I had the privilege of looking after my niece for the last weekend of the summer holidays. It was a nice break for her mother, my lovely sister, and nice for me to spend time with her defacto ‘mini-me’.
My niece made a request for pancakes for breakfast. While trying to hold onto my current crown 👑 of amazing auntie it was only natural that I went to one of old time favourites Canadian buttermilk pancakes . The slight problem was that I did not have any actual buttermilk and I was not going to walk all the way to my local store to get some, so, I had the bright idea of making it myself from lemon juice and milk. The acid from the lemon juice should curdle the milk to create a buttermilk texture. Easy peasy lemon squeezy I thought, except that’s not quite what happened…The half lemon 🍋 that was in the fridge was mouldy. Somehow, I did not know lemons could get mouldy and I did wonder how long it had been sitting in it’s sad little plastic container. So, lemon in the bin, I thought it would be easy enough to substitute it for a lime. I used an old, shrivelled but importantly non-mouldy lime 🍋🟩 that was hanging about. It worked, I created something that looked like buttermilk and when added to the dry ingredients made for a smooth and silky batter.
We made a nice little team my niece and I. While I made the pancakes 🥞, she was given the very important job of styling the fruit – blueberries 🫐 , raspberries and strawberries 🍓, into something pretty and presentable.
She clearly understood the assignment…
Ta dah…!
Yellow, mis-shapen and ugly but gorgeous and buttery, drizzled with maple syrup and eaten with a huge dollop of Greek yogurt. Eaten with joy by two very happy people. 😊
If you want to make this yourself:
Ingredients
½ level teaspoon baking powder
To serve:
lots of pure maple syrup and crème fraîche
Method
First sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together in a roomy bowl and make a well in the centre.
After that, whisk the buttermilk and 3 fl oz (75 ml) cold water together in a jug and gradually whisk this into the bowl, slowly incorporating the flour with each new addition of liquid. Finally, add the eggs a little at a time until you have a smooth batter.
Now place a large, solid frying pan over a medium heat, add 2 teaspoons of the lard and heat it until the fat shimmers. Then, using a tablespoon of batter per pancake, place 2 or 3 spoonfuls into the pan. They will take about 1 minute to turn golden brown, then turn them over using a spatula and fork, being careful not to splash yourself with the hot fat. Give them another 45 seconds on the other side, by which time they should have puffed up like little soufflés, then briefly rest them on some kitchen paper to absorb any excess fat.
Repeat this with the rest of the batter, adding a little more lard if necessary. They will keep warm in a low oven, but to enjoy them at their best, have everyone seated to eat them as soon as they come out of the pan.
Reference: Canadian Buttermilk pancakes with Maple Syrup, Delia Smith. How to cook: book one. Page 166
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/canadianbuttermilkpa_70009
