Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes

These are my new favourites things - chocolate buttermilk pancakes.

I have been wracking my brains to think of a lively anecdote to relate about them. But I've got nothing. No mishaps, no funny stories, no great revelations. Nada. I just like them. A lot. A whole lot. A whole big lot.

They have a texture that is lovely and soft and tender and almost cake like. And they are intensely chocolatey. They have no added sugar and, as well as the cocoa, I usually add some finely grated chocolate.

On their own they are a touch on the bitter side I guess. I rely on toppings to bring the sweetness. Here I used a gorgeously rich raspberry sauce and whipped cream. Other times I have served them with an orange sauce, roasted orange slices and whipped cream. Absolutely droolworthy.

If you really want sweet pancakes a few tablespoons of castor sugar can be added into the pancake batter with no ill effects.

So there you have it. Yum.


Buttermilk Pancakes
(adapted from Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander)

Beat 3 egg yolks (with a few tbspns of sugar if sweetness is required) and whisk in 2 cups of buttermilk and 6ogm of melted butter. Sift over 250gm of plain flour, 50gm of cocoa, 1 tspn salt and 1 tspn of bicarbonate soda and fold in gently.

Whisk 3 egg whites to soft peaks and fold in. Pour 1/4 cup batter into lightly greased heavy pan. Cook until bubbles form and flip. Continue until the pancake is cooked through. Serve warm.