Hello all … this is kinda a rushed post that was rather poorly planned because I was late in doing this and tomorrow is already Valentine’s Day. I was seriously mucking about in the kitchen yesterday evening and this recipe kinda just happened. I was not planning on making this at all but after these pancakes came out so spectacularly awesome, I decided it would be rude of me not to share this on my blog.
Honestly, these pancakes came out super fluffy and so full of flavour I was thrilled. I could have taken the time to style the shots or taken better pictures but it’s been pretty poor weather here lately and lighting has once again become an issue for me. I have been looking to buy some specialty artificial lights but we are moving soon … leaving the Netherlands for good … so I thought it wise to hold off on the purchase until we are settled in our new place, wherever that may be. Everything is still kinda up in the air at the moment; everything is neither here nor there. It’s been madness in our house lately but I expect to have some clarity by next month. Tomorrow for Valentine’s day we will be heading to Cologne, Germany for the weekend … and the dog is coming with us. We have rented a cute house on farmland just outside the city … Airbnb for the win. I am sure the dog will enjoy himself as we hope to give him more opportunities to accompany us on more holidays. He’s only just turned five and he’s already been diagnosed with cancer. When we got the news we were heartbroken despite the fact that we were mentally prepared for this day to come … Doopey is after all a Bernese Mountain Dog and they don’t live very long.
Anyway, since we are going to be away on the 14th itself, I don’t expect to be making these for the boyfriend in the morning. It’s okay though, after I made these yesterday R. scoffed five in one sitting. He said they were so good that he didn’t even want honey on them … he just had them plain with a smearing of butter. I had a couple of tubs of plain yoghurt in the fridge meant for another recipe but I forgot to use them, so I decided to make pancakes on the fly. For flavour interest I picked up two Mandarins and zested them for no planned reason other than they were just sitting there staring up at me.
Ingredients:
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
40 g melted butter
1 cup whole milk
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp natural Greek-style yoghurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest from one small orange
Anyone who has made pancakes before will know that this recipe is a no-brainer. For all you guys and gals out there who still rely on boxed pancake mix … throw that away and make these from scratch instead. I guarantee you’ll approve of both the texture and flavour here. Place flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Place milk in another bowl and add the butter to this. Heat for about forty seconds in the microwave to melt the butter, then pour this along with vanilla, egg, and yoghurt into the dry mixture. Now zest the orange and stir everything to combine. It is that simple.
Now to get your heart shapes you will need a metal heart shaped cookie cutter or a pastry ring of the same shape. Dip the ring into melted butter to grease the sides. Place the ring flat onto a hot griddle or pan and wait for it to heat up before you add the batter. Pour batter into the ring and wait for the bottom to set. When the batter starts to bubble on the surface it is time to remove the ring. If you had buttered the ring enough and it had heated up sufficiently prior to you adding the batter, then it should come off cleanly.
After sixty seconds flip in one fell swoop. Do not hesitate … show no fear. I recommend using an off set spatula for this job. Cook for another sixty seconds and it is done. Serve up with honey, strawberries, butter or whipped cream.
Pictures aren’t great today … but by golly did these turn out really scrumptious. So with this I wish you all a Happy Valentine’s day and have fun. I’ll be happily chowing down on schnitzel and apple strudel tomorrow … mmmm. I can’t wait.
~ Enjoy ~
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