So the child has requested, "American" pancakes for tomorrow, which I interpret as, "Not crepes." My suspicion is he wants a stack of syrup doused sweets for dinner, rather than the savoury filled crepes we do every year. Fair enough, except that I'm not particularly skilled at the fluffy sort. Where a crepe will fill the pan and come out uniform in shape, fluffy pancakes come out as misshapen blobs in my hands. What's more, they're never really all that fluffy unless I purchase a box of Bisquick, and even then, there's no guarantee of success.
I have buttermilk, and egg whites, and a tin of vegetable shortening-what could possibly go wrong?
(quite a bit, left to my pancake abilities).
I got out the Betty Crocker cookbook, and I'll be making the "Delicate Fluffy Pancakes" which I'm sure, won't be.
Are you making pancakes tomorrow?
Namaste,
ReplyDeleteSorry, no pancakes happening here in Nepal. We are having aloo parathas with yoghurt & Kashmiri pickles for breakfast tomorrow. I stumbled across your delightful blog searching 'the internets' for a lemon & mace cookie recipe. I've been blissfully perusing it for a few days now & vicariously enjoying your vintage ensembles, epicurean adventures, humorous writing style, & the antics of Mr Dannypants. As a former American I also enjoy your rants on US culture (or lack thereof) & 70's Americana.
Anyhow, nice to meet you & I was wondering if you might have a "kickass" recipe for flapjack? I don't have ready access to many baking ingredients here in Nepal but I am have found a jar of the UK's greatest culinary achievement - 'Lyles Golden Syrup'.
Toodle pip!
I wondered why I was getting so much blog traffic from Nepal. Nice to meet you as well.
ReplyDeleteMy flapjack uses brown sugar along with the golden syrup, which I imagine would be hard to find in Nepal. Try the food section at guardian.co.uk I seem to remember Felicity Cloake doing her" perfect" series with flapjack.
Frankly, I'd stick with the Bisquick. That's what Mom and Grandma used, and the pancakes were always good. Hubs doesn't care for pancakes, so I never get to make them.
ReplyDeleteMmmm. Syrup.
Enjoyed the conversation above about flapjack, my kids have just managed to dribble Lyle's golden syrup over the table as they put it on their pancakes!
ReplyDeleteAnyway - yes, we had some. I am a lemon juice and sugar fan myself. So tell me the difference between a pancake and a crepe? I thought they were the same thing... Simon makes them, I am better at smaller, thicker Scotch pancakes (drop scones). Lovely. Hope yours were a success! xxx
I was *this close* to buying the frozen ones you make in a toaster like Eggo waffles.
ReplyDeleteI just go ahead and subject my family to whatever I'm making whether they like it or not-you're obviously a more thoughtful person.
A "crepe" is paper thin, and has no leavening agent- it is poured onto a pan to cook. You know, like the French make. "Pancakes" in the UK are closer to what we call a "Lacy pancake" that is, thinner with less leavening and served with icing sugar and lemon. I tried making those once, and the boys looked at me like I was trying to poison them.
ReplyDeleteA "pancake" in the United States is a fluffy griddle bread with both bicarb and baking powder (or sometimes just bicarb and buttermilk) and whipped egg whites-like a really fancy drop scone. There's a baking mix in a box called, Bisquick that people use for pancakes and casseroles that need a biscuit topping. There's typically some melted butter as well, but vegetable shortening is more common, and it does make a softer cake.
"Flapjack" in the US is another name for a pancake-not the oatmeal/butter/sugar treat.
Then, there's the Dutch oven baked pancakes (like Toad in the hole without meat).
If you think that's confusing, try explaining the cider/applejuice/hard cider difference!
Oh the divisions of our common language, it never ceases to fascinate me! Flapjack is a pancake? A pancake is like bread? Dutch ovens? I thought that was when you fart in bed and then trap someone under the quilt... Yeah, I need to work on that Church Lady image a bit, don't I? And my culinary knowledge. xxx
ReplyDelete