Intro
I love to cook for my wife, it is a small portion of recompense for her unending endurance of putting up with me. So on mother’s day all she asked for was Pancakes and I was all too happy to indulge the craving.
I start with a time honed recipe for basic fluffy pancakes and tend to add something a little special to each batch. This time, I threw in some ground ginger and nutmeg for the flavor and benefits.
The Recipe
Remember to pre-heat the griddle on medium – medium High as you start mixing the ingredients so it’s warm and ready for the first batch.
Dry Ingredients mixed in a large mixing bowl
- 1 Cup Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached White All Purpose Flour
- About ¼ – ⅓ Cup Bob’s Red Mill Blue Cornmeal
- 1 Tbsp. Pure Cane Sugar (or processed white granulated)
- 1 tsp. Baking Powder
- ½ tsp. Baking Soda
- Dash of Sea Salt
- ¼-½ tsp. ground Ginger
- ¼-½ tsp. ground (or fresh, grated) nutmeg
Fluff the dry ingredients together before adding the wet.
Wet Ingredients
- 1 Cup Milk (in a 2+ cup measuring container)
- 1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract (in with the milk)
- 4 eggs Separated
- separate the whites into a large bowl
- drop the yolks into the wet measure with the Milk
- beat egg whites to soft peaks immediately before folding into the batter
Note: Folding the whites into the batter gently with a rubber spatula keeps the fluff, well, fluffy. Pour the beat whites and gently fold the batter over them, it’s okay if there are a few lumps, don’t over-do it. but you do want to limit the white clumps to a few if possible.
The Berries
- Small container of blueberries (or about ½ to 1 Cup of your favorite berries)
We tend to wash and air dry the berries, as to not add extra moisture to the batter. As well, I like to plop the berries randomly into the pancake immediately after pouring the batter out onto the hot griddle. This is fun for the kids or significant other to lend a hand in the cooking.
The Cook
On a hot griddle dollop some butter, which should sizzle as it hits the pan. Turn the heat back to medium. Scoop out the desired amount, I get Four ¼ cup scoops out onto our 10″ square griddle. but sometimes I get the big spatula out and go for the small plate size. In any case, pour out the batter onto the buttered pan, which should have sizzled the water out by now.
Plop some berries into the batter randomly, try to keep them within the bounds, but it doesn’t really matter. On my smaller ¼ Cup cakes, I tend 5-6 blueberries. After a few moment you should see the batter been to bubble, and the berries begin to darken, flip the cakes and check for the golden brown color. Cook to desired doneness. The berries should rupture when the cakes are on their second side. Making for a delicious pancake.
The Service
I like to serve a shortstack of about 4 cakes, just the amount my griddle holds; with a pad of room temperature butter sliding down the center and some warm Maple Syrup.
Be careful, there is a lot of fake “maple” syrup at the market, made of high fructose corn syrup and artificially flavored. Try to find the real stuff.