Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Day – call it what you will, we all know the best day of the year is one that gives you an excuse to eat pancakes for every meal. After all, what should be celebrated more than a stack of fluffy deliciousness covered in maple syrup or a crispy crêpe oozing Nutella?
But even the greatest culinary creation can be improved upon. This February 13th, rather than falling back on lemon and sugar, step up your pancake game with these non-traditional recipes.
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Two-Ingredient Pancakes
Ingredients
1 large banana, mashed
2 eggs
Optional additions
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp nut butter, ground almonds or desiccated coconut
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup blueberries
2 tbsp chocolate chips
Instructions
Peel and mash the banana and whisk in the egg. Mix in any optional ingredients (from the top three above) at this stage. Heat a flat, non-stick pan and lightly spray with oil. Pour a small circle of batter into the pan, two if you can fit. At this stage sprinkle in any berries or chocolate you wish, and cook until they bubble on the surface. Flip and brown until golden on the underside. Serve warm with your topping of choice.
By Izy Hossack
Izy Hossack/Top With Cinnamon
Socca-Style Crêpes (GF)
Ingredients
100g chickpea flour
30ml olive oil
300ml water
3g salt
Optional garnish
3 quail eggs per pancake
Olives
Green beans, quartered
Dried tomatoes
Fresh tomatoes, sliced
Cooked asparagus, sliced
Tuna in oil
Spring onions, sliced
Celery sticks, sliced
Fennel, sliced
Instructions
1. Mix the chickpea flour, olive oil, water and salt very well and keep in the fridge overnight.
2. When ready to cook, heat a non-stick pan (24cm diameter) with some olive oil.
3. Add a ladle of the socca mix as you would do for a crêpe. Let it cook for a few minutes.
4. Then, arrange the ingredients of the garnish in the middle of the socca.
5. If using them, break the quail eggs on top and let cook slowly. Fold the edges of the socca into four toward the centre.
6. Slide the socca on a plate. Season with salt and pepper.
By Rivea
Down Hall’s Buttermilk Pancakes
Ingredients
120ml buttermilk
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, beaten
To garnish
Crushed blueberries
Maple syrup
Vanilla cream
Crispy streaky bacon
Instructions
1. Sieve the flour and baking powder together into a bowl.
2. Add the salt to flour and stir.
3. Whisk in the buttermilk and then the eggs. You should end up with a smooth batter consistency.
4. Heat a frying pan with a little knob of butter, when the butter has melted pour in enough batter mix to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook on a medium heat until golden and then flip over and cook again till golden.
5. Turn out onto a plate, wipe out the pan with kitchen paper and repeat the cooking process until all the batter has gone.
6. Serve straight away with crispy bacon, crushed blueberries, maple syrup and vanilla cream.
By Down Hall
Jaggery Milk Hopper Pancakes (GF & VG)
Ingredients
600g (3 cups) Raw Short Grain White Rice
65g (1/3 cup) Boiled Short Grain White Rice
100g (1 cup) Grated Coconut (fresh or frozen)
3/4 tsp Dried Instant Yeast 1 tsp Sea Salt (or to taste)
4 tsp Granulated Sugar
300g (1 cup) Coconut Cream
70g (1/3 cup) Kithul Jaggery, Dark Brown Sugar or Raw Palm Sugar
Instructions
1. Wash the raw rice 5-6 times or until the water runs clear and then soak it for 2-3 hours.
2. Drain the rice and grind it in a blender or smoothie maker with the boiled rice and grated coconut, adding about 2 cups water until it is the consistency of a thick cake batter.
3. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in 2 tablespoons of water and add them to the batter and mix well. Then add salt and allow to ferment for 6-7 hours in a warm place or until the batter becomes frothy and has a slightly fermented but sweet smell.
4. Once ready to cook your hoppers, stir the batter well and add enough water to dilute it to a thick custard consistency.
5. Heat a non-stick hopper pan on a medium heat. The key is to ensure that the pan is at the correct temperature when adding the batter, if it’s too hot the batter will sizzle and burn and if too cool then the hopper will be chewy.
6. Add a ladle of the hopper batter and swirl round once so the batter coats the pan and is thin at the edges and slightly thicker in the middle where the excess batter collects. Ensure that there isn’t too much batter, the middle should be no thicker than twice the thickness of the edges.
7. Cover the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown and the centre is fully set and fluffy. (The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the pan and the heat so you will need to practice this a few times to get it right.)
8. Lift the cover and add a tablespoon of coconut cream and sprinkle ½ a tablespoon of jaggery. Cover and cook for another 30 seconds.
9. Slide onto a plate and eat immediately.These jaggery milk hoppers are delicious on their own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and splash of Kithul treacle.
By Hoppers
These pancakes will be available at Hoppers Soho & Hoppers St Christopher's Place on Tuesday 13th February.
Beetroot Crêpes
To make your crêpes a tad more colourful (and healthier) swap the milk in your batter for beetroot juice.
Ingredients
30g unsalted butter melted (plus more for frying)
150g plain flour
150ml milk
175ml beetroot juice
Instructions
1. Melt the butter and let cool a little.
2. Pour the flour into a bowl, whisk in the egg, milk and juice. Stir in the melted butter just before you're ready to cook.
