Pancake Tuesday!

Seeing as it's Shrove Tuesday and as a result I've decided to share the recipe I use for pancakes. I'm wheat and dairy intolerant, so I have to use special ingredients for most of the things I make. And contrary to popular belief, they don't taste all that bad!

The flour that I normally use is completely gluten-free, so it's suitable for people with coeliac disease. You can buy it at Dischem; it's the Cake Flour mixture from the Nature's Choice range. It's possible that you might be able to find it at health stores as well.

Depending on how "rich" you want your pancakes to be, you can use either water or milk for mixture, or use 1/2 water and 1/2 milk. For dairy-free milk, I like to use rice milk (I'm not crazy about the taste of soya). You can buy rice milk at Woolworths or Pick n Pay, or buy the milk powder at any health store. If you do buy the powder, mix it into milk first before beginning with the recipe.

I haven't made any pancakes today, simply because I'm too lazy, so I've no pictures to share. But the cold weather's coming along soon, which is perfect pancake weather, and when I make some again I'll put some photos up.



Wheat-free & Dairy-free Pancakes

- Half a cup (125ml) of flour
- 180ml liquid (water/milk)
- 1 egg
- 50ml olive oil
- A pinch of salt
- 5ml baking powder

If you're like me, you probably have specific music that you like baking or cooking to. I even like to put specific movies on; I can basically recite all the words to "Becoming Jane" or "The Jane Austen Book Club" because I usually like to put it on when baking. Food, after all, is supposed to be fun. Just don't get distract, or burn the kitchen down. If you live with other people, they won't be pleased.

So let the fun begin!

Sift the flour into a bowl and add salt and baking powder. Mix the eggs and oil in a seperate bowl with a whisk. Add half of the liquid to the eggs and oil and mix again. Fold the flour in with the eggs, mix, add the rest of the liquid and then mix well. Refrigerating the batter for a while (approximately 30 mins or more) achieves the best results. Just remember to mix it well with a whisk before using.

Put the stove plate on a high setting until it's well heated. Put the pan on the plate for a minute or two until its suitably hot and then turn the plate down one notch. Add a bit of oil or butter to the pan before adding the batter; this is only necessary for the first pancake of a batch.

Use a ladle or measuring cup to pour a 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan; pour quickly. When the pancake turns a light brown on the underside, use a long handled spatula to quickly flip it around. (I always botch this part up, but apparently the action is all in the wrist.)

Keep your toppings handy so that you can eat your pancakes while they are still hot and delicious. They taste great with maple syrup, golden syrup, cinnamon sugar or whatever you prefer to use on them.

The mix will serve up to five or six pancakes if you're using a pan of approximately 14cm in diameter as I do. If you want double the amount of pancakes, or if you're using a larger pan, simply double the ingredients.

Most important of all... enjoy!