Pancake Day

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It doesn't really matter what you call it - Mardi Gras, Fasnacht, Carnival, Karneval….I'll probably never truly understand the whole point of it, but one thing that I love about all the craziness just before lent starts is the last day of it - pancake day. Whoever originally had that idea - using all the milk, eggs, sugar, and butter they wouldn't be using for the next 40 days, in my book that was the best idea ever!
In case you haven't noticed, I am rather fond of all things pancakes - thin ones, thick and fluffy ones, cut-up ones in soup, even the ones that are filled with jam and are bloody donuts (I'm not even trying to understand why they call them Pfannkuchen in Berlin, they're not even made in a proper pan…) oh, and does anyone amongst you Germans remember Petzi? Growing up one of my goals in life (right after becoming a bird-catcher dude just like Papageno) was to get my mum to make a stack of pancakes as high as the one Petzi's mum kept making at the end of each adventure. Unfortunately I wasn't really that good at the whole scheming thing so neither the bird-catcher thing nor the pancake stack worked out…
Anyhow, a while back Verena asked me for a gluten-free pancake recipe so I thought I should come up with one. Since she didn't tell me whether it was supposed to be a thick American-style pancake or a thin crêpe I decided to be lazy and go down the crêpe-route. If you've never had millet, this is a really nice introduction to it. We've used buckwheat in a few other recipes in the past (if you actually cook the stuff I write about rather than just looking at the pictures - yes, Katharina S, I am soo looking at you right now :) )

One note of caution, if you're looking for super thin pancakes that you can pretty much see through and that will roll up amazingly easily, I would probably make palatschinken (aka Austrian crêpe) because since this recipe is gluten-free and I didn't add anything fancy to the batter there there isn't any of the proteiny viscousness in the batter. That said, I do think flavour-wise, these are the best thin pancakes I have had in a while.

Millet and Buckwheat Pancakes
100g Millet Flour
50g Buckwheat Flour
200ml Milk
100g Creme Fraiche
2 Eggs
½ tbsp Sugar (optional)
A pinch of Salt
Zest of ½ Orange (optional)
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Mix the flours, then whisk in the milk, eggs and creme fraiche. Add the sugar and orange zest if you are using them (in case you haven't noticed lately, I believe orange zest goes with everything). Then add the Salt and Vanilla Essence.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet to a medium heat and melt some butter in it.
Pour some batter into the skillet and rotate the skillet slightly so the batter gets evenly distributed. Wait until the pancake looks like it's cooked through and the edges start rolling up (I found that unlike a 'normal' crepe where it doesn't matter as much whether the edges are already rolling up, with these they kept tearing whenever I was too impatient), flip the pancake and give it another minute or two so the second side gets some colour as well.
I had these pancakes with some cinnamon sugar but my mum says they also go really well with some strawberry-rhubarb jam.
What is your favourite pancake topping/filling?

I hope you have a good week and lots and lots of pancakes :)

Oaty Ricotta Pancakes

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Last summer I got slightly obsessed with finding a nice ricotta pancake recipe after having some for breakfast at Five Leaves. I went through a few not so nice versions, one of which was followed by my friend Alex making some rather amazing Earl Grey flavoured ricotta pancakes, and me kinda giving up on the whole ricotta pancake thing and moving on to polenta pancakes.
After making another batch of ricotta pancakes for brunch today, I think I have finally found the combination of flavours I was looking for. Think all the flavourful goodness of the Orangey Oat Scones from last summer (just less summery thanks to some cardamom) combined with the airiness of a ricotta pancake. How much better can breakfast get?
Anyhow, I know the next weekend is horribly far away :) but if I were you, I'd definitely keep these in mind when you are searching your fridge for inspiration next Sunday.

Oaty Ricotta Pancakes
Dry mix:
1/2 cup Oat Flour (if you can't find any pulse some porridge oats in a food processor for a few seconds)
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Bicarb
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp ground Cardamom

Wet mix:
1 cup Ricotta
1/2 cup Milk
Zest of 1 Orange
3 Eggs, separated (yolks go into the mix, whites are used separately)

Combine the dry mix and set aside.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form (you have no idea how much fun it is to write this).
Combine the remaining ingredients for the wet mix. Stir the wet mix into the dry mix and don't worry if there are still a few lumps left, if you mix things too much the pancakes will become chewy (in a bad way) rather than light and airy.
Fold in the egg whites. What I do when I want to fold egg whites into a batter is the following: I take 1/3 of the egg whites and stir them into the batter (no folding whatsoever), then I fold in the remaining egg whites and for some reason that means the two combine much easier without too much of the airiness of the egg whites disappearing.
Heat a skillet to a medium-low heat and grease it lightly with some butter. Spoon dollops of batter (I go for about 3 tablespoons per pancake) into the pan and allow them to brown nicely before flipping them over.

