Observations on Pancake Cookery

When I cook a certain food only five or six times a year, I am likely to forget whatever I learned on previous occasions. That used to be true in the case of pancakes but I am now likely to cook them several times a month and I have noticed a few things. I am surprised at how many notes are possible about the lowly pancake.

1. Elisa and I like a certain commercial mix (Maple Grove Farms Multigrain). I have noticed no significant difference between scratch and mix pancakes so long as you add a real egg, real milk, and oil to the mix.

2. We like blueberries in our pancakes. Our blueberries are usually in the frozen condition and must be thawed prior to adding them to the mix. Otherwise, they may cause the batter in the pancake to fail to cook completely. The most convenient way to thaw blueberries is to measure (about one cup for two people) them in a Pyrex measuring cup then thaw them in the measuring cup in the microwave. They should be completely thawed but not cooked.

3. I put a large nonstick skillet on the burner and preheat it while mixing the pancakes. On my electric stove I set the dial to six, a little hotter than medium.

4. I add the egg to the mixing bowl first and beat it with a wire whisk until it looks uniformly yellow. I next add the milk and the oil and mix them with the egg using the same whisk. The mix should be added next and stirred with the whisk until smooth. I add the blueberries last and stir them in gently.

5. The consistency of the batter is important. Heavy batter results in thick pancakes with incompletely cooked centers. I would rather get the batter too thin than too thick. If too thin, I can always call them crepes. The best way to measure the batter is to spoon it into a solid measure cup and scrape off the excess with the back of a dinner knife.

6. It is not necessary to add oil to a nonstick frying pan.

7. Because the frying pan has been preheated, the pancakes should set and cook quickly. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to transfer the batter to the pan. This makes three pancakes at a time.

8. When the pancakes are done I put them into an oven preheated to 170 F on individual plates until all are ready to serve. I have not found that this noticeably reduces the quality of the final product.