You have no idea how many pancakes there are in the world. Buckwheat, tamales, buttermilk, griddle cakes and silver dollars are only a few. My personal favorite are French pancakes. Crepes are very similar to these because they’re full of egg and with such a silky smooth batter, they lay out very thin, but these are slightly thicker. The recipe is so easy, I made them from the 1950 Rumford cookbook as a first-timer in the kitchen by myself. It’s awesome to make something for the first time by yourself! These make roughly 8 small pancakes.
The trick is to make sure you have sifted everything as finely as you can. Most flours come sifted in the bag. Less clumps means thinner batter. I’ve tried using almond milk once when we ran out of milk. It was loaded with almond flavor. What would happen with chocolate milk? I’m not so sure about that one because eggs and milk are the first things I usually taste here. Chocolate Reese’s eggs are one thing. Chocolate with eggs in the same mouthful is another.
Once the butter is melted in and the egg is mixed in with the milk, you can leisurely stir the liquid in with the dry. Better Home and Garden recommends making a crater in your dry bowl and pouring your wets inside, pulling and pushing everything together into one smooth blend. Lumps and bumps of flour in your pancakes will taste powdery and dry. If you want to deviate from recipe and add a few pinches of herbs like tarragon, rosemary, basil or mint go for it! Chocolate chips and fruit pieces are best saved for thicker cake-like recipes without the eggs.
The surface you pour it on will matter too, how you want to have them look at the end depends how they form here. If you want, this is where people usually put the batter in a squeeze bottle and make pictures out of it. Don’t try to pour it into letters, or try to make lines without the bottle. It makes a round blob every time, especially if you try to pour it slowly. Just wait for the bubbles and a firmness to the edges before you flip.
It’s really romantic to write your lover’s name in pancakes. What about “Happy Mothers’ Day”, “Good luck”, or “Congrats”. It’s a very nice personal touch. As for dressing the pancakes, usually that comes with food coloring, fruit, whipped cream and syrups. Lauren did a pancake tower covered in fruit slices and maple syrup once for me as a treat. It was so delicious, I ate it without taking the photo. SORRY!
This is what you can do with colored pancake batter and a million practice batters: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCa0BnCIDBGzmw4daUGZ0yg
Maybe we’re not ready for THAT yet. But either way, these pancakes are a keeper even after almost 70 years.