For the love of pancakes

My favourite food hasn’t changed since I went vegan. Or since I was a small kid, for that matter. I’ve always been ridiculously fond of pancakes. While it might not be the most wholesome food in the Universe, I still like it so much I gladly eat it several times a week if my flat-mate doesn’t stop me. I’ve tried quite a few pancake recipes since I went vegan, but this one is my favourite. It holds together nicely if you’ve got a cast iron pan and a bit of pancake-flipping skills. (If you don’t, go get a cast iron pan because they’re bloody fantastic, and go practise your pancake-flipping skills. I assure you that you will level up in the process.) Plus, the ingredient list is simple and minimalistic, no fancy egg-replacers or such things needed.

The recipe in question is from Vegania (in Swedish), so I take no credit whatsoever for it, but for your delight I have here translated it into Enlish.

Pancakes

• 3.5 dl flour
• 6 dl non-dairy milk
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil

Mix everything together, making sure to eliminate all lumps. A tip is to start out with about half of the milk and whisk in the flour little by little, only adding the remaining ingredients once the batter is smooth. Pre-heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat for about ten minutes while letting the batter rest in the fridge. Coat the pan with a thin layer of rapeseed oil, then pour in a bit of batter and tilt the pan to spread it out evenly. Fry until the pancake is brown around the edges, making sure it holds together, then use a thin spatula to flip it and fry until the under-side as well is golden brown. Repeat until batter runs out. The recipe should make about ten thin pancakes, depending on how big your frying pan is.

Remember that practise makes perfect when it comes to flipping pancakes! I’ve only perfected my technique through years of experience, so do not despair if they turn out more scrambled than flat the first time. Just have patience and try again, and you as well will master the subtle art of pancake-making.

One reason I like pancakes so much is their versatility. You can stuff them with things, put (vegan) cheese on top, shove them into the oven and make crèpes. You can pile them on top of each other, coat them with (vegan) cream and make a pancake-cake (the concept is called pannkakstårta in Swedish, but in English it just sounds riddiculous. damn tasty, though). You can put jam or ice-cream or syrup or fruit or just about anything on top of them. You can roll them up and take them with you on excursions. You can eat them for breakfast or for lunch or for dinner or as a midnight snack. You can put interesting things in the batter and see how it turns out. Today I made pumpkin-pancakes, just because it seemed like a good idea (turns out it was). Gingerbread-spices was also a hit. So was mashed bananas and coconut. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave the other possibilities to your imagination.

How do you like your pancakes? (I assume, of course, that you do like pancakes, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have read this far.)

Love and pancakes,

Winterdragon