| 1 | Put a frying pan on a low to medium heat and melt the butter. |
| 2 | Whilst the butter is melting, measure the flour and sift into a large mixing bowl. |
| 3 | Add the salt, sugar and baking powder. |
| 4 | Measure the milk in a measuring jug. |
| 5 | Separate the eggs and place the whites in a cup, adding the yolks to the milk. |
| 6 | Add the melted butter from the frying pan. |
| 7 | Remove as much from the pan as you can, but don"t be too particular. |
| 8 | The remaining butter in the frying pan will be used to cook the pancakes in. i use a rubber spatula to get most of it off the pan. |
| 9 | Leave the ring on, but don"t put the pan back on it. |
| 10 | (i have an electric cooker which takes a long time to heat up). |
| 11 | In this way you can start cooking the pancakes as soon as the batter is ready. |
| 12 | When the butter has coagulated, add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix them up. |
| 13 | I use a metal spoon. |
| 14 | It is at this stage you can judge whether the mixture has the right consistency. |
| 15 | Wash the measuring jug and dry it thoroughly. |
| 16 | Pour the egg whites into it and whisk with an electric hand-held whisk. |
| 17 | I whisk them until they are quite hard. |
| 18 | (if there are lumps in the batter, you can user the whisk to get rid of them). |
| 19 | Using the spatula (from the butter, right?), transfer all the egg whites into the big bowl. |
| 20 | Fold the egg whites into the batter with the metal spoon until they are all incorporated. |
| 21 | The batter is now ready. |
| 22 | Put the frying pan back on the heat and wait until it is to a reasonable temperature. |
| 23 | I can"t be more specific because it depends on your cooker and the frying pan that you are using. |
| 24 | Make the pancakes one at a time, turning them over when the underside is cooked. |
| 25 | Eat immediately with butter and maple syrup. |
| 26 | Notes: * light and fluffy breakfast pancakes -- the formula comes from "the joy of cooking" by irma s. |
| 27 | Rombauer and marion rombauer becker. |
| 28 | I bought the book when i was visiting california a few years back. |
| 29 | The pancakes are to my liking, but my wife has had to endure vast quantities of failures before i got the right technique. |
| 30 | These pancakes are amazing for their stupefying ability. |
| 31 | No more than three can be eaten in one day. |
| 32 | A slow and painful death will result from exceeding these guidelines. |
| 33 | Yield: 8-10 6-inch pancakes. |
| 34 | * the order that i do things is the result of much experimentation. |
| 35 | I have a creda cavalier and use a fissler german-made corrugated-bottom frying pan. |
| 36 | With this combination i set the ring to 2.75-3.0. |
| 37 | One way to test is to place a small dollop of batter in the frying pan. |
| 38 | It should take about 1-2 minutes to brown. |
| 39 | As the underside is browning, bubbles should be forming on the top surface. |
| 40 | The consistency of the batter and the temperature of cooking are correct when the bubbles fail to burst when the underside is fully cooked. |
| 41 | * now that i know what i"m doing, they"re easy, but i had a awful lot of failures to start with. |
| 42 | Don"t expect success the first time. |
| 43 | You won"t be disappointed. |
| 44 | The effort is worth it in the long run. |
| 45 | What is important is to get the moisture content of the batter correct. |
| 46 | If it is too sloppy; then the pancakes will be flat and stodgy. |
| 47 | If the batter is too dry; then the pancakes will burn before they are cooked. |
| 48 | : difficulty: moderate until you learn the technique. |
| 49 | : time: 30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking. |
| 50 | : precision: measure the ingredients. |