These pancakes really like maple syrup, and since you'll already have an orange lying around that will want to be used fairly soon, why not filet the orange so you can even have some vitamins with the pancakes - scary concept, I know :)

What did you guys have for breakfast this weekend?

Baked Apple Pancakes

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So how have you been? Has your flat transformed into Santa's Grotto or something along those lines yet?
We decided to embrace the Christmas spirit on sunday and rather than making sweet potato pancakes we made baked apple pancakes. I don't know about you but there is very little that makes me happier on a cold winter evening than baked apples. And these pancakes give you the same warm and fuzzy feeling on the inside that baked apples give you (or is that just me?) without having to wait forever while the apples bake away.
I think you should make these this weekend and while you are in the kitchen, how about you listen to Frankie Sumatra's Christmas Cocktails (anything he touches turns to gold and this is no exception). Oh, and while you are sitting in your hopefully very cosy kitchen, send me some warm thoughts because I will probably be freezing my fingers off in Stubai this weekend.

Baked Apple Pancakes

3 Apples (mine were fairly medium)
2 tbsp Orange Juice
A few drops Almond Extract
2 tbsp Maple Syrup
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves (and whatever other spices you can think of that you can find that remind you of Christmas)
2 Eggs (lightly beaten)
350 ml Buttermilk
225 g Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
50 g Sugar
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
Vegetable Oil or Butter 


Peel and grate the apples. If you are like me and can't go near anything resembling a grater without trying to dismember yourself, the trick is to keep grating and finishing the apples before you bleed out.
Then you transfer the grated apples and orange juice into a small saucepan and heat things over a medium heat. While the apples heat up you can go on a hunt for band aids. Give the apples 5 to 10 minutes so they soften but don't turn into applesauce.
Add the maple syrup, some almond extract and some spices (I kept adding stuff so I don't have a clue how much I added in the end). You want the apple mix to taste the way baked apples do so be generous with the spices.
Add the buttermilk and then the eggs.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then fold in the wet mix (don't worry if there's still some lumps left).
Heat a large skillet over a medium heat. This time it is really important that you keep the heat on the low side of medium because the apples will soften even further as the batter heats up and if you bake the pancakes too quickly they will burn on the outside while the inside is nowhere near done.
Heat some butter or oil in the skillet and drop a few spoonful of batter in there for each pancake (I prefer small pancakes because they seem to bake more evenly throughout  with the pans I use).
Be patient while the pancakes sit in the pan, I don't think I have ever waited that long for pancakes to be done but it was well worth the wait. They will be softer than plain pancakes because of the apples but if you are worried that they are not quite done but that they are getting starting to look more like charcoal than pancakes, you might want to heat your oven to 100˚C and give them another 10 minutes or so in there while you make the remaining pancakes.
These lovelies love to be drowned in more maple syrup while they are still warm but they also make a perfect monday morning lunchbox addition :)
I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Polenta Pancakes

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Not sure what to have for breakfast tomorrow? Well I have an idea for you.
I don't know about you but I love most things to do with corn - popcorn, cake with polenta, polenta by itself, cornmeal in muffins, grits, corn on the cob, cornbread (especially cornbread)...I can't really think of anything else right now but you get the point :)
So in the quest for the perfect pancakes I decided that since corn makes most things better that should transfer to pancakes as well.
And guess what, I was right :)
I called this recipe polenta pancakes but I actually used a mixture of cornmeals rather than 'proper' polenta but we can probably agree that mixed cornmeal pancakes sounds kinda stupid. I hope you like them anyway!

