Not-so Fat Tuesday Pancakes

When I was a child my favourite breakfast was pancakes with maple syrup. My mother made it for me every birthday. Her pancakes were thick and fluffy American style and she always served them with pure maple syrup. I loved smearing the little wedge of butter around the pancake, watching it slowly melt, then pouring the deep rich gold syrup (that comes from a tree!!) on top.



Today is Fat Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday  - the last day of feasting and partaking in sins before the traditional lent - but I have modified the classic pancake recipe so that there is fewer sins to purge and more time to celebrate. Although I won't be partaking in lent, I am still on a kind of diet, that is feeling more like a new positive way of eating than deprival. Like giving up cigarettes, stopping snacking on refined sugar treats and avoiding white flour products is hard at first, but once conquered, it is empowering and liberating and energising. These pancakes do have some white flour - I cooked them for the kids more than for myself (but did have a wee one for the sake of testing: yum!) - but the addition of spelt flour has added nutrients and  a virtually hidden wholesomeness.

I used a 50/50 mix of self-raising white flour (sin) and wholegrain spelt flour (celebrate) and my kids couldn't tell the difference. Infact, these were the best received pancakes I've ever served, and the first truly fluffy fat ones to match my mother's. The addition of bananas gives a sweetness that means I could reduce the sugar from the batter too - I also used light brown sugar instead of (sin sin sin) castor sugar.

Spelt banana pancakes 
(makes @8 side-plate sized pancakes) 

150g wholegrain spelt flour
150g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 medium free-range eggs
400ml milk (or more if needed)
1 large banana, cut into rounds
butter for cooking
maple syrup (and a little more butter) to serve

Method

Put the flours, baking powder and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Crack in the eggs and mix with a hand held whisk.

Add the milk and continue to whisk until smooth - you may want to add 50 to 100ml more of milk so that the batter is just runny enough to be able to pour it from a jug - but it should still be thick rather than the light, super runny mix you have when making thin crepe-style pancakes. Transfer the mix into a pouring jug.

On a medium flame, heat a knob of butter in a non-stick frypan until sizzling. Pour the batter out until you have the size you like. Watch until bubbles start to appear on the surface, add some sliced banana and carefully flip and cook on the other side. If you press down on the pancake and some mixture still runs out, then it needs more time - there is nothing worse than a pancake that's raw in the middle.

You can keep them warm in a low oven on a tray until all your batter is used, or serve them one by one to the troops.

....PLAYLIST....

I heard this track making breakfast on Saturday morning and it put a groove to my kitchen moves.  

New Forms - Roni Size and Reprazent 

Lent - the antidote to spoiling. Try this song for size. 

Super Rich Kids - Frank Ocean 

Sometimes, what we want is not what we need. 

Flume - What you need 

This  song is from a landmark album for me. It is perfect played in the gentle light of a inching closer spring, with strong coffee and a mild hangover.

Horse - Palace Music