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Basic
Pancake Recipe
Makes
about fourteen 4-inch cakes |
This pancake recipe is
adapted from Joy of Cooking by Irma S. and Marion Rombauer. If any
recipe is to be the standard against which other pancakes are measured, this
is it. |
1. Place a griddle or heavy-bottomed skillet over
low heat. Add a bit of butter to grease the pan and increase the flame to
medium. Let the pan warm up a bit, but don't let the butter smoke or scorch. I
find pancakes work best when a room temperature batter meets hot pan.
2. Sift before
measuring (or fluff up flour with a fork in its container, and then
measure):
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1½ cups all purpose flour (Try
replacing half the flour with whole-wheat flour, or replacing 1/4 of the
flour with cornmeal.) |
3. Resift (or blend
together in a bowl) with:
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1 teaspoon salt |
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3 tablespoons sugar |
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1 ¾ teaspoons double-acting
baking powder (Reduce to make pancakes more crepe-like) |
4. Combine and add
to the dry ingredients:
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1 or 2 slightly beaten whole
eggs |
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3 tablespoons melted butter or
oil |
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1 to 1 ¼ cups milk
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optional: 1 tablespoon
orange peel |
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extra butter to grease the pan
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5. Quickly mix the ingredients together; too much
will make the pancakes tough and rubbery. It's normal for the pancake batter to
be lumpy after you stir it. Try adding 1/2 cup chocolate or fresh or frozen
blueberries to the mix and fold in quickly.
Pancakes can be made within 30 minutes of making it (when the leavening
ingredients are most effective).
6. Test the
griddle by checking to see if water bounces off in a satisfactory way. If it
does, it's ready to be used.
7. Add the batter to the hot griddle, making sure
there is space between them; pancakes will expand slightly during cooking.
"Silver-dollar" style pancakes are the easiest to cook and flip over. Use the
remainder of the butter to grease the pan for more pancakes. If the batter seems
a bit too thick or you like your pancakes thinner, add a little milk.
8. Flip each pancake once and only once before
removing from the pan. You can tell it's ready by the appearance of tiny
bubbles, uniformly distributed over the upper surface of the pancake. One quick
flip does the trick. They usually take about 1/2 the time on the second side.
This will depend on how thick you've made your pancakes.
9. Serve immediately. They can be eaten butter
spread on top, drizzled with maple syrup, fruit compotes, etc. Pancakes don't
stay warm for long, so you put them on warm plates (place ovenproof plates in an
oven set on the lowest setting). You may wish to keep a stack in a preheated 225
degree oven and accumulate them before serving.
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