Polenta Pancakes
Cornmeal:
85 g Cornmeal (I use 1/2 super fine polenta and 1/2 medium maize meal (so that's slightly finer than grits))
A pinch of Salt
375 ml Milk

Dry Mix:
190 g Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tbsp Sugar

Wet Mix:
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
325 ml Milk
2 Eggs

Butter

Make some cornmeal by whisking the cornmeal and salt into the milk and heating it over a medium heat (while stirring) until the milk is all absorbed (i.e. if this were porridge it would be waaay too thick). Allow the cornmeal to cool before you continue with the next few steps.
Mix the dry ingredients and set them aside.
Whisk the wet ingredients together and then mix them in with the cooled cornmeal.
Add the dry mix and stir things until everything is combined, but make sure you don't overwork the batter.
Heat some butter in a heavy bottomed pan and make some glorious pancakes.
These pancakes are lovely on their own but shine with some golden syrup and some fresh berries.
Oh, and since the recipe makes quite a lot of them, they are really nice the next day as well.

Sweet Potato Pancakes - The Recipe

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Last weekend I finally got around to making the sweet potato pancakes I have been dreaming about since having some at Highland Bakery with Kelsey.
If you're still unsure about what to do this Sunday, how about you invite some friends over for pancakes? They'll love you enough to offer to bring some gin for your boardgame night the following weekend :) what more could you want?!?
This recipe is based on one I saw on La Fuji Mama earlier this year but never got around to trying them but as expected, they were just as amazing as everything else Rachel writes about.
Anyhow, let's make some pancakes!

Sweet Potato Pancakes
450g Sweet Potatoes
130g Plain Flour
50g Rye Flour
80g Kamut Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tbsp Sugar
55g Butter
11/2 tbsp Molasses
2 Eggs, beaten
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
350 ml Milk

Before you can make your pancakes you'll have to cook your sweet potatoes. The way I normally do that is by peeling them, chopping them into chunks about the size of the ones in the picture and boiling them until they are tender (and yes, that probably washes out all the vitamins and stuff but hey, we're making pancakes, let's be honest, if you're gonna drown them in maple syrup it's not like the vitamins are gonna make much of a difference, embrace the unhealthiness and have an apple in the afternoon). If you want to boil them whole, then wait until they're cold enough to peel  etc. be my guest but don't expect to ever see me do that :)
Once the sweet potatoes are boiled, you can mash them with a fork or a potato ricer.
If you're making them in advance because you want to have people over the next day but you also want to go swimming in the morning, cover the sweet potato mash with cling-film and stick them in the fridge overnight. You could even get the dry ingredients ready which, if you're doing everything in one go is what you'd want to do right now anyway.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
If you mashed the sweet potatoes the night before, melt the butter, otherwise the sweet potatoes will do the job for you, and stir the butter into the mash. Then whisk in (i.e. with one of those wire whisk things, not the electric one, even my wrist is strong enough for this batter so no whinging) the eggs, molasses, vanilla extract and milk.
Once the wet mix is well combined, add the dry mix and stir everything together. Things don't have to be super combined, especially with the sweet potatoes in the mix it's going to be lumpy anyway from the sweet potatoes.
Anyhow, give the batter some time to rest (mine only had about 5 minutes and it worked just fine) and get a skillet or griddle ready.
Once the skillet is hot add some butter and once that is bubbling away spoon in about 1/4 to 1/3 cup sized scoops of the batter depending on what size you want them to be.
You'll want to turn them once the top side starts bubbling, so it will probably still be fairly goopy. I have found that yes, that way you might ruin a pancake or two but the ones that I turned once the top seemed as well-done as I would have expected from a normal pancake were consistently burned and I had my heat on the low side and I had borrowed Ashley's fancy pan so I think for these lovelies you'll just have to suffer through a few ugly ones unless burned pancakes are your thing :)
Right, I'm starting to ramble, go and give these a try, they were absolutely lovely and they're super nice with some maple syrup and lots and lots of berries and banana slices.
I hope you have a fab rest of your weekend and that the weather is nicer where you are!

Brunch and the Amazingness of Quince

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© Anna Blanch

We had brunch yesterday. I made the Quince Buckwheat & Spelt Pancakes, had another discussion whether that combination could even remotely work, ate too many muffins and apple cake and just had a really good time (who cares whether anyone else is having a good time if I'm having one) and I now hope that all those lovely people who showed up will want to come back again :)

One of the pancakes even looked a bit like a brain!!!!
Which got me thinking that we should definitely start making more pancakes like Jim's because the stuff he does is beyond cool!!!

Just ignore the bad picture, it already looked horrendous when I took it but I was too hungry to keep trying...

