In life, there are many things we need.
Yeah we need water and oxygen and all that nonsense, but a quick pancake recipe that sounds more romantic than it is? It’s definitely one of them.
We’ve all woken up bolt-upright Dracula style like “PANCAKES!!” of a morning, haven’t we? Just me. Okay.
I have several pancake recipes on this website (from Peanut Butter Pancakes to Custard Pancakes) and I have no intention of playing favourites. They are all quick to make and all equally as delicious, but this is one I like to throw together when I’m feeling uncharacteristically romantic.
I mean of COURSE the rose water and cardamom addition here is optional and does give the batter a slightly heady, Turkish perfume but one thing I do encourage is the addition of those red, gaudy and glossy clown nose cherries. Much like my Double Chocolate & Cherry Rye Cookies, they give the batter a springy, fudgy texture that is just irreplaceable.
These quantities will make you four, squidgy pancakes (two each… of course…) but if you want more, just double up.
In a big ‘ol jug, fork together 50g of self-raising flour with a sprinkle of salt, half a teaspoon of baking powder, half teaspoon of cinnamon and quarter of teaspoon of ground cardamom.
Crack in an egg, pour in 50 ml of full fat milk and add 1 tablespoon of rose water.
Now grab a fistful of glace cherries, chop them up as finely as you’ve got energy for and add them to the jug. Mix this together until you’ve banished all flour lumps and leave the batter to rest for about 10 – 15 minutes.
In your biggest frying pan, drizzle on some flavourless oil and using some kitchen towel, smear it around the pan so it has a thin, oily film on the pan surface. Pop this on a medium heat until the pan gets hot.
Now spoon quarter cupful’s of the batter (about an espresso cups worth) onto the pan. I can fit four pancakes in my pan, but you may need to do this in two goes depending on your pan size.
Once you see little bubbles starting to form on the surface of the pancake, flip it. Cook it on the other side for about 1 – 2 minutes.
Do this until all your batter is gone but like I said, these quantities will get your four big pancakes so it won’t take long.
I served this up with a cardamom infused chocolate sauce, extending the Turkish inspired theme here. How you do this is literally melt about 50g of chocolate and a quarter teaspoon of ground cardamom in the microwave (in 10 second zaps, stirring as you go) before pouring in 50ml of double cream and whisking to a glossy sauce.
You don’t have to be a dick and serve with rose petal scatterings like I did, but it’s pretty if you do.
MIKEY AND THE KITCHEN. 