Blueberry and Spiced Orange or Banana and Spiced Lime Pancakes by Poh Ling Yeow
Poh Ling Yeow's Blueberry and Spiced Orange or Banana and Spiced Lime Pancakes
Feeds 4–5
I had a month of disastrous results with a basic pancake. Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that I had no memory of ever having cooked a great pancake! It just goes to show, sometimes the simplest things can elude you. After the testing of many recipes and a fair bit of anguish, I finally arrived at this delicious result. If you are curious about the white vinegar, it mimics the lightly cultured flavour of buttermilk, which can sometimes be difficult to find. This recipe is hard to beat if you want moist, fluffy, grief-free pancakes. If you prefer plain pancakes like me, simply omit fruit and serve with maple syrup. -Poh
Syrup
zest of 2 oranges OR limes
250 ml orange juice OR 180 ml lime juice
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick broken in half
2 star anise
Crème Fraiche Anglaise
125ml créme fraîche
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted
Batter
1 1/2 cup full cream milk
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
(3 tsp ground cinnamon if using bananas)
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups plain flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
OR 1 large banana, peeled, thinly sliced
1 x 4cm cube of unsalted butter
Method
To make the syrup, combine all syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir until the sugar is melted. Cover, remove from the heat and set aside to infuse further.
To make the batter, mix the milk and vinegar in a jug. Add the eggs, vanilla and melted butter, then mix to combine. In a medium mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and the wet mixture , then whisk until smooth.
Heat a non-stick frypan on medium heat, stab halfway into the cube of butter with a fork and grease by whizzing it over the surface of the hot frypan. Ladle about 1/2 a cup of batter into the frypan then drop about a dozen blueberriesor banana evenly over the surface.
When the pancake is ready to be turned over, it should have risen about 1cm, the edges cooked and the surface pitted like a crumpet. Flip and cook on other side until golden. You should get about four 12cm pancakes.
To make your crème fraiche anglaise, beat crème fraiche, vanilla and sugar - to soft or stiff peaks is up to you.Serve hot pancakes with a drizzle of the syrup and a dollop of the crème fraiche anglaise on top.