Phoodie Tuesday 12 February 2013 6:24am

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By PHOODIE

Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t love a pancake? Seriously. Be truthful. Ever?? I haven’t. But I know people, myself included, who get very frustrated with a bad pancake. An unfluffy pancake, a raw pancake, a burnt pancake. That said, I’ve been guilty of making them in all of those horrible ways in the past!

Large ones piled high with butter drizzling over the edge, or small ones individually plated up for high-tea. Sweet ones or savoury ones. At breakfast or after a lovely dinner as a decadent dessert. These fluffy monsters can be anything that your culinary heart wants them to be! The only limit, as they say, is your imagination!

This week I bring to you three things of exceptional value

1) The most basic pancake recipe in the universe. Given to me by my grandmother but I wouldn’t say it’s ‘hers’, it’s pretty much the world’s generic recipe!

2) My top tips for making the perfect pancake and

3) One of Phoodie’s most popular posts ever! Kind of a ‘pancakes on steroids’ thing but if you’re hosting a Shrove Tuesday pancake party then that’s the time to attempt this ‘little’ baby. I created it for my birthday last year and it went down a treat!

ENJOY!

1) PHOODIE’S BASIC PANCAKE RECIPE

Makes 10 (Approx. 15cm diameter)

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup milk (can use whichever type you like, I use full cream)

1 large egg

Combine all ingredients to make your batter.

Dollop a ladle of mixture into buttered pan and swivel around to form a circle.

Flip when cooked on one side. Cook on other side and serve!

SIMPLE! Butttttt….. see my top tips below in order to make the BEST pancakes!

2) PHOODIE’S TOP TIPS FOR THE PERFECT PANCAKE

1) TOOLS: Make sure to use a clean, dry bowl, large enough so that when you whisk the batter it doesn’t go flying all over the shop! Use a whisk (not a spoon or fork) to combine ingredients.

2) WET INGREDIENTS: Combine your wet ingredients (egg and milk) first. This helps later on in that it means you don’t over stir the batter.

3) DRY INGREDIENTS: Always sift your flour to avoid lumps. Once sifted make a well in the centre and add in the wet ingredient mix. Stir to combine, don’t over do it!

4) RESTING: Make sure the batter rests, covered in the fridge for 20 minutes.

5) THE PAN: The pan needs to be heated (medium-high) and “oiled” before you add in your batter. Do not add batter in to a pan that is not pre-heated, it will stick and won’t flip! Disaster town.

6) BUTTER: You want to “oil” the pan with the right amount of butter. Too much and it will burn in an instant and not enough and the pancakes won’t flip. The amount you want is enough to properly cover the base of the pan when melted.

7) READY!: Flip the pancakes when you see bubbles have formed across the top of the surfaces and the edges look cooked. This generally takes about 30 seconds. Cooking the underside will also take another 30 or so seconds.

3) PHOODIE’S THOUSAND LAYER CHOCOLATE CREPE CAKE

 (Note: this cake is comprised of 48 crepes, it is HUGE and feeds approximately 50 people! As it is very rich, feel free to make it on a smaller scale, it’s still DELICIOUS!)

Ingredients

• 4 cups self-raising flour
• 4 cups full cream milk
• 4 x eggs
• 800 g good quality dark chocolate
• 500 ml thick cream
• 40 x Ferrero Rocher chocolate balls
• 200 ml whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons espresso coffee

Method

1. First up you will need to make the 48 crepes. It is best to do this in 4 batches of 12. They store for up to 24 hours in air tight containers. (When making this cake, I do 24 at night and then 24 first thing the next morning, i.e the morning I am making the whole cake).

2. Each batch of 12 crepes will use 1 x cup self-raising flour, 1 x cup milk and 1 x egg. To make the crepes combine the flour, milk and eggs by whisking. Once whisked, allow to rest for 20 minutes. After batter has rested add a small ladle of mixture to a hot, buttered crepe/frying pan, swirl pan until mixture spreads evenly across base, when cooked on one side (approx 20 seconds) flip over, cook on other side (approx 15 seconds) then remove from heat. Repeat until all crepes are cooked. Crepes should be golden with crispy edges.

3. To make the ganache: Place chocolate and cream in a saucepan on medium heat. Continuously stir until chocolate is melted and 2 ingredients are combined. A glossy, thick, fudge should result. Take off heat and set aside.

4. Place Ferrero chocolates in a food processor and blitz for a few minutes. You do not want to completely break the balls down into sand, you still want some small chunks to remain. Set aside.

5. It is now time to assemble. Take one crepe, spread with ganache and then sprinkle with Ferrero crumb. Repeat process for all 48 crepes.

6. Whip cream and when done, slowly add espresso drop by drop. Fold espresso through gently as you do not want to flatten the cream.

7. Cut a slice of the cake and serve with cream and any left over ganache

LIKE THIS:

Melt chocolate

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Phoodie’s culinary obsession began when she was 3. Cooking, recipe writing and eating, with both her Greek and Lebanese grandmothers, comprise her fondest childhood memories. Phoodie is a cookbook, restaurant, and supermarket obsessed blogger and Mum of 2. Phoodie blogs here is on Facebook here and tweets here.

 

What are you top tips for cooking pancakes!? What are your favourite things to throw on top of a pancake!? How many can you eat in one sitting!? I can do 7!!