I just got back from a fabulous vacation in an amazing hotel in Antigua. One of the big treats was “pancake of the day” for breakfast, Each day another set of light and fluffy pancakes with fruit or chocolate sprinkled throughout and lashings of maple syrup. With crispy Canadian bacon on the side it was mouthwateringly fantastic.
As I was devouring my favorite chocolate chip and coconut pancakes, I got to wondering if pancakes have changed over the years? I expect that chocolate chips, blueberries and the like didn’t always feature!
Pancakes are not common on restaurant menus in Britain so not all chef jobs require an in depth knowledge of pancakes. I was pleased to discover that my local food guru, Chef Andrew had in fact had long experience in hotel breakfast services during which time he’d perfected his own pancake recipe.
He said that pancakes have indeed changed. Not only in the fillings, but in a professional kitchen he would also separate the eggs for his pancakes and whip up the whites before folding them into the batter. This makes for a much lighter yet thicker looking pancake.
If, however, he was making them at home (or in an expensive hotel) he skipped the egg separating and whisked ricotta cheese into the batter. It makes the pancake extra creamy - and means there’s no need to whip up the egg whites for a lighter pancake. I tried it myself for a Sunday morning treat and I’m certainly not going back to my old fashioned recipe.
For the traditionalist’s, here is an original recipe.
Old Fashioned Pancakes
Ingredients for about 12 small pancakes:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Method as per the video below…
