I’ve always been fascinated by fluffy American-style pancakes, perhaps because I didn’t grow up on them. In my childhood, pancakes, crêpes, really, were thin and delicate, the kind you’d fold into four with sugar and lemon or jam from my grand-mère’s wooden cabinet in the garage. The golden, towering stacks always felt like something from a storybook – indulgent, almost impossibly decadent.
I already have two favourite recipes. One is a buttermilk classic by the great Marion Cunningham, who knew her way around the simplicity of breakfast like no one else. Her recipe reads like a letter from a friend, gently nudging you towards the joy of the everyday. The other is a five-minute wonder, a batter I can whisk together with my eyes closed on mornings when hunger wins over patience.
And yet, when I stumbled upon Chez Ma Tante’s recipe one morning, I couldn’t resist. It felt like an invitation to try something new. The batter is looser than both of my regular recipes, and the results are ever so wonderful: a light and airy crumb with edges that cook to crisp, caramelised perfection.
The original recipe calls for a full cup of clarified butter for cooking, but I couldn’t quite commit. A couple of tablespoons did the trick, yielding pancakes that were delicate yet indulgent. I had mine plain, marvelling at the texture and buttery caramelisation, but I can only imagine how they’d taste with a drizzle of maple syrup and a pat of butter melting into every crevice.
Chez Ma Tante’s pancakes
Notes
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 ½ tablespoons 35 g baking powder
- 2 tablespoons 25 g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon 5 g flaky sea salt
- 300 ml whole milk
- 130 g plain flour
- 30 g salted butter melted
- 60 g cold salted butter for cooking
Instructions
- Pre-heat your cast-iron pan on medium-high heat for at least 5 minutes, then reduce to medium-low.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Gradually add the the milk and flour in alternating turns, whisking gently until a lumpy batter forms – do not overmix the batter. Finally, whisk in the 30g of melted butter.
- Stick the cold butter to the tines of a fork and use it to butter you pan – it should start foaming and sizzling. Pour about 100 ml of batter for each pancake, letting it spread naturally.
- Cook for about 1 1/2-2 minutes, or until golden brown with crisp edges, then flip and cook for another 1 minute or so on the other side.
- Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the pan as needed. Serve warm with extra butter and maple syrup.
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