GARETH’S PANCAKES

My husband’s nephew Gareth lives in Western Australia, and when we visited Perth many years ago, he would stand and make stacks of these pancakes at a moment’s notice.

These are small, almost  Northern Ireland-style  pancakes, about 5-6 inches in diameter. They’re very similar to the ones you find in bakery shops here.

They are ideal for stacking and serving with any number of delicious toppings.

The recipe is in cups, because that’s the way they do it in Australia. Cup measures are widely available, and they’re a useful addition to your kitchen equipment. If you don’t have a set handy, use a medium sized teacup as the cup measure.

 

EQUIPMENT:

• A large non-stick frying pan
• A thin spatula for turning the pancakes
• fairly large mixing bowl or a large high-sided jug (my personal choice)
• hand or electric whisk

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup of caster sugar
• 1 cup of self-raising flour
• 1 cup of milk or buttermilk – I prefer buttermilk.
• 1 dessertspoon of melted butter

 

METHOD:

• Put all the ingredients except the melted butter into a large, high-sided jug (or a deep mixing bowl) and beat until smooth. I used a hand whisk for these pictures. It will look lumpy at the beginning, but just keep stirring, and it will sort itself out.

• Add the melted butter, and beat it in. The mixture should be fairly dense, not too runny – the batter shouldn’t really spread too much when you put it on the pan.

• You can use this straight away, or keep it for up to an hour.
• After extensive testing I’ve discovered that this recipe makes about 10-12 pancakes, depending on size,  and how many the cook tried, for quality assurance purposes naturally..

 

TO COOK:

• Heat the pan until fairly hot, add a knob of butter and allow it to melt and sizzle
• Pour a tablespoonful of the batter onto the pan, until you get the size you want. It might take one or two attempts for you to get the exact quantity right. Do what I do, and eat the evidence of those that don’t turn out perfectly! 😉

• Allow the pancake to simply sit there for a minute or so; it will become covered in tiny craters,( see above) then using your thin spatula, or a flat-bladed knife, gently lift one side of the pancake and have a peek underneath to see if it is a nice golden colour.
• Slide the knife right underneath the pancake and flip it over. Don’t worry if some of the batter spills as you turn it; they’re meant to look rustic.
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• Allow the second side to cook for a minute or two (check the colour every so often)
• Stack the pancakes on a plate over a pan of simmering water to keep warm until you’re ready to serve.
• These taste best straight off the pan, so have the family standing by for incoming pancakes.
• It’s handy to have your serving ingredients conveniently set up in the middle of the table (crispy bacon, soft fruits, butter, sugar, lemon, jam, maple or golden syrup; the list is virtually endless)

• For special occasion breakfasts, I either add some blueberries or raspberries to the batter when it’s cooking, or make the plain pancakes and then serve them with crispy bacon, maple syrup and fresh fruit. Blueberries and raspberries are best I feel. Try a sprinkle of icing sugar over the lot if you’re feeling fancy
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