To make these you will need:
Two large mixing bowls
A skillet/thick bottomed frying pan
Soup ladle
1½ cups/12oz/350g plain flour
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Milk (whole or semi-skimmed) 1½ cups/12 fl oz/350g
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup/8oz/225g fresh blueberries
Vegetable oil for cooking
If you want to keep the pancakes warm, pre-heat the oven on a very low light to store the finished pancakes in.
In one of the bowls combine all the “dry” ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cornmeal. Mix these together and put on one side.
In the second bowl mix together the “wet” ingredients: milk, vanilla essence and the egg and then pour into the bowl containing the dry ingredients.
Gently combine the two sets of ingredients. Do not whisk them together too briskly, just fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and then add in the blueberries. Let the finished mixture rest for at least 3 minutes. There is no need to put it in the fridge if you are going on to cook it straight away. If you make it the night before, leave it in the fridge and don’t add in the fruit until the morning.
Heat the skillet over a medium heat until the pan is hot. Carefully pour some vegetable oil into the pan, enough to coat it and a bit more as the mixture will soak some of it up and the pancakes could stick.
Once the oil is hot, use the ladle to pour some of the mixture into the pan. To test the heat, drip a little of the batter into the pan, if it sizzles then the temperature is high enough, if not, raise it a little and try again. Depending on the size of your pan you could cook 3 or 4 pancakes at one time. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the pancake (generally after 3 or 4 minutes) flip them over. Cook for another 1 or 2 minutes and put on a plate in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
Serve with maple syrup or honey butter (see below)
Honey butter
4oz salted butter
2 to 3 tablespoons of good quality honey
(If you prefer unsalted butter, then add ½ teaspoon salt)
Allow the butter to soften and then mix the ingredients together in a food processor, or by hand with a wooden spoon.
Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of clingfilm and mould into a log. Put in the fridge to re-harden or into the freezer to keep until needed.
All you need is a cup of your favourite coffee or tea, a juice and the morning papers…weekend bliss!
Blueberry Pancakes with Honey Butter
