I was sat looking out at our snowy gardenwhen pondering what to
share with you this month. I think for most of us, snow creates
conflicting emotions - the child in us wants to get out and play,
whilst the grown-up trying to get to work wants to bunker down with
a warming drink and dream of sunny summer days. For me, this
flavour combination is both a wintery hug and a promise of brighter
things to come.....
The honey and lemon is like a warming drink to combat chills,
whilst the zingy zest and fragrant thyme make me think of bright
sunshine and blue skies. Since Shrove Tuesday is not far away and
lemon is a classic partner to pancakes, I thought I'd share this
recipe for a slightly different pancake desert. The recipe makes
easily enough for six stacks with spare for testing the cooking
time. If you have a griddle on your Rangemaster then it's perfect
for these scotch pancakes, though a cast iron or 'very non-stick'
frying pan will do fine. You shouldn't need any lubrication, but if
you're worried about it then a little spray oil or a knob of butter
will help things along.
I've already started thinking of variations and plan to make my
next batch of these with orange zest and a rosemary syrup - so have
a play and let me know what you come up with.You can contact me and
read more tales of kitchen triumph and disaster at: Tales of Pigling
Bland
Honey, Lemon and Thyme scotch
pancake stacks
90g rye flour[I like the texture and flavour of the rye but you
don't have to use it]
100g plain flour
30g melted butter
¾ tbs baking powder
pinch of salt
1tsp lemon essence
1 egg
2 tbsp honey [I happened to have thyme honey, but normal
runny honey is fine]
zest of 4 lemons and the juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp chopped thyme
450 g pot of yoghurt [I used low fat Greek yoghurt but
any would work]
90ml water
3tbsp soft brown sugar
5tbsp water
You can make the syrup, zesty yoghurt and batter mixture in
advance. Infact, it would be fine to cook the pancakes before the
start of the meal if you want to serve them cold but I'd advise
against making them much further ahead as they will go a bit
stodgy. Personally I like the contrast of the warm pancakes and
syrup with cold yoghurt.
For the pancakes:
In a bowl, or large measuring jug, mix together the flour, zest,
2tspthyme, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the butter, lemon essence, zest of two lemons,
egg, 1 tbsphoney, 295g yoghurt and 90ml water.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and whisk lightly until
combined.
Heat the griddle or frying pan up really hot and then turn the
heat down to medium. You need it hot enough to brown the pancakes
but not burn them before the centre is cooked. It took me about
five test pancakes to get this right, but you might be more skilled
than me!
Dollop 1 tbsp batter per pancake onto the griddle and persuade
them into circles of about 5cm diameter.
Cook the pancakes for a minute or two until you see the edges
starting to set and then carefully turn over and cook the other
side. They should be gently browned on each side and cooked in the
middle. It depends very much on your hob and griddle / frying
pan so you'll just need to experiment to get the cooking time
right.
Keep the pancakes warm in the oven while you cook the remaining
batter.
For the syrup:
Put 3tbsp soft brown sugar, 5 tbsp water, juice of 1 lemon, 1tsp
thyme and 1 tbsp honey in a heavy bottomed pan and simmer slowly
until it thickens into a syrup. Be careful not to let it boil and
burn. If it's not looking syrup-y enough, then feel free to add
some more sugar.
To serve:
Mix the remaining 155g yoghurt with the zest of a lemon and
spread a little between each pancake as you stack them. Drizzle
with a little of the syrup and top with a sprig of thyme and a
shaving of lemon rind.
