Buttermilk pancakes with golden syrup and warm pear
A soft stack for the mornings you want breakfast to feel like breakfast
Doubles easily for two. Cook the pancakes in batches and keep the first ones warm in a low oven.
Buttermilk makes a pancake batter that sets soft rather than crisp, which suits this diet without you ever having to say so out loud. The egg here is doing what an egg does best: binding, not being the point. Warm tinned pears gently in their own juice with a spoonful of golden syrup while the batter rests, and you get something that tastes like a treat rather than a concession. Cook the pancakes small, so they turn in the pan easily, and stack them while the last one still sizzles. No spice on top, however tempting the cinnamon jar looks. This book leaves it in the cupboard. The syrup and the fruit carry all the sweetness you need.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Milk, Egg
- 120 gself-raising white flour
- 1 tbspcaster sugar
- salt
- 1egg
- 200 mlbuttermilk
- 30 gunsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 4tinned pear halves, drained, juice reserved
- 3 tbspgolden syrup, plus extra to serve
- 25 gunsalted butter, for frying, plus a little more if needed
Method
Whisk the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt together in a mixing bowl.
In a jug, whisk the egg into the buttermilk, then pour it into the dry ingredients and whisk to a smooth, thick batter. Whisk in the melted butter last.
The batter can sit for ten minutes while you deal with the pears. It thickens slightly, which is fine.
Warm the pear halves in a small pan with their reserved juice and the golden syrup over a low heat, turning once or twice, until they are heated through and the juice has turned glossy, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.
Melt a little butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Drop in tablespoons of batter to make small pancakes about 7 cm across, and cook until bubbles appear across the surface and the edges look set, about 2 minutes.
Flip each pancake and cook the other side until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding a little more butter to the pan as you go.
Stack the pancakes on a warm plate, top with the warm pear halves and spoon over the syrupy juice.
Watch-points
- Use self-raising white flour only. Wholemeal or granary flour is off the list.
- Choose tinned pear halves in juice or syrup, never fresh pear, which keeps its skin and grit near the core.
- Keep the spice cupboard shut. No cinnamon or other ground spice goes on top, however classic the pairing.
Some hospitals allow a small pinch of ground cinnamon on a pancake like this. The leaflet this book follows does not. Leave it out if you have been told to.
Make it more nourishing
- Whisk an extra egg yolk into the batter. It adds richness without extra volume.
- Stir 1 tablespoon of skimmed milk powder into the buttermilk before mixing.
- Use 45 g of butter in the batter rather than 30 g.
- Serve with a tablespoon of mascarpone melting alongside the warm pear.
Swaps
- Instead of buttermilk, use whole milk soured with a squeeze of lemon juice, left 10 minutes
- an easy stand-in if you have no buttermilk in
- Instead of tinned pear, use tinned peach halves in juice
- the same soft texture, a different flavour