Mellowed pancakes or crepes with Bio-Oz Buckwheat Flour
Thank you Dennis for sending in this interesting technique for making Buckwheat Pancakes I'll be sure to try this when next treating myself!
A few words from Dennis...
I have used buckwheat for about three decades mainly for pancakes. This is about technique rather than recipe.
It can soften the buckwheat flavour to add rice flour and if not avoiding gluten, wheat flour. Pancakes based on wheat flour are in my view rubbish without some buckwheat.
Buckwheat pancakes will always be better if the batter is made the day before and left covered on the bench at room temperature. A little fermentation is good for the mix. Instead of sugar mash a banana and beat that into the mix. Overnight will add to the fermentation.
When you go to this batter next day, the buckwheat will have absorbed a lot of moisture, opened and softened. Add milk to consistency for crepe or thicker pancake.
Mellowed pancakes or crepes
Mix eggs into buckwheat flour, with some rice flour and/or (if tolerant) wheat flour. The balance of flours to personal taste; the other flours will lighten the flavour of buckwheat, the buckwheat makes any other pancake taste ridiculously dull.
Put one egg per person in a bowl, then bit by bit enough flour to make an impossibly stiff but smooth batter (the more you adjust this, the more batter you have, the more pancakes). Add a teaspoon of baking powder. Mash and stir into the batter one banana, more for a bigger batch. Then add milk (low-fat milk makes a lighter pancake) bit by bit to achieve a light batter.
Buckwheat takes time to absorb moisture. Leave this mix covered at least overnight. There might be a slight fermentation depending on how long you leave it.
The batter will be much stiffer after this period of rest, the buckwheat will have softened as it absorbs moisture. Add milk, again bit by bit, to achieve a pancake mix, or with more milk, a batter for thin crepes. Add this gently as it changes consistency quickly.
The batter needs to be at room temperature to cook well. Dropping cold batter into a pan drops the pan temperature and spoils results.
THE PAN
Your pan must have been seasoned in advance. Heat to high temperature a smearing quantity of ordinary vegetable oil, then discard this oil and allow the residual oil to dry into a tight coat in the pan. Never use a just-washed pan.
When ready to cook the pancakes, warm plates.
Heat the pan on gas or electric element that heats the whole pan. When the pan is hot, add a significant lump of butter, swirl it around and pour off into a cup beside the stove. You don’t want a lot of butter or oil in with the pancake. You do want to monitor the heat all the time in this process. Fast enough to cook easily, slow mean tough, as is always the first pancake... but not so fast as to blacken the pancake.
Now pour in some of your batter, to see how it spreads and consider adjusting the batter.
The first pancake is never of a quality to share, that’s your explanation of why it is reserved for the cook, to test and for continuing cook-energy. You will now know from that item whether you are making pancakes or crepes.
For each pancake, tip in butter, swirl and drain off into the alongside cup. There will be smoke, move quickly. This process also tells you how hot the pan is, whether to adjust the stove.
If making pancakes, consider this option: Onto one hot plate lay first pancake, then spread warm stewed apples (or blue- or strawberries) and some yoghurt. Continue with layers as desired onto that one plate. Then cut into four or six portions as if it’s a cake.
If making crepes, fold twice on removal from pan and begin artfully arranging around a warm plate, lots of overlapping of the quarter circles. You can add a little butter now, but don’t add maple syrup until ready to serve. When buying maple syrup, read the label carefully. There are more fake maple syrups on sale than the real thing.
Consider serving with blueberries and bacon cooked to circuit board crunchy consistency, along with the maple syrup.
If you have batter left over, use this as a base for next day’s batter. This becomes a sourdough process, you may need to keep it covered in fridge, use own judgement. Warm to room temperature before cooking.
ENJOY!