Pancake

What comes into your mind when you hear the word pancake? I can think of a few right off the bat

1) Brunch
2) IHOP
3) Clinton Street Bakery (you can look it up, but i have never been there)
4) Reason for some people to eat their fruits
5) Expensive "shi-shi" NYC diners that charge $10 for two pancakes, refer to (3)
6) pancake mix from a box

If your idea of Sunday brunch is to sit in a restaurant or by the side walk, sip a cup of coffee/tea and have a pancake, be prepare to leave $20 poorer (New York City standard). But if you are in a money-saving mode, then pancake is as easy as it gets to make.

There are a million sites that tell you how to make the most basic pancake. I copied the recipe from another site too (no pancake copyrights, right?).

(recipe for 8 pancakes)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1. It is essential to melt the butter the right way. You can either leave it out for 20 minutes or use a water bath (you can google it). Please, DO NOT MICROWAVE BUTTER!


2. Once everything is mixed, make sure there is no lumps


3. Use a soup ladle to transfer the batter on to a hot pan (i recommend non stick pan). You don't need to oil the pan.


4. Cook each side of the pancake for 1 minute at medium heat. Yes, 2 minutes is all it takes.


There are a couple things that you will need to judge for yourself.
a) the size and thickness of the pancake. The pancake will "puff-up", "rise-in-height" very slightly when you cook it. So you want to start with a somewhat thin layer of batter. Transfer the batter to a pan and swirl the pan around to spread the batter. 


b) cooking time - when the pancake is done cooking on one side, you should be able to slide the pancake off the pan. If it sticks, leave it for a few more seconds. If you want your pancake browner, leave it for a few seconds before turning.


That's it folks. I hope you will enjoy making pancake as I did. I have provided some extra tips and instructions that regular websites do not. 

One variation which I will try next time is to add coconut milk into the batter. What do you think?

Maple syrup kissing the pancake. I sometimes prefer honey

A happy looking pancake

Pancakes and their friends - Miss Peachy

My pancake was too thick as seen in this picture. I made 5 instead of, supposedly, 8