I first had these beautiful light and fluffy pancakes onboard a boat in Valdez, Alaska, in 1996. I wrote down the ingredients but never quite got the method right. After many, many years of failure and experimenting I settled on the following method and I have to say, they are close to perfect. This recipe makes 12 small or 6 medium/large pancakes. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 150g sourdough starter
- 150g plain (all purpose) flour
- 240g milk
- 3 eggs
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 40g melted butter
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 tsp warm water
- 1 tsp baking powder
Directions
- Mix the sourdough starter, flour and milk. Cover loosely with a shower cap, cling wrap or clean tea towel and let it sit overnight.
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
- Beat the egg whites until fluffy then fold in the sugar.
- Beat the egg yolks then add the salt. Drizzle in the butter that has cooled slightly while still beating.
- Combine the sourdough mixture with the egg yolks then fold in the egg whites to make a batter. Add the baking powder and mix.
- Combine the bi-carbonate of soda and the water and mix into the batter. The mixture will become frothy and increase in volume.
- Cook on a hot cast iron frypan. Turn once when bubbles start to form.
Serve hot with your favourite topping or cold as a snack.
Suggested toppings: lemon and sugar; maple syrup, whipped butter and whipped cream; blueberries; strawberries; banana.
the expat traveller food 