My personal challenge: baking my way through "How to Bake". This post is my experience baking and learning new skills from tackling each recipe in Paul Hollywood's, "How to Bake". I will also document any recipe changes that I made - mainly as a result of not having the ingredients on hand (i.e., we never have regular sugar in the house) - and how the recipe fared. I will not be providing the recipes that are in his book.
Who can say no to Blueberry Pancakes? Well, in our house, no one can say no. We have a tradition every summer when there are fresh berries at the local Farmer's Market to stock up on pints of berries and make waffles and pancakes on Sundays. With a little tweaking, this recipe is a keeper.
For the past couple of years my husband and I have celebrated our weekends with Waffle and Pancake Sundays. We started the tradition after buying several pints of fresh berries at our local Farmer's Market over the summer. While we added the berries to smoothies and ate the berries by the handful, we both craved the comfort and the nostalgia of fluffy pancakes.
If you could not already tell, the recipe for the perfect pancake in our household is extra light and fluffy. I have tried too many recipes to count from vegan recipes using bananas or flax seed to different flours like spelt and oat and while some were delicious, they did not always hit the mark on fluffiness. So, naturally when I saw pancakes in the "How to Bake" cookbook, I had to give it a try.
Here are some of the lessons that I learned while making Blueberry Breakfast Pancakes:
Raspberries. Since we made these Blueberry Breakfast Pancakes over the holidays, there were no fresh fruit and no local summer Farmer's Market to be had, so I resorted to frozen raspberries. After much comparison over our many pancake Sundays, my husband and I really enjoy the tartness that raspberries provide - I guess it allows for more butter and syrup, too! I am a sucker for cinnamon and I also add a little cinnamon. I have found that it does better sprinkled on top than incorporating into the batter because it is easy to overcook cinnamon and it can turn bitter.
Adding a Leavening Agent. To be fair, not only was my first pancake itty bitty which was based on the "How to Bake" suggestion "drop about 1 tbs of batter", but I forgot to add baking powder which resulted in no fluffiness. Once I poured the batter into the pan, I instantly noticed my mistake since the pancake did not rise. Before looking at the recipe, I knew that I needed a leavening agent, but I did not have baking powder. I resorted to a substitute of 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Naturally, I checked the recipe and no, Paul Hollywood did not forget the leavening agent - I did! Go figure. My advice: I believe there is a saying about the first pancake always being a fail, and that is more than true. No matter how you may try to avoid errors, the first pancake is a test for the heat setting on the pan, the oil level, the batter ratio to filling, the size, and missing ingredients. Use the first pancake as a test to ensure all the other pancakes are just as fluffy as you like.
Quadrupling the Size. Okay, call me American, but a tablespoon for a pancake? No, that is just wrong. I like small and cute things, but after a hike with the dogs, a long run, or just because it is Sunday Pancake Day and I am hungry, I want large fluffy pancakes. I don't know if I misread the size on the directions, but I trusted the process and was instantly disappointed in the direction to "drop about 1 tbs of batter". The pancake was smaller than my palm and compared to the picture in the "How to Bake" cookbook, fell flat. So, I measured with my heart and ended up with a generous 1/2 cup of batter and the result was much more satisfying. Also, if I had used a tablespoon for the batter, it would have taken hours to make all the pancakes, even if I shared the pan with multiple minis. My advice: After you focus on the science that is baking and nailing the recipe, when it comes to serving sizes and portions, measure with your heart - exact measurements are not necessary in this step.
Our Review: I was surprised that there was no sugar in the batter recipe. I figure that is a very American thing to say - we add sugar into everything. I am used to grabbing a pancake and taking a bite without butter and syrup and tasting instant vanilla and sweetness, but with Paul Hollywood's Blueberry Pancakes, there was no sweetness. Now, I do not think this is a bad thing at all. In fact, it made me realize that the pancake is already a vehicle for a slice of butter and extra drizzle of syrup, so why would you need more sugar? All in all, I enjoyed these pancakes and even finished off more than I usually do - maybe it was the lack of sugar in the batter?
On that note, I hope that you find a recipe book you enjoy, or this one, that I am currently baking my way through. Either way, enjoy baking and nourishing yourself and your family.
All my light and all my love.
Namaste,
Jordan
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