Easy peasy basic plain homemade pancake recipe

There is something about pancakes that seems to right all that is wrong with the world. Pancakes are so well-loved they have a cult following.  I would like to nominate myself as President of the Pancake Lovers Club. I love pancakes. Hot cakes, griddle cakes, pancakes, by any name would be one of my all time favourite special weekend breakfast meals. They are budget friendly and customisable to every diet – from the all you can eat diet to the paleo, low carb, diabetic-friendly and  gluten free. We even developed a low carb, pale and diabetic-friendly pancake some time ago.

We like our pancakes differently in our house and so we sort each other out in the kitchen so that the fight never has to reach the dinner table.  Chef likes his pancakes griddle-cake-chef-style with a rich brown hue and I like them very light. It’s a lot easier to just make some the way he like and then others the way I like it.  He thinks mine are sickly pale and I swear his are burnt. The great thing is that it is just the cooking time/temperature we differ on but we can still share the same recipe!

My inspiration for this moist homemade pancake 

I want to share a recipe for a very basic plain pancake with items in every kitchen. Of course we never do anything plain in our Chef and Steward Kitchen so we always add extra ingredients to make them stand out. Sometimes it’s good to pass on a little joy when you discover it. We came across a recipe  by a lovely lady over at Savoury Table and had to share. We have adapted this one from hers.  Her recipe makes a lovely moist plain pancake, much like the one you would ordinarily buy in a box or have in a restaurant or a diner. But the great thing is that since it is homemade, it does not have all the preservatives and additives of the packaged box variety.

This is not a just add water recipe, but it is still simple enough for you to have the kids help you with in the kitchen.  You can add fresh, seasonal and local fruit or compotes to your pancakes after you have ladled them in the pan or on the griddle or you can make them plain and serve the extras on the side.

I love to serve my pancakes  with Raw Organic Jamaican Trelawny Honey from our family farm.  This thick, rich syrupy and flavourful honey is great along with butter or whipped cream with your pancakes and in your favourite tea.  My father, the beekeeper does not have enough honey to supply the demand but kindly sets aside some for us every harvest so that we too can enjoy the fruits of his labour of love.  As luck would have it, we will soon have some for sale along with our hand-picked Organic Native Jamaican Allspice so watch this space.  Look on the clarity of this honey!

This was the first thing I cooked after having my emergency C-Section to deliver bubs last year.  My mother had been slaving at every meal in the kitchen andI wanted a way to give her and hubby a treat for breakfast. Pancakes are a treat in our house and resonate with us as comfort food. It was also my first  post partum food shoot so I had to work swiftly and could not do all I wished I could but I am very pleased with the results. To think that was a year ago!

Yes our baby is no longer.  Our boy Prento is a toddler! The Apprentice turned one recently and was treated to his own homemade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  If I am going to give my baby cake, it is important to me to ensure that I know exactly what is in it. I have to say that it went pretty quickly! It was moist with a perfect crumb and the flavours delicately balanced. The recipe was developed by me and I have had inquiries for orders so I am going out on a limb and offering my delicious tea cakes for sale (nervous smile)!  I can supply in Ras Al Khaimah and can arrange for collection in Dubai. Simply contact me via email:  mail(at)chefandsteward(dot)com. In our next post, we will give you a tutorial on how to cook perfect pancakes in a stainless steel frying pan.