Wednesday, 8 May 2013

American Pancakes

This recipe is simple, straightforward and tasty. No fuss, just a classic dish. You wouldn't expect anything less from a great American plate.

As an aside, I'd like to explore some dishes from differing states of the US. The USA has a great variety of produce and I think there's much more to American food than just burgers.

Anyway, to the recipe at hand. These are a breakfast favourite, and are a great base for building flavours on top, as they can be sweet or savoury. Or even better - both! Crispy, salty streaky bacon with sticky sweet maple syrup is a heart-attack-inducing match made in heaven. Try chocolate spread, fruit and yoghurt, cheese, fresh tomato salsa...

...or enjoy simply with butter and maple syrup as I have below.

Ingredients

135g / 4 3/4oz  plain flour
1 tsp  baking powder
1/2 tsp  salt
2 tbsp  caster sugar
130ml / 4 1/2floz milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
30g / 2 tbsp melted butter


Method

- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together into a bowl.

- In a separate jug or bowl, lightly whisk the egg and milk together, then whisk in the melted butter.

- Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat with a fork until smooth. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes.

- Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once melted, add a ladleful of batter. Depending on how big you want your pancakes / how big your frying pan is, ladle a few to cook at the same time. The mixture will be quite thick and sticky - don't worry, this is how it should be!

- Allow to cook for a minute or two. once the pancake starts to bubble, flip it over so that both sides are golden brown, and the pancake has risen to about a 1cm thick.

- Repeat til you've used all your batter!

Enjoy them fresh from the pan, this is the best way. Spread with butter and lashings of maple syrup. 


Beautiful.

Dig in!