes. In the meantime, clean up, and get any accompaniments you wish to eat your pancakes with ready for serving.
5
Preheat the oven to 110°C, and pop a baking tray inside. This will be to keep the cooked pancakes warm, as you will need to cook them in batches.
Preheat some oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan per pancake. For this, I like to use a mechanical ice cream scoop, though you can also use a 1/4 cup measure, or pour straight into the pan if you wish. Cook for around 1-2 minutes on the first side; you will know they are ready to flip once the edges look set and they are forming bubbles in the centre. Flip and cook for another minute or so on the other side, before transferring to the baking tray in the oven to keep warm.
Cook in batches until you've used up all your batter. Add more oil and adjust the heat as necessary to avoid burning the pancakes.
6
Serve as you wish. This batter should give you around 3 pancakes per person.
Serving Suggestion
My favourite way to serve these pancakes is as a stack of 3, topped with grilled bacon, dusted with icing sugar, then drizzled with warm maple syrup (I do this over low heat in a small saucepan). These are also great with fresh fruit, a dollop of plain yoghurt and a drizzle of runny honey.
icheffedit Tip
Mixing the lemon juice into the milk creates buttermilk, the acidity of which reacts with the raising agent, creating bubbles and therefore a softer, fluffier pancake. If you don't have lemon, you can use 1tbsp vinegar.