This rather odd thought occurs because the shop where I get my American pancake mix (God bless Aunt Jemima), no longer imports the stuff and I've been forced to search Google for a recipe instead. Bizarrely, all recipes for American pancakes use the US measurement system of cups.
Go figure.
Regardless... my desire - or more specifically my NEED for yummy American-ness far outweighs my slightly uptight British obsession with precision so I find myself still hunting for THE definitive recipe for American pancakes.
If anyone can help me out I will happily donate some of my favourite recipes in return... maybe my traditional Scottish shortcake (seriously delish' and guaranteed to fur-up your arteries at 100 paces), chocolate orange cake, or perhaps my coconut and lime cake...
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Listening to: The Proclaimers - Letter From America
via FoxyTunes
6 comments:
Okay, you're going to hate this, absolutely HATE it, but I'm doing the best I may...
1 egg, beaten (I'm assuming the Brits won't do anything silly such as include the shell)
Add a decent pour of milk, whole or 2-percent, whichever; do NOT use scum/skim milk. By "decent pour" I mean about what a MAN would use for, say, 1/3 of a drinking glass IF he were the sort to heartily drink milk with his pancakes.
Vague enough yet?
2 heaping tablespoons SELF-RISING flour, if such a thing is made readily available in the UK; that's as a starter. Once you've begun mixing rapidly via beating with a fork, add more flour slowly OR more milk slowly until you reach the desired consistency of a reasonably-thick-yet-slightly-runny batter.
Yes, I'm aware this is horribly vague, but I'm NOT involving "cups" WHILE avoiding the weird English predilection for microscopic measurements FROM a people whose national cuisine is reminiscent of a household with dirty diapers.
Thing is, this particular recipe is something to begin with, then slowly gain experience with BY FEEL AND TASTE.
Slightly thicker batter will plump up thicker cakes, slightly thinner thinner cakes with crispier edges, while the BEST proportions will yield thick, moist cakes with adequately crispy edges.
For cooking: FLAT-bottomed pan of good thickness (I cannot possibly know what you have in the cabinet without making you nervous) with a heaping teaspoon of Crisco (or other shortening) rather than oil. You want the shortening melted and hot enough to BARELY smoke before adding the batter.
The first batch may burn OR be oily; you have to judge and gain experience here; the next batches should be fine; you'll have to add shortening as it cooks off, obviously.
I hope this helps, but seriously doubt it. Maybe I should make and send a video...?
Good God man! You lost me at 'decent pour of milk'. How can you guys function like this?
Our EGGS come in 3 different sizes!!
No sugar? (You know... maybe a 'small sugar cane' sized amount or some other weird measurement)??
BTW: My PRECISE, MICRO-MEASURED recipe for shortcake is here: http://tinyurl.com/66352t (not that you really deserve it!)
Okay, Stuart will have to help you with this; it's entirely understandable because cooking in MAN terms can be different, even difficult for some.
For men, there are two sizes of egg: Cute/funny, and real. Use a real egg of decent, man-sized proportion.
Does Stuart drink milk? From a decent, man-sized glass? Ever? Get about 1/3 of that. Failing that measure, go for 1 1/4 cups (.31 litres) of milk. Whisk the egg and milk until blended nicely.
Tablespoons. Different than the soup spoons used among the gentry, larger versions of the common teaspoon. Honestly, I don't recall seeing them while in England, but that doesn't mean they're not there. If, however, they're not, then go for 110 grams of SELF-RISING flour (no need for baking powder, soda or yeast [just in case]) and blend this briskly with a fork until a smooth batter is formed.
You may always increase or decrease the proportions of milk to flour. Only experience will help you realize what you want here.
As for the whole deal with "what, no sugar?", that's what SYRUP is for, or jams and jellies. You may, if you absolutely must, add a bit of vanilla extract to the batter, assuming you're absolutely against syrup, which I find illogical in light of your erstwhile use of Aunt Jemima cake mix -- yet NOT her syrup? It's like half an equation, ye ninny!
PS -- the word verification was "palin"; I realize I'm barely American when my first thought was "Michael" not "Sarah".
Stuart? Interpret a recipe? In the kitchen?
(cue hysterical laughter)
He does lots around the house and can happily stir fry a bunch of ingredients, but I don't think I've ever seen him pick up a recipe book.
Anyway... I've got it now - thanks:
1 large egg
110g self raising flour
Enough milk to make a reasonably thick but pourable batter
Now how hard was that?!
I will give it a go and let you know how it went down (though I may have to sneak in a touch of sugar!)
I'm an American, despite all my other redeeming graces; dare I say "English" is not my forte?
In the end I personally think you'll end up needing more like 220 grams of flour, because you have to mix the egg and milk FIRST, which leaves you guessing at the flour ratio. Me, I can eyeball it, I've had practice. Still, it took me a while to get it right!
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