I love, love, love pancakes, bit fat juicy ones, thin crispy lacy ones, teeny weeny piklets, soft spongy crumpets, blousey Dutch babies…
Pancake batter is totally magical, one can make a million variations by just changing the proportions of egg and flour to liquid.
Half milk and water will give you a lacier crepe, less liquid will result in a thickish pancake. Use buttermilk instead and you can turn out a stack of fluffy American pancakes.
Everyone has their favourites, but simple pancakes conjure up the happiest memories of Pancake Tuesdays of our childhood. Mummy made a huge bowl of pancake batter and then cooked pancake after pancake for what seemed like hours. There were nine of us so we took turns to have the next one straight from the pan. We brushed the speckled pancakes with melted butter, sprinkled on some castor sugar and squeezed some lemon juice to zip up the flavour, rolled them up and then ate them slowly cut into little slices until it was our turn again. When my own children were little, pancakes were our quintessential fast food made in minutes when we arrived home from a shopping trip or an afternoon at the beach. Just pop a pan on the Aga, shoot a mug of white flour into a blender, add 3 eggs and 15 fl oz of milk, a dessertspoon of castor sugar. Whizz, bang – batter made. Melt a little butter in the pan, pour in a small ladel full of batter, tilt the pan to cover the base, cook on the highest heat for a minute or two until its easy to flip over. Slide it onto a hot plate, then fill or top with your favourite choice – chocolate spread is right up there, soft and easy to spread but now we know that the well-known brand is made with controversial palm oil you may want to make your own with good quality hazelnuts and chocolate.
Kumquat compote, a homemade lemon curd and crème fraîche are so morish. Honey, butter is also hard to beat but orange butter and freshly squeezed lemon juice are a quintessential favourite. Ring up the pals and arrange a pancake party – fun and delicious for all the ages from nine to ninety.
Here are some of my favourite recipes
Hot Tips
Date for the Diary
The Weston A. Price Foundation will be hosting their third conference at Thomond Park Stadium in Limerick on March 25th & 26th March 2017. ‘Changing Our Minds’ will focus on the nutritional foundations of a healthy mind and ways in which we can make profound positive changes to our health.
Contact Deirdre McMahon deirdremacmahon@gmail.com
Fairtrade Fortnight
From February 27th to March 12th 2017. Join your friends, neighbours, colleagues and communities to put Fairtrade products in your shopping basket whenever possible. Everything tastes better when you can enjoy it knowing that those who laboured to produce the food are fairly treated and compensated.
Check out http://www.fairtrade.ie/ for the Fairtrade Fortnight Action Guide.
Slow Food East Cork Event Fair Trade Nicaraguan Chocolate
Heydi Mairena from Jinotega in Nicaragua will share the story of her fair trade artisan Quetzalcoatl chocolate on Wednesday March 1st 2017 at 7pm at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. www.slowfoodireland.com
Posh Shrove Tuesday Pancakes with Orange Butter
Every Shrove Tuesday we make pancakes at the School, the students queue up to eat them hot from the pan, with much swapping of stories about how mothers made them – this year one was heard to remark ruefully – ‘my mother’s pancakes never tasted like these- these are delicious! In fact these are very nearly as good as Crepes Suzette but half the bother.
Serves 6 – makes 12 approx.
Basic Pancake Batter
175g (6oz/generous 1 cup) white flour, preferably unbleached
A good pinch of salt
1 dessertspoon (2 American teaspoons) castor sugar
2 large eggs and 1 or 2 egg yolks, preferably free range
425ml (scant ¾ pint) milk, or for very crisp, light delicate pancakes, milk and water mixed
2 tablespoons (2 American tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) melted butter
Orange Butter
175g (6oz/1½ sticks) butter
3 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
200g (7oz/scant 2 cups) icing sugar
1 tablespoon (1 American tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) Grand Marnier (optional)
Freshly squeezed juice of 5 oranges
8 inch (20.5cm) non-stick crepe pan
First make the batter. Sieve the flour, salt, and sugar into a bowl, make a well in the centre and drop in the eggs. With a whisk or wooden spoon, starting in the centre, mix the egg and gradually bring in the flour from the sides. Add the liquid slowly and beat until the batter is covered with bubbles. (If they are to be served with sugar and lemon juice, stir in an extra tablespoon of castor sugar and the finely grated rind of half a lemon).
Let the batter stand in a cold place for an hour or so – longer will do no harm. Just before you cook the pancakes stir in 2 tablespoons melted butter. This will make all
the difference to the flavour and texture of the pancakes and will make it possible to cook them without greasing the pan each time.
Next make the Orange butter.
Cream the butter with the finely grated orange rind. Then add the sifted icing sugar and beat until fluffy, add the orange liqueur if using.
Make the pancakes in the usual way.
Heat a non stick pan until very hot, pour in just enough batter to cover the base when you tilt and swirl the pan. Put the pan back on the heat, loosen the pancake around the edge with a non metal slice. Flip over, cook for a few seconds on the reverse side. Slide over onto a plate. Repeat until all the batter has been used up.
Pancakes and orange butter can be make ahead and finished later. The pancakes will keep overnight covered in a fridge. They will peel apart easily – no need to interleaf them with greaseproof paper.
To Serve
Melt a large blob of the Orange butter in the pan, add some freshly squeezed orange juice and toss the pancakes in the foaming butter, fold in half and then in quarters (fan shapes). Serve 2 per person on warm plates. Repeat until all the pancakes and butter have been used.
Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread
You’ll never go back to the well known brand
Makes 2 small jars
250 g (9 oz) hazelnuts
150 g (5 oz) icing sugar
45 g (1.5 oz) cocoa powder (we use Valrhona)
4 tablespoons hazelnut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salt, between 1/8 and ¼ teaspoon
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
Spread the hazelnuts out in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 12-15 minutes or until the skin start to loosen and the nuts are golden and evenly roasted. Rub the skins off the hazelnuts and discard.
Cool and transfer to a food processor. Whizz the hazelnuts for 2-5 minutes or until the oil begins to separate from the soft paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the icing sugar, cocoa powder, hazelnut oil, vanilla extract and salt to taste. Keep whizzing until the spread is loose, glossy and spreadable texture. Taste, it may need another pinch of salt or another tablespoon of hazelnut oil.
Spoon into little jars, cover and use within a month but usually it doesn’t last that long!
Reynard’s Dutch Babies
Makes 4
3 free range eggs
175ml (6fl ozs/3/4 cup) milk
75oz (3oz/1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
salt to taste
3/4 tablespoons (1 American tablespoons) clarified butter
Topping
4 slices cooked ham
75-110g (3-4ozs) Gruyére cheese, grated
maple syrup (optional)
2 teaspoon thyme leaves
freshly ground pepper
We use small, 15cm (6 inch) cast iron pans for ours.
Preheat an oven to 230°/450°F/Gas Mark 8.
Whisk all the ingredients together for the batter. Melt a scant tablespoon of clarified butter in each of the cast iron pans over a high heat, pour 1/4 of the batter into the hot pan. Transfer into the preheated oven, they will bubble up. Reduce temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Add a slice of cooked ham and a good sprinkle of grated Gruyére cheese. Cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the cheese melts. Slide onto a warm plate.
Drizzle with maple syrup (optional), sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and a grind of freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.
Drop Scones with Loads of Toppings
These can be sweet or savoury, just omit the sugar.
Makes 12
110g (4ozs/1 cup) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
25g (1oz/1/8 cup) caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
110ml (4fl ozs/1/2 cup) milk
drop of sunflower oil, for greasing
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the sugar and salt and stir to mix. Make a well in the centre, crack in the egg and whisk, gradually drawing in the flour from the edge. Add the milk gradually, whisking all the time, to form a smooth batter.
Lightly grease a frying pan and warm it over a moderate heat. Drop 3 tablespoons (3 American tablespoons + 3 teaspoons) of the batter into the pan, keeping well apart so they don’t stick together. Cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface and begin to burst and the drop scones are golden underneath, then flip them over and cook on the other side for a minute or until golden on this side as well.
Remove from the pan to a wire rack. Serve warm with whichever topping you fancy.
Kumquat Compote and Crème Fraiche and Shredded Mint
Blood Orange, Labne, Roast Rhubarb and Pistachios
Labne, Pomegranates and Mint
Blueberries, Lemon Cream and Mint Leaves
Dulce de Leche, Bananas, Pecans and slivered almonds
Roast cherry tomatoes and Rocket Leaves
Blackberries, Lemon Curd, Cream and Blueberries
American Buttermilk Pancakes with Crispy Bacon and Maple Syrup
Serves 4-6 depending on the size or helping
Makes 14 – 3†pancakes
We love to cook American pancakes on the Aga for Sunday brunch – it’s so difficult to know when to stop!
250ml (8 flozs/1cup) buttermilk
1 free-range egg, preferably organic
15g (1/2 oz/1/8 stick) butter, melted
150g (5oz/generous 1 cup) plain white flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon bread soda
To Serve
butter
12-18 pieces crispy bacon
Maple syrup or Irish honey
Mix the buttermilk, egg and melted butter in a large bowl, until smooth and blended. Sieve the flour, salt and baking soda together, stir into the buttermilk until the ingredients are barely combined, don’t worry about the lumps. Do not over mix or the pancakes will be heavy.
Heat a heavy iron or non-stick pan until medium hot. Grease with a little clarified butter. Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of batter onto the pan, spread slightly with the back of the spoon to a round about 7.5cm (3inch) across. Cook until the bubbles rise and break on the top of the pancake (about a minute). Flip over gently. Cook until pale golden on the other side. Spread each with butter.
Serve a stack of three with crispy streaky bacon and maple syrup.
OR:
Loganberry jam, sour cream and sausages
Serve pancakes with loganberry jam, sour cream and sausages
Cornmeal Pancakes
Substitute 25g (1 oz/1/4 cup) of cornmeal for 25g (1 oz/1/4 cup) of flour in the above recipe.
Russian Fluffy Pancakes
Julija Makejeva, who works with us at the Cookery School, taught me how to make these pancakes, known as oladushki in Russian.
Serves 6
225ml (8fl oz) buttermilk
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda or bread soda)
2 organic eggs, whisked
scant 1â„2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons caster sugar
250g (9oz) white flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Put the buttermilk into a bowl, sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda on top and leave for 3–4 minutes to allow the mixture to bubble.
Whisk the egg, salt and caster sugar into the buttermilk mixture. Slowly add the flour to the batter, whisking all the time, until the mixture has an even consistency. The batter should be very thick and reluctantly fall off the spoon.
Heat a wide frying pan on a medium heat. Add the vegetable oil. Pour a tablespoon of batter into the pan and repeat – you should be able to fit about 5 more pancakes in the pan, spaced evenly apart. Fry until golden brown on one side, flip over once bubbles have appeared on the surface and popped. Repeat the process until all of the batter is used. Serve with sour cream mixed with raspberry jam or sour cream sprinkled with brown sugar.
