Perfect Pancakes
Everyone loves pancakes! Ok, so this is a generalisation but I have never met anyone who doesn’t love MY pancakes!
My Mum used to make us pancakes when we were growing up and whilst usually they were excellent, at other times they were not so good but we ate them anyway. And we didn’t only eat them on Pancake Day, enjoyed them throughout the year for breakfast (Nutella and hazelnuts, banana and honey, Strawberry jam), for dinner (mature cheddar cheese with garlic mushrooms) and as a snack (cherry jam with double cream, sugar and lemon)… The thought of it makes me want to go and make some right now!
The problem with pancakes is that you always had leave the mixture to stand before cooking, otherwise they wouldn’t have the right texture but then I discovered a great recipe by the wonderful Dame Delia (Smith), which meant that you could whizz up the recipe and then cook and enjoy pancakes straight away.
I turned Dame Delia’s recipe into a ready-reckoner table, so when we had guests, we could ensure that there is always just enough for all to share.
Ingredients
Whizz the mix up well with a food processor or mixer but if mix it by hand, then you might like to sieve the mixture before cooking to avoid lumps.
Make sure that you heat a frying pan first and add just enough butter so that the mix doesn’t stick but not too much so that they are drenched in oil. At home, I now make them with sunflower oil which I think is just as good and a bit healthier too.
Pour just enough mix to ensure that the pan has a thin layer otherwise the pancakes won’t be crispy -In this recipe, less is more.
After 30 seconds or so, agitate the pan so that you can tell when pancake frees itself from the bottom and avoid the temptation to turn your pancake until the edges just start to brown. Ideally, your pancakes should be thin and crispy.
For the full “Crepe Experience”, whilst still in the pan, add a handful of finely cubed Gruyere cheese, finely chopped red onion and garlic mushrooms, then wait for the cheese to melt and fold over two wings of pancake to make a French feast. Enjoy!
Yorkshire Puddings
Also, you can use exactly the same process to prepare Yorkshire puddings but will need to leave them to stand in the conventional way and pour the mix into a baking tin with HOT fat into a HOT oven (200C) when making your roast potatoes for a roast dinner.
