Why you are cooking this tonight
The buttermilk pancake is the Saturday morning breakfast that the supermarket-packet mix has been trying to replicate for decades and cannot. The real one takes ten minutes, uses seven ingredients you already have, and comes out so airy you can see through it.
The trick is bicarb plus buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk activates the bicarb and the batter fizzes as soon as you mix it. You have to cook it straight away. Do not overmix: lumps are fine, gluten development is the enemy of a fluffy pancake.
Notes on method
Real buttermilk is in the fridge section next to the cream. If you cannot find it, stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 250ml milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. Medium-low heat, lid on for the last minute of the first side.
What to pour with it
Good black coffee with it. For a lazy Sunday with maple syrup and fried chicken, a cold Espresso Martini is the extravagance move.
The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Whisk flour, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- In a jug, whisk eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla.
- Pour wet into dry. Fold just until combined - lumps are fine. Rest 5 minutes.
- Heat a heavy frypan over medium-low. Rub with a little butter.
- Ladle 80ml batter per pancake. Cook 2-3 minutes until the top is covered in bubbles and the edges look dry. Flip, cook another 90 seconds.
- Keep warm on a plate under a tea towel while you cook the rest.
- Serve stacked with butter, maple syrup, yoghurt and berries.