Buttermilk Pancakes

I love pancakes. There is something about them that speaks to me and sweetly sings my name.

I don't think mama t ever made us homemade pancakes growing up. Instead, I got my pancake fix from McDonalds-- Hotcakes Happy Meal! Every so often on our way home from Saturday morning practice, Papa t would swing by the drive-thru window and I'd order myself some pancakes! Before you Americans start to pull a face and look down on my McDonald eating habits, let me declare that McDonalds is different in every country. The hotcakes or pancakes from the Singapore's Mickey Dees were delicious. They were fluffy without being too cake like and the syrup was just perfect. I couldn't get enough of them. However, looking back I suspect that I liked their pancakes simply because they were the pancakes I grew up eating. Nothing more nothing less.

Pancakes also remind me of my high school boyfriend. He loved pancakes and I think we spent the entire summer of 08 eating pancakes, among all the other random things that kids in love did. What I remember most was the way he would slice his entire stack and douse it in syrup before he started eating. Me? I didn't and still don't like my pancakes drowned in syrup, it interferes with the textural integrity of the pancakes. Furthermore, I like to cut my pancake bites individually, slicing and eating as I go along.

In keeping with yesterday's theme of pancakes, I thought I would share my fail proof pancakes for 1 recipe. Being a single lady, recipes are sometimes difficult because majority of recipes serve 4 or worst, 6. Sometimes its easy to half or quarter the recipe and then other times it means eating left overs for days.

This particular recipe is from the book The Pleasure is All Mine by Suzanne Pirret and makes 3-4 pancakes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 lemon

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Stir or sift (if you aren't being lazy like I usually am) together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and a pinch of salt.

2. In another bowl, pour the milk and squeeze in juice from the lemon (to make fresh buttermilk but if you keep buttermilk on hand, by all means, go ahead and use it). Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.

3. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until the lumps are gone. Go gentle here.

4. In one last bowl, whisk the egg white until soft peaks form. Very gently fold into the batter. Be careful to not over mix the batter or pancakes will turn out like a Frisbee.

5. Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a frying pan. When it is bubbly, pour in some batter. When pancakes begin to bubble, flip and cook for another minute or two.

6. Serve it up traditional style with warm maple syrup. I usually eat my pancakes with a mix of blueberry compote and blood orange syrup.

Other pancake suggestions:

1. Fresh corn! Yes I know this sounds weird but add some fresh corn kernels to your batter and prepare to be wow-ed! Serve your corn pancakes with a side of maple bacon and you've got yourself a mouth-watering breakfast.
2. Add frozen or fresh blueberries when you first ladle your batter into the pan.

2. In winter months, grate a peeled apple into the batter and add a good dash of cinnamon before frying.

Anyone else with other pancakes suggestions that I should try out?