What we have depends entirely on how organised I have been during the week, but this past weekend it was pancakes. The great thing with pancakes is that generally you always have the ingredients in your pantry and your fridge and they are easy to make, besides, who doesn’t love pancakes?!!
Since moving to Canada I have realised how popular pancakes are. I’m not talking about the lovely lacy French crepes that I used to make served with a sprinkle of sugar and squeeze of lemon juice, but rather a full-on American sized stack of thick, fluffy pancakes, piled high and adorned with a little bit of butter and lots of maple syrup to cascade down the sides. They never go wrong and I have yet to meet someone who isn’t delighted to tuck into some freshly made pancakes.
I was going to save this recipe for later in December and call them my “Christmas pancakes” but I couldn’t wait, besides I have a feeling I will have a lot of “Christmas something or other” recipes since I am a huge fan of Christmas and the lead up to it! I love pomegranates and for me they are definitely a sign that Christmas is on the way since they are only in season over the winter months. I know a lot of people are put off pomegranates since they think it is too much work to deseed them, however I actually find it very therapeutic picking through the seeds, like I have found a treasure-trove full of bright, glistening rubies. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you can always cut the fruit in half, then holding one half over a bowl smack it with a rolling pin or similar device until all the seeds have fallen out! My only word of advice is not to wear white, unless you want to look like something out of a horror movie!
The pancakes turned out better than I expected. The seeds give a lovely freshness to the pancakes, and burst with little explosions of juice as you crunch into them, and the orange zest gives a lovely refreshing lightness and ‘zing’ to them.
I served them with plenty of warm maple syrup and some rashers of crispy, streaky bacon. Sitting at the table devouring our pancakes and drinking delicious, frothy cappuccinos it was the perfect start to a lazy and relaxed weekend. I would definitely recommend trying these out while pomegranates are in season and as for me, I think they might just make an appearance on Christmas morning, making them definite Christmas pancakes!!
Pomegranate and orange “Christmas” pancakes
Makes approx. 16 pancakes
7 ½ oz/ 1 ½ cups/ 210g all-purpose or plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
400ml Milk
2 eggs
3 tbsp melted butter
Zest of 1 orange
Seeds of one ripe pomegranate
To serve:
Lots of warm or room temperature maple syrup
Streaky bacon, cooked to your liking
In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl or jug combine the milk, eggs, melted butter and orange zest. Whisk well then add to the dry ingredients. Mix everything together then add the seeds of the pomegranate.
Drizzle a little extra butter into a hot griddle or frying pan then ladle some of the mixture onto your cooking surface, leaving room for them to spread. Cook for roughly 2-3 minutes until you have lots of small bubbles on the surface then flip the pancakes and cook for roughly another 30 seconds until they are golden. Keep the cooked pancakes warm until you have made them all, then serve with maple syrup and bacon.
*For normal American style pancakes make the mixture as above simply missing out the orange zest and pomegranate seeds.
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