Thursday 20 February 2014

How To Make Perfect Pancakes... plus recipes..

I've always loved pancakes, they're so naughty! Fortunately my family love them too, so I make piles of them each year and it pleases everyone.

Making pancakes is really very simple, but requires a couple of easy techniques to make them right every time.

Basic Pancakes 


The batter is a standard batter which is incredibly cheap and easy to make. It's what you'd use toad-in-the-hole or Yorkshire puddings, but works slightly better when it's a little runnier, so has an extra 150ml of water added.

Ingredients

175g Plain Flour
2 Free Range Eggs
300ml Milk
150ml Water
Pinch of Salt

Method

Put the flour in a bowl and add the eggs, give it a mix and add the milk 1/3 at a time, mixing well with a whisk after each addition. Add the water and a pinch of salt.

Heat a frying pan and add cooking oil of your choice. Give the pan a good shake so that the oil covers the whole base of the pan and then pour out any all the excess into a heatproof container (such as a small saucepan). Your pan is now perfect for your pancake mix.

Add enough pancake mix that it covers the base of the pan when you again give it a good shake. Then leave it on a medium heat and watch. Don't fuss with it, you need to leave it alone until the bottom side is cooked. You can tell when it's done because when you shake it (again!), the pancake won't be stuck to the pan, it'll be free to move about, and the edges will have a lacy effect.


Flip it over and do the other side for  few seconds.


Your first one will often be a bit of a failure, the pan always seems to perform better for the second one onwards.

I've was challenged to come up with an interesting and different pancake recipe. I'm not the most adventurous cook, and I like to share recipes that anyone can make and my teenagers will find useful, so here are a couple of ideas...

Pancakes are very much a 'bread', with a high percentage of egg. They're a breakfast food, so surely they're ideal to have with an English breakfast....

All Day Veggie Breakfast Pancakes

 
 Ingredients

Bacon
Sausage
Mushroom
Red Onion
Tomato

Pancake batter mix (shown above)
Thyme
Black Pepper

Method

Cook bacon and sausage and cut into slices - I'm using vegetarian options as I'll be eating some myself.
Lightly fry sliced mushroom and red onion.
Add grilled sliced tomato  if you wish.

Keep everything warm.

Add a little thyme and black pepper to your pancake batter and cook.

Roll the cooked breakfast ingredients into your pancake...



If you want to get a little more adventurous then you can add more ingredients to your batter itself before cooking. Cocoa or a little cinnamon are good, but my favourite is apple.

Apple, Banana and Cinnamon Pancakes 


Ingredients

 Batter mix (shown above)
Apple

Banana
Cinnamon Sugar (3 parts granulated sugar to 1 part ground cinnamon)
Whipped Double Cream

 Method 

Stew some apple or cheat and chop it into small pieces, add a tablespoon of water and microwave covered for a minute.
Let it cool and then add it directly to your pancake batter before cooking.

Top with sliced banana and whipped cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.



And of course pancakes can always be cut or stacked for another special effect...here with Duerr's strawberry jam and whipped cream....




17 comments:

  1. Veggie breakfast sounds great although I do like the look of your heart shaped jam and cream ones!

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    1. They both went down very well with my lot - and we ate them all for tea yesterday.... tea and pudding :D

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  2. What a brilliant kitchen gadget! We love pancakes but I always make a terrible mess when cooking them!

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    1. It is something I never realised I needed until I had it :D

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  3. I need to get one of these as I end up with batter all over the cooker!! and I love the idea of adding apple to the batter sounds yummy!

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    1. It is amazing the difference it makes to the mess - it's great not to have to wash your hands every 5 minutes! :)
      Apple in the batter is gorgeous - you should try it :)

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  4. Some interesting choices there. I can't make a good pancake to save my life

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  5. Great gadgets - pancake day round her consists of Bolognese (veggie) pancakes, followed by chocolate ones! Hmmmm now I am thinking breakfast ones too!

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  6. I keep seeing these and after this post I have decided to get one, thank you :) x

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    1. You're welcome! It's a really nifty gadget. I'm going to try it with cupcake mix soon and see if the children make a bit less mess! :D

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  7. Those breakfast pancakes are an inspired idea I love mine with garlic mushrooms and soft cheese.

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    1. Oooh, garlic mushrooms are my favourite...... *plans next weeks meals*....

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  8. Love your veggie breakfast idea! Might have to try that next Sunday morning! ;)

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    1. Thank you! It does make an excellent Sunday brunch - enjoy! :)

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    2. Thank you! It does make an excellent Sunday brunch - enjoy! :)

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