Soda Water Pancakes

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I had almost a whole bottle of soda water leftover as I only used a little bit to make a tempura batter. I wanted to see if I could use it in another recipe and I found a pancake recipe by Larry Moore and under his pancake tips he said to use ½ milk and ½ soda water to make fluffier pancakes.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I actually stuck quite faithfully to the recipe, except that I used both oil and butter to grease the pan as I like the way butter gives the pancakes a nice golden colour and the taste is better. I also reduced the salt. I’ve re-written the recipe to show the cup quantities in metric and for it to make more sense to me!

 

 

TASTE TEST:

Well I thought the pancakes were great and Steve said he liked them too, but he thought they were a bit hard to swallow (I reckon he tried to eat too big of a bite of pancake!). I think these are just as good as the Cheat’s American Pancakes that I’ve made before. As I don’t always have soda water in the fridge, I will try Larry Moore's Basic Pancake Recipe with just milk and see how they turn out.

 

• Makes: 9 pancakes

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (140g) plain flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt (I only used a ¼ tsp and it was enough)
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ cup (112ml) milk and ½ cup (112ml) soda water [or 1 cup (225ml) milk]
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

 

Directions:

1. Blend the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Blend the egg, milk, soda water and oil in a jug. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients.
3. Whisk together until just incorporated, the batter will be slightly lumpy but that’s ok.
4. Grease a large non-stick frying pan (I used my wok!) with oil and a tiny knob of butter and pour or ladle in pools of the batter to form 8-9cm circles.
5. Cook the pancakes on one side over a medium heat until bubbles form on the surface, then flip them over and cook on the other side for another couple of minutes until golden brown.
6. Serve immediately or keep warm whilst you cook the rest. We like them served with lots of golden syrup.

Cheat’s American Pancakes

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

Traditional American Pancakes are made with buttermilk (see recipe here) but I rarely have that in the fridge! These Cheat’s pancakes contain all the ingredients that you would normally have to make cakes, so can be whipped up whenever you fancy them!

• Makes: 10 – 12 pancakes
• You will need: large mixing bowl, small mixing bowl, large non-stick frying pan 

Ingredients:

• 200g / 7oz self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 25g / 1oz caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 300ml / ½ pint milk
• 25g / 1oz butter (melt this in the frying pan)
• sunflower oil or a little butter for cooking
• golden or maple syrup to serve 

Directions:

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, the salt and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Mix the egg and melted butter with the milk.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and gently mix in the wet ingredients until you have a thick batter. - Do not overmix, the batter should have small to medium lumps!
4. Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes, this will result in lighter, fluffier pancakes. I normally pour the batter into a measuring jug to make it easier to pour dollops of the batter into the frying pan.
5. The frying pan should have enough grease from when you melted the butter, so you can start cooking your pancakes. Drop a large tablespoonful of the batter per pancake into the pan to make pancakes about 7.5cm across. Make three or four pancakes at a time. Cook for about 3 minutes over a medium heat until small bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake, then turn and cook another 2-3 minutes until golden.
6. Cover with kitchen paper to keep warm while you use up the rest of the batter.
7. Serve with golden or maple syrup. 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can keep any leftover batter covered in the fridge and it will be absolutely fine to use the next day.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

My friend Lindsey told me about these Buttermilk Pancakes by Martha Stewart and they are really light and fluffy and very easy to make. I've halved her recipe as it makes 9 huge pancakes!
I suggested she serve them with the Blueberry Syrup by Nigella Lawson and she said it was really good so I decided to try it out myself and they are an excellent combination!

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES:

The key to fluffy pancakes is not to overmix the batter; it should not be beaten smooth.

Makes 4-5 6-inch pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup (125g/4.oz) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1.5 cups (350ml/12 fl.oz) buttermilk (look in the cream section in the supermarket or make your own - see below)
2 tablespoons unsalted melted butter, plus 1/2 teaspoon for griddle/frying pan

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.
   
2. In a separate bowl combine the eggs, buttermilk, and the 2 tablespoons of butter.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir gently to combine. Do not overmix, the batter should have small to medium lumps.
   
4. Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes, this will result in lighter, fluffier pancakes (use this time to make the Blueberry syrup!)
   
5. Heat your griddle or frying pan to medium-low and test by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If water bounces and spatters off griddle, it is hot enough. Using a pastry brush/piece of kitchen towel, brush remaining 1/2 teaspoon of butter onto griddle. Wipe off excess.
6. Using a 4-ounce ladle (about 1/2 cup) pour in pancake batter, in pools 2 inches away from one other. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2.5 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.
7. Repeat with remaining batter and serve warm.

BLUEBERRY SYRUP:

Put 1 cup (about 150g/5oz) washed Blueberries and 125ml (about 8 Tbsp) Maple Syrup in a small saucepan and simmer for about 5 mins until blueberries have softened and you have a nice syrupy consistency.

No Maple Syrup?! Don't worry, you can still make this delicious syrup by simmering 1 cup water and 1/2 cup white sugar in a small pan for a couple of minutes until you have got a slight syrup. Then add your cup of Blueberries and simmer gently as above.

TIPS AND TRICKS:
No Buttermilk?! Then you can make your own with normal milk and lemon juice. Just mix 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes. The resulting mixture won't be as thick as buttermilk so you will only need 1 cup.

No Lemon?! Then use 1 cup normal milk (preferably whole/full fat), omit the baking soda (as there is no acid for it to react to) and increase the amount of baking powder to 1.5 teaspoons.

Alternatively, make my Cheat's American Pancakes which are equally delicious!