Anyhow, the reason we had this brunch was that I finally managed to get hold of some quince last week so after doing a dance of joy standing outside the greengrocer's I decided it was time for brunch again.
I don't even know why I love quince so much. But I do. In nearly every form I have met them so far. I like them as quince cheese with some blue cheese or even some pasta, I love them in the pancakes, they're even more amazing in a quince and chicken curry (I'll have to make that some time soon!) and quince jelly is the best topping for Hefezopf on a Sunday morning when you've just gotten back from the swimming pool and you feel like you're gonna faint if you don't eat something like right now.
In the UK quince are in season right now, don't ask me about the States or the Continent (that's what the internet is for :) ) but I think you should make something with quince as well! And then tell me about it!
Or even better, make it for me :)

Marzipan Pancakes

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We had a girly brunch today for which I made these darlings.
I know I'm gonna sound like a bad imitation of Karl Lagerfeld's story of how he thought of this year's Spring collection, but basically I was drifting off last night when I suddenly had this one clear though of how amazingly awesome marzipan flavoured pancakes would be with an orange yoghurt cream. So off I went to the shop this morning to find some marzipan.
I'm not quite convinced by the orange yoghurt thing but I'm just gonna tell you what I did (and you get to do the improving, it might just need some whipped cream but I couldn't be bothered to make a second batch today - it's the weekend and I'm feeling decidedly lazy).

Marzipan Pancakes
11/3 cups Plain flour
1 cup Ground Almonds
11/2 tsp Baking powder
3/4 cup Marzipan, coarsely grated
3 Eggs, separated
1/3 cup Sugar
2 cups Buttermilk
1 pinch Salt

Beat the egg-whites until you have soft peaks forming, then put them aside until later.
Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder, egg-yolks, sugar, buttermilk, and salt. Then mix in 1/4 of the egg-whites and once they're properly mixed in, fold in the rest of the egg-whites and the marzipan.
Heat some butter in a pan and watch them turn into sheer amazingness while they're frying away :)

Orange Yoghurt Cream
Zest of 1 orange
4 tbsp Yoghurt
2 tsp Cointreau
2 tsp Agave syrup
Some whipped cream (I didn't add any but I think that might just do the job so add about 3 tbsp)

Mix everything together. If you're using the whipped cream I would fold it into the mix at the end.

Enjoy the pancakes in the company of some lovely people and with some awesome coffee :)

Kaiserschmarrn

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We haven't had a pancake recipe in a while, and this time I even have one that's a main course :)
The recipe is from Sandra who's the queen of all Austro-Hungarian food (and I worship her for that).
I think it was meant for 6 but it fed 3 hungry postgrads rather well.

Kaiserschmarrn
8 Eggs, separated
5 tbsp Sugar
240 g Flour
500 ml Milk
60 g Raisins
1 tbsp Vanilla sugar
1 tbsp Rum
1 pinch Salt
Some butter for the frying

If you like raisins soak them in the rum for about half an hour, otherwise leave them out and just put the rum in with the next step.
In a large bowl mix the milk, egg yolks, vanilla sugar and the flour (add raisins if using).
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites, sugar and salt until soft peaks form, then fold it under the egg yolk mix.
Heat your pan over a medium heat with a generous dollop of butter and put about 1/3 of the batter into the pan. This is the biggest pancake you'll probably ever make so no worrying!
Wait until you see little holes forming, flip the pancake, wait for a minute and then you get to rip it to pieces.
This is Tim attacking the Kaiserschmarrn.

Give it another 2 or 3 minutes until the little pieces are golden brown and all fabulous.
Serve with icing sugar sprinkled on top, or with some apple sauce, or some berries - oh the possibilities!
You'll next hear from me on the train back home (whoop whoop), have a glorious week until then.

Quince Buckwheat & Spelt Pancakes

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©Anna Blanch

I should really start writing about something other than brunch and cake....but aren't they some of the best things in life?
Anyhow, as promised, here's the pancakes we made a couple of weeks ago when Anna was staying with me for the weekend (I'm sorry I was such a boring host!)
We made them with apples this time but they work better with quince, so if you can find some awesome, otherwise, a rather tart apple should work as well, we had Braeburn and they didn't quite work...
I originally got the recipe from Kim Boyce's 'Good to the Grain' which, if you're into whole grain baking is like food porn :)
Pancakes....the original recipe uses pears and if you ever tried to feed me pears you will know that I'd rather write a chapter than eat pears....but I had these amazingly fragrant quince sitting in my kitchen that I only bought because I love the smell so much (though...quince curry.....hmmm....) and because they remind me of my grandparents garden when I  was little (I had a quince tree there).....and somehow the quince ended up in my pancakes.
The way I like to have those pancakes made my mum shake her head but try it, and you'll understand why this is my favourite breakfast in the world!

