Pancake Saturday

Yes, yes I know. It's supposed to be Pancake Tuesday. I planned a pancake Tuesday. I had all the ingredients, invitations and everything set for a Pancake Tuesday. The best of intentions and all that.

But then something came up and Pancake Tuesday became a Pancake Wednesday.

And the something else came up and Pancake Wednesday became a Pancake Thursday.

And...... well you get the drift. Hello Pancake Saturday!!!

In the best of traditions, I made enough pancakes to feed an army.

To start off I made these potato pancakes with bacon and cheese. I served these with a simple light salad.

To make them, I pour out the pancake batter. Then I sprinkle over some crisped bacon and grated cheese on the uncooked side just before I flip them over. I cook them at a higher than usual heat for pancakes so that the cheese forms a nice crispy crust. While I didn't add them this time, a sprinkling of chopped chives through the batter is also nice.

If you are feeling really indulgent, a little dollop of sour cream or whipped butter can also be added.

The second course was these - honeycomb pancakes.


The secret to these pancakes is the butter - whipped up with some condensed milk and chocolate honeyomb.


Slices are then left to melt over the top of the hot pancakes.

As you would expect, everyone pretty much rolled out the door. It was fun though.

Potato Pancakes with Bacon and Cheese

Combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tspn of white vinegar and leave for a few minutes.

Sift 1/2 cup of self raising flour and 1 tspn of bicarbonate soda into a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of cold mashed potato, 2 eggs and the milk mixture. Stir together until well combined. (Some finely chopped chives can also be added here.)

Add 30gm of melted butter and fold in.

Pour 1/4 cup batter into a hot greased pan. Once bubbles start to appear in the batter sprinkle over some diced cooked bacon and some grated cheese (cheddar, mozarella or any melty cheese in good). Flip the pancake. Continue until the pancake is cooked through and the cheese has crisped.

Keep going with the rest of the batter.

Honeycomb Pancakes
(adapted from Australian Good Taste Magazine August 2000)

Beat together 250gm of softened butter and 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk. Stir in 35gm of finely chopped chocolate honeycomb (eg. Violet Crumble for Australians). Form into a log and refrigerate until firm.

Sift 1 1/2 cups of self raising flour and 1/2 tspn of bicarbonate soda into a bowl. Add 2 egg yolks, 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk, 1 tspn vanilla extract and 3/4 cup water. Mix until smooth. Stir in 150gm of ricotta cheese. Ensure that the mixture is not too thick - it should flow easily. Otherwise the pancakes will be too dense and heavy.

Fold in 2 stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter into greased pan. When bubbles appear flip over and continue until they are cooked through.

Slice honeycomb butter and place on top of hot pancakes to serve.