3. Heat a crêpe pan or equivalent with a little butter and ladle a thin layer of batter into the pan then quickly swirl so that the batter forms a thin pancake covering the base of the pan. This will cook in a minute, so flip it and cook for 30 seconds to a minute on the other side, then remove to a layer of baking paper.
4. Continue with the rest of the batter, this mix should make six. Serve with syrup, crème fraîche and berries. Or for a savoury option, spinach and ricotta would work well.
Banana, Blueberry & Pecan Pancakes (V/GF)
Ingredients
A good handful of pecan nuts (about 50g), roughly chopped
100g oats
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of sea salt
1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
150ml coconut milk or almond milk
200g punnet of blueberries
2 bananas, peeled and cut into thin slices
A little coconut oil or butter
A few pecan nuts, crumbled
Lime wedges
Honey or agave syrup
Instructions
1. First turn the oven to 120ºC/fan 100ºC/gas 1/2 to keep everything warm.
2. Blitz the oats until you have a scruffy oat flour. Add to the bowl with the pecans and throw in the baking powder and salt.
3. Mix the mashed banana with the milk (you can do this by blitzing them in the food processor too, if you like). Beat the banana mixture into the flour and leave the batter to sit for a few minutes.
4. Heat a non-stick pan on a medium heat, then add the banana slices and fry on both sides in the dry pan until brown and caramelised. Keep warm in the oven.
5. Put the pan back on a medium heat and add a little coconut oil or butter. Drop in a healthy tablespoon of batter for each pancake. Once the sides are cooked and bubbles have risen to the top, scatter over a handful of blueberries and flip the pancake over. Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side. The pancakes will stay a little moist in the middle because of the banana, so don’t worry. Keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest.
6. Serve the pancakes piled with the banana slices. Add some crumbled pecans and a squeeze of lime, and, if you like, a little touch of honey or agave syrup. A scoop of coconut ice cream turns these into a feel-good pudding too.
From A Modern Way To Eat, £25, by Anna Jones
Healthy Sweetcorn Fritters
More a fritter than a pancake, but definitely still fits the bill. These are super-healthy and, topped with a poached egg, are perfect for a weekend breakfast.
Ingredients
325g tinned sweetcorn, drained
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Pinch of sea salt and pepper
3 eggs
3 tbsp wholewheat flour
Coconut oil, to fry
Coriander, chopped (optional)
Instructions
1. In a food processor or blender, blitz half the sweetcorn with the eggs, salt and pepper.
2. Spoon the puree into a bowl, and fold in the rest of the sweetcorn, pepper, and spring onions. Finally, add the flour and combine. Adjust the consistency if needed by adding a little more flour to thicken the batter and sprinkle in the coriander if using.
3. Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a frying pan over a gentle heat. Drop 2 tablespoons of mixture per fritter into the pan and cook in small batches for 4 minutes each side or until firm and golden.
4. Serve with smashed avocado and a poached egg, or bacon. The recipe should make 8 fritters.
Cappuccino & Buttered Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
275g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp caster sugar
2 free-range eggs, beaten
450ml buttermilk or skimmed milk
2 heaped tsp instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
Butter, to fry
3 to 4 bananas, peeled and sliced
Golden syrup, to serve
Cocoa, to serve
Instructions
1. Sift all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the beaten eggs, buttermilk (or milk) and the coffee. Beat together with a whisk until the mixture is thick and frothy.
2. Pre-heat oven to 100C, to keep the pancakes warm as you make them.
3. Heat a little butter in a flat pan, and using a ladle, add one spoon of pancake mixture. Cook over a medium heat until small bubbles appear on top of the pancakes, then turn them over with a spatula and cook for a further minute on the other side. Continue to cook the pancakes until all the batter is finished.
4. Place the cooked pancakes on a heat-proof plate, cover and keep them warm in the oven.
5. To serve: Heat a little butter in a frying pan and add the sliced bananas – cook them until they are just golden brown. Place three pancakes on each plate; divide the bananas between the pancakes, and drizzle with golden syrup, before sprinkling some cocoa powder over the top.
Gingerbread Pancakes
Ingredients
100g buckwheat flour
1 ripe banana
2 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 4 tbsp water
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
150ml Califia Farms Almond Milk
1 heaped tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
Pinch salt
1 tsp coconut oil (for cooking)
Instructions
1. Combine the chia seeds with the water and leave to thicken up for 10 minutes.
2. Add the banana to a food processor and blend until a puree.
3. Add all the other ingredients to the food processor including the chia seed mixture and leaving out the coconut oil.Blend until a smooth, fairly thick mixture forms.
4. Add the coconut oil to a frying pan over a low-medium heat. Allow the coconut oil to melt and the pan to heat up then add 1 ladle (or 2 tbsp) of the pancake mixture to the middle of the pan.
5. Cook for 3 minutes on one side - or until little bubbles begin to form on top of the pancake. Then flip the pancake and cook for a further 2 minutes on the other side. Put to one side and repeat with the rest of the mixture.
6. Serve with any toppings you fancy - nuts and a drizzle of maple syrup are a delicious choice.
by Califia Farms and Nourishing Amelia
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