Pancakes

With breakfast being such a rushed affair during the week, it’s nice to enjoy a leisurely meal to start our weekend mornings.

Last weekend, I had a craving for pancakes.  Thick, fluffy, American style pancakes with crispy bacon on the side and drizzled (or, smothered) in maple syrup.  And a big cup of tea.  Ah, what a lovely way to spend the weekend.

I’ve struggled for many years to get that super fluffiness in pancakes and now have a fail proof method.  It’s all about gently folding in stiffly beaten egg whites into the batter.

Ingredients (for 6 pancakes)

1. 1 cup flour
2. 1 tsp baking powder
3. pinch of salt
4. 1 cup milk
5. 1 egg, separated
6. 2 tsps caster sugar
7. 1 tbsp oil

Method

1. Combine flour, baking powder & salt in a bowl and mix well.
2. In another bowl, whisk together egg yolk, sugar and milk followed by oil.  Add into the flour mixture and whisk to combine.
3. Beat egg white until stiff peaks form, loosen the batter with a small spoonful of the beaten egg whites, then fold the rest gently into the mixture. You really want to keep the air in the egg whites as much as possible.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium low heat then scoop batter, about 1 ladleful, onto the pan. Cook until bubbles appear evenly on the surface, flip it over and cook until golden.