Cookbook Challenge: Week 8, Sweet
Recipe: Berry buttermilk pancakes
From: Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion
The theme for this week’s Cookbook Challenge is “sweet” and I decided to make pancakes. What is sweeter than a leisurely Sunday breakfast of pancakes with the one you love? Not much, I think!
The Cook’s Companion suggests preparing the batter the night before, up to the stage before adding the egg whites, for a quick breakfast. Great idea, although preparing the batter from scratch doesn’t actually take all that long. It’s the cooking that takes the longest, though there are machines to help with that…..
The original recipe didn’t specify any sugar to be added to the pancake batter, so I included a tablespoon of caster sugar. Even with the additional sugar, these pancakes aren’t very sweet – smothering them in maple syrup is a definite requirement. They are beautifully fluffy though and definitely worth the effort.
And a tip – don’t be tempted to just throw your berries into the batter before cooking, unless you don’t mind irregular sized pancakes. I made three perfect round pancakes before I got bored and threw all the blackberries into the batter. After that, all the pancakes were interestingly shaped! Oh well. Judging by the five pancakes Alastair scoffed down, the strange shapes didn’t detract from the taste!
See previous Cookbook Challenge posts here.
Update: See the round up for this week at My Food Trail.
Berry buttermilk pancakes
Adapted from Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion
Makes 18 pancakes
3 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
60g butter, melted
300g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
extra butter or oil spray
About a cup of fresh berries
Beat the egg yolks well and then whisk in the buttermilk and melted butter.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold in.
Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the batter.
Heat a frying pan and lightly grease. Ladle in 1/4 cup of batter and scatter some berries over the uncooked batter. When bubbles form, flip with a spatula and cook the other side before transferring to a plate. Repeat until all the pancakes are ready.
Serve with additional fresh berries and maple syrup.
mademoiselle délicieuse
January 10, 2010 @ 6:19 pm
Yum, this has lazy day breakfast strewn all over it!
Ange
January 10, 2010 @ 7:37 pm
Anyway who knows me knows I am a pancake addict, I love them in every shape, form & flavour – this is a recipe I havent tried & I think I would just throw the berries in & not worry about the shape, with 2 kids running around trying to distract me I have lost all interest in perfectionism!
SomethingByKate
January 10, 2010 @ 9:21 pm
That looks great Agnes. I wonder how many of us used berries in our sweet recipe? I bet we regret it next week for the berry theme!
3 hungry tummies
January 10, 2010 @ 10:56 pm
What a beautiful shot! I'm tempted to print this out and put it in my Cook's companion as future reference.
OohLookBel
January 11, 2010 @ 1:03 pm
I love the blue background you've used in the photos – it really highlights the fluffiness of the pancakes and the gorgeous berries.
Conor @ HoldtheBeef
January 11, 2010 @ 1:49 pm
These are just BEGGING for that fork to be stuck into them and then into my mouth. I think irregular shapes are better…more surface area for syrup 😉
Iron Chef Shellie
January 11, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
god damn they are the finest looking pancakes I've seen in a long time. I wanted to make some on Sunday but didn't have time. I think this weekend MUST involve pancakes!
Agnes
January 11, 2010 @ 10:30 pm
mademoiselle: it was a great lazy day breakfast!
Ange: Hehee, if I had two kids and didn't food blog I wouldn't worry about perfectly round pancakes either.
Kate: Argh, yes after I posted this I had a look at this week's theme – I couldn't believe it was berry! Doh. 🙂
3 hungry tummies: thanks! 😀
Belle: thanks! I couldn't believe how fluffy the pancakes were. Two thumbs up.
Shellie: I foresee pancakes in your future… hopefully you get a chance to eat some this weekend!
Rilsta @ My Food Trail
January 12, 2010 @ 9:58 am
The pancakes look so fabulous and beautiful photography as usual! 🙂
This would have been good for the berry challenge too & the soft for last week!
I haven't had pancakes for ages – I've got to get me some!
Maria@TheGourmetChallenge
January 12, 2010 @ 12:25 pm
They look like a gorgeous stack of pancakes, especially with those juicy berries ontop.
Lucky Alister!! Fluffy pancakes like this for breakfast, you really do love him!! 😛
Fantastic photos once again!
chitchatchomp@yahoo.com.au
January 12, 2010 @ 12:34 pm
I rarely cook pancakes as I don’t have a huge sweet tooth in the morning, but that’s all changed now! I’m craving pancakes after looking at these photos…yummo!
Cherrie Pie
January 12, 2010 @ 3:22 pm
Agnes, wow, your photos turned out so beautiful. I bet the pancakes tasted the same.
Yours truly
January 13, 2010 @ 3:04 am
wow, they look gorgeous! I am suffering at the moment because everything I want to choose with berries has dessert written all over and I am going "diet" these days…
penny aka jeroxie
January 13, 2010 @ 10:02 am
The pancakes are amazing and so are your photos. I just want to reach out and grab it.
Agnes
January 13, 2010 @ 10:11 pm
Rilsta: it's obvious that I don't plan out my Cookbook Challenge recipes! I still haven't got a berry recipe for this week yet.
Maria: thanks! Yes, I suppose I love him. 😉 He is a good man, and deserves a bit of spoiling.
chitchatchomp: I'm more of a savoury breakfast person too, but my husband LOVES sweet breakfasts. So I mostly make them for him. 🙂
Cherrie: thanks, they were delicious!
Yours truly: ahh I need to get back on that diet train. I keep telling myself "next week". 😉
Penny: hehee, thanks!
Jennie
January 14, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
PANCAKES!!!! >drool