Two-berry pancakes

At the risk of being accused as a liar, I will admit publicly right here and now that this is the first time I've ever made pancakes in my whole life! For some of you, this might be unimaginable, but pancakes (or hotcakes, for that matter) are not really a breakfast staple where I come from. I used to eat them quite a lot in Mexico though, but they were made using a batter mix out of a pack and tasted more of baking powder than anything else.
The plan to venture into pancakes has been in the back of my mind for a while, but I found it hard to give up any of the other components of our usual weekend breakfasts (a savoury egg dish, fresh fruit, freshly made jam with brioche or croissants) for a sweet finish. I'd even bought all the ingredients a couple of times, only to find that when it got to getting up from the breakfast table I was just always too comfortable in my chair to bother.
After reading Bill Granger's fabulous recipe book "Sydney Food", I was in a serious mood for trying them out. He's just fantastic with breakfast and brunches, the pictures are mouth-watering and I can even get over the fact that he's not using metric measurements!
For these pancakes I did not end up using his recipe though, as my store had run out of ricotta, so I dug out an old recipe for buttermilk pancakes. My greengrocer had fresh blueberries and I topped them with some strawberries which are in season here in England - they weren't bad for a first attempt, I think, although they turned too dark, will be more careful with the temperature next time. But definitely worth making again, with all the seasonal fruit coming up now, the apricots, currants, raspberries, even savoury recipes - pancake world, here I come!

Two-berry pancakes
(serves 6)

250 g flour
1½ baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
pinch cinnamon
50 g sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
284 ml buttermilk, fat free
25 g butter (melted)
150 ml cold water
250 g blueberries
butter for frying
200 g strawberries - to serve

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar and bicarbonate of soda in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, buttermilk and butter, mix well, then gradually add the water until you have a dough which can easily be ladled into a frying pan, but will keep its shape there - about the consistency of thick double cream. Carefully fold in the blueberries, trying not to damage their skins too much.
Melt a bit of butter in a frying pan, ladle in the batter in batches to form pancakes of about 10 cm diameter. When the bottom starts to brown and the top begins to set, flip the pancakes over carefully and continue to cook for another 2 or three minutes. Make sure to cook them over a medium heat so to avoid that the outside burns before they are cooked through.
Arrange the strawberries on top, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Comments

[isabelle]

hello!

after reading your post and link to amazon, i'm intrigued by this bill granger guy, and am thinking of ordering his book. since i can't find the book here in paris, do you have other recipes on your blog by him that i can look at before buying?

by the way, your blog is terrific!

[johanna]

there's a chorizo, tomato and cheese omelette under "brunch" - and I'll certainly be cooking more of his recipes soon! i can only recommend ordering it from amazon.co.uk and have it delivered - i found bill's sydney food to be his best! and thanks for the compliment, isabelle... glad you enjoy the blog!