Subject: RECIPE: Breakfast pancakes
From: simon@einode (Simon Kenyon)
Date: 13 Feb 87 06:19:00 GMT
Newsgroups: mod.recipes

Copyright (C) 1987 USENET Community Trust
Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted
provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial
advantage, the USENET copyright notice and the title of the newsgroup and
its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of
the USENET Community Trust or the original contributor.

.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE PANCAKES-2 B "3 Dec 86" 1987
.RZ "BREAKFAST PANCAKES" "Light and fluffy breakfast pancakes"
The formula comes from \fIThe Joy of Cooking\fR by Irma S. Rombauer and
Marion Rombauer Becker. I bought the book when I was visiting California a
few years back. The pancakes are to my liking, but my wife has had to endure
vast quantities of failures before I got the right technique. These pancakes
are amazing for their stupifying ability. No more than three can be eaten in
one day. A slow and painful death will result from exceeding these guidelines.
.IH "8\-10 6-inch pancakes" "8\-10 15-cm pancakes"
.IG "1\(12 cups" "all-purpose flour" "150 g"
.IG "1 tsp" "salt" "5 ml"
.IG "3 Tbsp" "sugar" "75 g"
.IG "1 \(34 tsp" "baking powder" "9 ml"
.IG "\(14 tsp" "vanilla essence" "1 ml"
.IG "2" "eggs"
.IG "3 Tbsp" "butter," "50 g"
melted
.IG "10 floz" "milk" "300 ml"
.PH
.SK 1
Put a frying pan on a low to medium heat and melt the butter.
.SK 2
Whilst the butter is melting, measure the flour and sift into a large
mixing bowl.
.SK 3
Add the salt, sugar and baking powder.
.SK 4
Measure the milk in a measuring jug.
.SK 5
Separate the eggs and place the whites in a cup, adding the yolks to
the milk.
.SK 6
Add the melted butter from the frying pan. Remove as much from the pan as
you can, but don't be too particular. The remaining butter in the frying
pan will be used to cook the pancakes in. I use a rubber spatula to get
most of it off the pan. Leave the ring on, but don't put the pan back on it.
(I have an electric cooker which takes a long time to heat up).
In this way you can start cooking the pancakes as soon as the batter is ready.
.SK 7
When the butter has coagulated, add the liquid mixture to the dry
ingredients and mix them up. I use a metal spoon. It is at this stage you
can judge whether the mixture has the right consistency.
.SK 8
Wash the measuring jug and dry it thoroughly. Pour the egg whites
into it and whisk with an electric hand-held whisk. I whisk them until they are
quite hard.
.SK 9
If there are lumps in the batter, you can user the whisk to get rid of them.
.SK 10
Using the spatula (from the butter, right?), transfer all the egg whites into
the big bowl.
.SK 11
Fold the egg whites into the batter with the metal spoon until they are all
incorporated. The batter is now ready.
.SK 12
Put the frying pan back on the heat and wait until it is to a reasonable
temperature. I can't be more specific because it depends on your cooker and
the frying pan that you are using.
.SK 13
Make the pancakes one at a time, turning them over when the underside is
cooked. Eat immediately with butter and maple syrup.
.NX
The order that I do things is the result of much experimentation.
I have a Creda Cavalier and use a Fissler German-made corrugated-bottom
frying pan. With this combination I set the ring to 2.75-3.0.
.PP
One way to test is to place a small dollop of batter in the frying pan.
It should take about 1-2 minutes to brown. As the underside is browning,
bubbles should be forming on the top surface. The consitency of the batter
and the temperature of cooking are correct when the bubbles fail to burst
when the underside is fully cooked.
.PP
Now that I know what I'm doing, they're easy, but I had a awful lot of
failures to start with. Don't expect success the first time. You won't be
disappointed. The effort is worth it in the long run.
What is important is to get the moisture content of the batter correct.
If it is too sloppy; then the pancakes will be flat and stodgy. If the
batter is too dry; then the pancakes will burn before they are cooked.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
moderate until you learn the technique.
.I Time:
30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking.
.I Precision:
measure the ingredients.
.WR
Simon Kenyon
The National Software Centre, Dublin, IRELAND
[email-masked]