For me this is definitely one of the better weeks of the
year. Tuesday was Pancake Day – whoop!
And Sunday will be Valentines Day, so love is in the air - another whoop! Two of my favourite ever celebrations! Come on – who doesn’t LOVE PANCAKES?!
Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Day!
As you can probably tell if you follow me on Facebook / Twitter
/ Instagram – I got a little bit excited about Pancake Day this year. That was until I realised I wasn’t sure how
to make pancakes and I’d actually never even made them before. Seriously.
So, this year I took the plunge and made pancakes all by myself (well
with a little help from my friends).
You see I’ve been very lucky (here comes the love part) to
have a best friend in my world, who among other remarkable qualities, is an
incredible cook! And her blueberry
pancakes are quite possibly THE BEST.
I’m also lucky enough right now (more of the love part) to have a boy
that has his own little pancake making recipe that he whips up as an occasional
dessert treat, or Sunday special. So
these were my go to’s in my quest to create the perfect pancake for myself this
year. Unfortunately I wasn’t gonna get to see either of their lovely faces or
kitchens, pans, plates or pancakes this
Tuesday so I asked for their recipes instead.
And just because we’re talking valentines and love, I’m sharing the
recipes with you – sharing the love and the pancakes:
RECIPE 1 - My best mates blueberry pancakes
Ingredients:
200g self-raising flour
300ml buttermilk
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
150g blueberries
Butter (just a little bit to melt into the batter)
Oil (just a little bit for the pan)
Maple syrup (to dress)
Salt (pinch)
Method:
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a large bowl
- In another bowl mix the egg and milk then pour the wet into the dry ingredients
- Melt a little knob of butter and stir that into the mixture too
- Add half the blueberries to the batter and stir through gently
- Heat a pan with a little oil
- Take a large tablespoon of batter per pancake and drop into the hot pan (ensure you leave enough space between spoonful’s for the pancakes to spread, cook and flip if you are using a large pan, and make sure each spoonful has a few of the blueberries in too!)
- Cook for a couple of minutes until bubbles appear on the surface – then turn the pancakes with a fish slice and cook for another couple mins on the other side
- When they are golden, take them out the pan and onto a plate
- Use the remainder of the fresh blueberries and the maple syrup to dress the pancakes over the top / on the side / wherever you like!
So these come out like an
American / Canadian pancake stack. Nice
fat, fluffy pancakes. Sweet, delicious
and addictive.
RECIPE 2 - The boyfriends cheeky batter
Ingredients:
2 free range eggs
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
150-200ml milk
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
Butter (just a little bit for the pan)
Lemon juice and sugar (to dress)
Method:
- Add the flour, eggs, sugar and salt to a bowl and mix
- Then mix in the milk until the batter is all combined, but still runny (add more milk as you go if required to keep the batter nice and runny too)
- Heat up a frying pan and make sure it’s coated with the butter
- Take a ladle and spoon in the batter mix – swirl around in the pan until it reaches the sides ensuring it’s spread out nice and thin and even
- Cook for a minute or so, then FLIP (or use a fish slice to turn the pancake over)
- Cook on the other side in the until the whole thing is golden and slightly crisp
- Flip out onto a plate, add fresh lemon juice and white sugar and roll up!
So these come out more like a classic crepe style – thin, crispy pancakes, golden and delicious.
There you have it, for the love
of pancakes I thought I’d share these 2 fine recipes. Both taste tested many a time and I can give
them both the no nonsense seal of approval.
BUT WAIT – I made pancakes this
year too! And even though I had both
these recipes and know I love both end products, I of course couldn’t stick to
the simple instructions but made it up as I went along, developing my own
simplified version of the batter and cooking - even though it may well have
just been beginners luck – the best, simplest and tastiest pancakes ever! (even
though I do say so myself!) So just for
you guys here is recipe 3 – no nonsense naked blueberry pancakes:
RECIPE 3 - no nonsense, naked blueberry pancake
Ingredients:
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup milk (we used full fat, blue top milk in these)
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Pinch of sea salt
100g blueberries
Maple syrup (to dress)
Icing sugar (to dress)
Butter (1 knob for the mix, one for the pan)
Method:
- Add the flour, milk, egg, knob of butter, baking powder and salt to your blender
- Blend
- Add half the blueberries
- Don’t blend
- Heat the butter in a tiny frying pan (we used a non-stick 12cm fried egg pan perfect pancake size!)
- Ladle the batter to fill the pan
- Cook for a couple minutes until bubbles appear on the surface on the pancake
-Take a fish slice and turn the pancake over to cook through the other side
for approx. 2 mins as well
- We did this 4 times, making 4 pancakes – we ate one during cooking, so stacked 3 of them!
Then we dressed them with the remaining blueberries, melted butter on top, a sprinkle of icing sugar and maple syrup.
Top tip then, don’t whisk the batter – put it in the blender – it took
less than 30 seconds. Seriously –
minimum effort, maximum taste, no nonsense.
Chefs / cooks / bakers etc will probably all tell you different, but we
are about minimum fuss and maximum results!
These are all quite indulgent
recipes so because love is in the air, we are being kind and because we love
our bodies but do want more pancakes, we’ve put together a list of a few
adaptations to our creations you might also enjoy:
- How about substituting whole milk for unsweetened almond milk? And then adding chopped almonds to dress the pancakes too?
- How about ditching the icing sugar and maple syrup and using natural or Greek yoghurt on top of the blueberry ones, with some added fresh fruits and/or flaked almonds too?
- How about adding grilled pineapple to the boyfriends batter pancakes with perhaps a tiny touch of brown sugar?
- Instead of, or as well as blueberries – plums and/or cherries work really well
- Try adding milled flaxseed as well as flour? You may need to blend with a little extra milk, but this creates a protein packed pancake
- The addition/substitution of chocolate oat milk makes fab and healthy chocolate pancakes!
- Banana goes well with all pancakes, especially the chocolate ones or alongside a few pomegranate seeds on the boyfriends batter style too!
- How about adding peanut butter as a filling filling?
- And of course, how about cinnamon? Our favourite flavouring – a great addition to any sweet pancake ever made!
- If you’re going savoury, try spinach and pancetta / cream cheese and chives / pesto and peppers for healthy, filling options.
We could go on and on as pancake
recipes are really very versatile – you can put whatever you want on your
pancakes, but we hope the suggestions and recipes here help you decide. How about making them for yourself or a loved
one this Sunday as a Valentines day treat…?
Simple and cheap – but they will look and taste so impressive who’s to
know!?!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
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**Please remember this is advice ONLY (as is all other
information contained in this blog, the website and social media related to it)
None of the info or advice is intended to override any recommendation from your
GP or health professional**
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