Easy and Basic Pancakes

Remember those Idyllic summer holidays back when we were kids? Those carefree afternoons and the endless evenings, the stories from grandma’s bag of surprise. Those frozen treats and best of all no homework or school to worry about. I sometimes wonder why I ever gave up being a child and traded those precious years to grow up to be the woman I am now.

But now I  live those holiday breaks in my kids school breaks, Admittedly on days they drive me nuts and make me want to scale Mount Everest in a pair of thongs than listen to their bickering but then they in their own sweet sour way remind me that we are kids only once. The rest of time we cloak the kid in ourselves and pretend to be what is expected of us from the society.

I have fond memories of messing up my mum’s kitchen in those summer breaks to try and impress my little baby brother who was the size of a shrimp with an appetite of an elephant making pancakes or baking a cake or being brave enough to experiment with the unknown. Memories of spilt flour on the floor, dried up milk, Sugar generously shared with the emperor ants and shells of eggs lying all around often invited the wrath of my mum who would have just awoken to the multitude of sounds from her siesta, but the ear to ear smile on my brother’s face and his generous appetite for my cooking was enough for me to commit this crime (in my mom’s eyes) time and again.

Fast forward to today and my elder son seems to have inherited my genes but somehow the mess he creates seems to be an exponential amount of what I used to do growing up, Perhaps I am being fastidious, but then he also does make a much better pancake than I, for his younger brother raves about it and I have never seen him clean up his plate and lick it too. The younger one barely six, orders his special pancake with blueberries and Maple syrup while my elder one tirelessly flips them over and stacks them and drizzles them and dresses them up to the approval of his younger sibling.

Perhaps these will be part of my son’s memories when he grows up ( Despite everything I sometimes wish they just stay the way they are, innocent, carefree with  genuine love for all and just being themselves).

I wonder if my younger one when he grows up will remember how his brother flipped and stacked and  drizzled for him…Hmmm..I should make a note and ask my brother if he remembers.

Here is  another quick and easy dessert, I made using butter snap cookies. Kids loved it and it was perfect with melted dark chocolates and cherry buttercream frostings. To make these, I used the regular butter snap cookies available in the supermarket. Using a muffin tin, bake the cookies for 4 to 5 minutes at 180'C. While they are warm and soft, shape them into mini bowl shape using the back of the spoon. Melt 100 grams of dark chocolate and spoon the mini tarts and keep aside until they are set. Make buttercream frosting. Add 1/4 cup pitted cherry puree. Swirl the frosting on the set tarts and top it with whole cherry. Chill in fridge and serve.

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Easy and Basic Pancake

by Shibani of Pearlsofeast

Ingredients

• 1 cup Self Raising Flour
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Butter plus extra for greasing the pan. butter

1. In a bowl, whisk flour  sugar and salt. Beat in the egg and then milk a little at a time until batter is smooth and lump-free. Add 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the batter.
2. In a hot pan or flat grill over medium heat, brush butter over cooking surface and pour 1/4 cup measures for each pancake.
3. When large bubbles form on the surface, flip the pancake over and cook until lightly golden on the other side. Serve hot with berries and maple syrup.

PS- The above pancake has white chocolate bits mixed with frozen berries and orange zest.Add it  to the batter just before making it.