Quince Buckwheat & Spelt Pancakes
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup whole-grain spelt flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
11/4 cups soy milk
1 egg
1 large quince (though I'm guessing if you have your own tree you'll need two...) peeled just before you're ready to start

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. I know this might seem tedious but it's really worth the effort! Your pancakes, or any baking for that matter becomes a lot lighter and you don't have to worry about lumps as much.
In a large bowl, whisk the butter, soy milk and egg together and grate the quince into the mixture (quince discolour quite a lot if you grate them in advance, so I'd really only grate them when you need them).
Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Don't overbeat at this step otherwise your pancakes will go this weird rubbery texture....
Now you get to have fun!
Heat a pan over medium heat and rub it with butter (Kim Boyce points out that using lots of butter is what makes the edges go all crisp and buttery....which makes sense but until she pointed it out I never thought about it.....so go for the 'it's brunch....it doesn't count' attitude :) )
Go for about 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake.
Once you get those awesome bubbles at the top of the pancakes, flip them and keep cooking until the bottom is a lovely golden colour.

©Anna Blanch

So back to them being my favourite breakfast in the world.....
A while ago I felt like experimenting so I added some poached eggs, some steamed apples, some grated cheese, and some agave syrup......you know how some dishes just feel like a party in your mouth? Well this is like a slowdance with an incredibly cute guy.....the egg yolks just melt in with the creaminess of the cheese which contrasts the tartness of the apples just to be balanced by the mellow sweetness of the syrup......


Steamed Apples
You'll need 1 apple per person. I prefer tart, crispy apples for this.
Peel the apples, core them and cut them into quarters, then you slice each of the quarters into pound coin thick slices.
Here's where my laziness takes over....stick them into a microwaveable dish, cover and microwave them until they're tender but not falling apart. If you're just making enough for yourself that'll take 2 minutes, if you're going for 3 or 4 apples it'll probably take more like 5 minutes....just keep checking.

You know how to grate cheese....but I've tried it with different types of cheese and you get the nicest effect with a not to mild slightly nutty cheese. Fine, a mature cheddar from your supermarket might work as well....but go and make your local cheesemonger happy!

©Anna Blanch

Kamut Palatschinken with a Bananas Foster Sauce

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Over the last few weeks we have been getting into the whole Saturday brunch idea...well....can you call it brunch if people show up at 9 and everyone is gone by 11.....no idea....but it means I get to see people, relax, eat some fab food and then there's no excuse to not do work afterwards....
Anyhow....today we made Palatschinken.
Palatschinken is a Crepe-like pancake you tend to find in Bavaria and Austria and since I can't wait to go home this summer it seemed like a perfect idea :)
I have a thing for Kamut flour at the moment....I just love the flavour and the golden colour just amazes me every time I make something with it....I still haven't gotten around trying Kamut Spätzle but I might give that a try this fall....not sure about using only Kamut in pancakes though....the flavour was amazing but it gives you too much of a crumbly texture which was slightly weird in pancakes...perhaps adding spelt would do the job....
As for the Bananas Foster sauce....I bought a copy of the Southern Living 116 Cakes & Pies and I've been wanting to try their version of the sauce for a while...I ended up changing most of it....somehow I couldn't motivate myself to set my flat on fire on a Saturday morning....

Palatschinken
When I make pancakes I put the bowl onto my scales and measure everything by weight....my mum says it doesn't make a difference for milk....I'm not convinced density-wise (has milk a higher or lower density than water....lower, right????)....but it saves you the washing-up
300 g flour
6 eggs
350 g milk
1 packet of vanilla sugar (Sandra and I think that's 7.5 grams...)
about a tbsp of oil
a pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients, leave them for about 10 minutes or so....heat up a non-stick pan and off you go (aim for thin but not crazy thin).


Bananas Foster Sauce
60 g butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup of rum
a pinch of ground cinnamon
2 bananas, peeled and sliced

Melt the butter in a pan, add sugar, rum and cinnamon and stir everything together. You'll want to leave it bubbling for about 3 minutes - don't forget to stir!!!!
Add the bananas and leave it on the heat for another 2 or 3 minutes....or until you just can't wait any longer...

Sandra doesn't like bananas so here's the alternative photo for today....Palatschinken filled with cinnamon and sugar with some Scottish raspberries