Pancakes are often thought to be those thick things, when really I'd call them crepes. Here's a standard recipe I use. Almost without exception though, the first pancake in a batch will be a bit rubbish, but the next lot are really good. Recipe makes about 15. Best I think served with fresh lemon juice and castor sugar. Sifting the flour makes them nice and light. The mix can stay a day in the fridge, but no longer. Batter is best always used at room temperature.
200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Up to 500ml milk
Sunflower oil, for frying
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs and about 50ml of milk. Start to whisk, gradually incorporating the flour into the wet ingredients.
When you have a nice, thick batter forming in the middle, add a bit more milk and whisk in. Keep going until all the milk is added, all the flour incorporated and you have a nice, smooth batter about the consistency of single cream. One of the mistakes people make is to leave the batter too thick, so don't let it get any gloopier than this. In fact, add more milk if needed. Alternatively, make the batter by whizzing everything up in a food processor. Either way, let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes, then check the consistency. If it's thickened up a bit, add a little more milk, or a dash of water, to bring it to the right consistency.
To cook the pancakes, heat a frying pan or cr?pe pan, around 20-25cm/8 to 10 inch in diameter, over a medium heat until it's good and hot. Swirl 1 tbsp of oil over the surface of the pan, then tip out the excess. Add enough batter just to coat the base of the pan (a small ladleful should do it - around 50ml), and swirl it around as quickly as you can to coat the base. Cook for a minute or two, flip over and cook for a minute more.
Very Brit dessert, "Fools".
Raspberry ripple yogurt fool
Serves 4
250ml double cream
125g tub bio goat's yogurt
250g raspberries
Put the cream into a cold bowl and whisk it until it starts to thicken. You want it to be thick enough to sit in heaps rather than stand in peaks. Now gently, smoothly fold the yogurt into the cream with a large spoon - don't beat it.
Crush the raspberries lightly with a fork. Resist the temptation to mash them too much - you want some texture here in among all this billowing cream.
Gently fold the cream and yogurt into the raspberries with a large metal spoon. Again, don't mix too thoroughly. You want each spoonful to have some of the sharpened cream and a ripple of crushed, scarlet fruit. Spoon into bowls or glasses and serve with shortbread. Looks lovely in a bowl, very scrummy.
