Pancakes or crêpes for breakfast with lemon and cinammon sugar

Pancakes or crepes for breakfast

This morning, as my aunt Sylvia and I woke up in my mum's house and shuffled around in our pyjamas, we didn't feel much like venturing out the house, but we did feel like the ultimate comfort food for breakfast - pancakes or crêpes. Although my husband and I celebrated our anniversary today - this morning I woke up at my mum's house, having spent the night there, with my aunt, Sylvia. We'd had ourselves a girls'evening, but one with a twist in that my mum has lately been told it is time to wrap up her affairs on earth. So we don't know if we'll ever have another such evening with the three of us together. 

We had the best time; Sylvia's twelve years younger than mum and so mum's been a central figure in both of our lives, and Syl's been in her own way almost like an older sister to me. Sylvia was saying to mum how much she's enriched her life, and how often can you say that of anyone? That you enriched their life. Now that's a legacy for you. Mum's decided against a funeral, instead, we are planning a right royal old send-off for her, while she's still alive. So we cried a lot, and laughed even more. 

But this morning, it was time to eat, and pancakes were on the menu. I love this recipe because it is a 1:1:1 one.

Pancake or Crêpe Recipe 

1 cup flour (125 grams)

1 cup milk (250 ml)

1 egg 

Optional: half a capful of brandy or whiskey (have no clue why this should work, but it does).

The above recipe makes between five and eight small, thin crêpes. For more, double or triple the recipe. We had a few hungry adults on our hands, what with cousins popping in to visit, so made treble the recipe, and it worked just fine, though it can get to be a bit heavy on the hands if you rely on hand-mixing.

First off, separate egg yolk and white. The usual way (either with an egg separator or hoiking the yolk out of the egg the Nigella Lawson way). 

Next, beat the egg whites up, since you will add them at the end to the mixture. It is by this means that you bring bubbles into the mixture, as shown. This is one of the occasions when the bubbles are generated purely by mechanical means (that is, by whipping up the egg whites) and not by chemical (such as the addition of agents such as baking powder). That is, all your leavening is provided by this means alone, so it is important to get this right:

The pancake or crepe is leavened with beaten-up egg whites

Next, mix up the milk, egg yolks and flour.

Now, I'm afraid to say I've been very spoiled by power tools in the kitchen. Largely courtesy of my mum and her Kenwood mixer, and I now boast one of my very own, but you see mum's in the picture below: 

My mother's 50-year old Kenwood 

Anyhow, after fifty years of use, it seems the motor is a little worn, which I did not realise (but how amazing that it has lasted that long - and no, I have no commercial relationship with Kenwood in any shape or form, I just love the engineering behind their machines and fully endorse them for no good reason than that I love using them since their motors are fantastic and they have so few movable parts that well - they work. For almost ever). So, while it managed whipping up the egg whites, it proved inadequate for the job of mixing the flour and the milk up. Given that I was lazy, I didn't sieve the flour in the beginning either. 

Epic Fail, as my middle child would put it.

I blame it on the pyjamas. 

Result: one mixture full of fat lumps of flour. Horrid. 

When you have lumps in your pancake or crepe mixture, the only solution is sieving them out

Solution: The only thing to do in these circumstances it to sieve the mixture into another bowl to ensure you press out all the horrid little flour lumps. In the picture above, you can see the whipped-up egg whites in the background and then a bowl with the newly sieved mixture in the foreground. It's a bit of a pain, and creates a lot of unnecessary washing-up of bowls and utensils, but sometimes in life, the ability to recover from a mistake is more important than making the mistake in the first place.

Once the beaten-up egg whites were added to the newly de-lumped mixture, it looked like this:

The final pancake or crepe mixture, lump-free and full of lovely light bubbles

Now, let the mixture rest for twenty minutes. That way the pancakes are not tough, but light and tender. I think it has to do with the flour cells bursting. All I know is, wait and it works. 

Lightly grease pan, and know, just know that your first pancake will be another epic fail. It's just the way it works. Why am I showing it to you? Simply because, my grandmother always fed the first pancake to the dogs, and they were happy and we were all happy and that's just the way baking works and then you go out and watch TV programs and everything is edited and perfect and you wonder why you have such an imperfect life and - you know what? Those who do it every day know the first one just never really works - but it's still perfectly edible. So make it, eat it and relax, the next will be better (the pan needs to heat up, the butter needs to bubble, and you need to learn how to flip the pancake over properly)

The first pancake or crepe never really works 

My grandfather always said of my grandmother's baking that he loved her failures, since those were the only ones he got to eat (the rest went to competitions such as the Royal Show) and the like. They made sixty years together:

My grandfather loved my grandmother's baking failures

Anyhow, by the time you make the next pancake, it should be almost perfect. However, at this stage, do bear in mind that the mixture should be thin. You can add water or milk. Water will keep the pancake a more creamy colour, milk should help it go more brown, or that's what my husband says and this is his recipe after all. You do want thin pancakes, but only add water after the twenty minutes is up. So then you should get this:

Getting to the perfect pancake or crepe

And then this:

A pancake or crepe rolled up

Serve with cinnamon sugar, and drizzle a bit of freshly squeezed lemon over the rolled up pancake. 

Even my cousin Janet was happy with the results:

Pancakes are perfect for breakfast

Happy eating!

As my aunt would say, who changed out of her pyjamas so we could take a picture of the process but couldn't help herself from hamming it up anyway, Voila!