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Breakfast

Pancakes, From Hell to Breakfast

February 6, 2018 by hannahabaffy 15 Comments

The Pancake Defined

Pancakes, surprisingly enough, are one of the oldest foods known to man. So old in fact that the lines of what a pancake actually is are blurred. We find people lumping pancakes into the same category as flatbreads and even waffles. Without rules there is chaos! So let us start by defining the pancake. To the untrained eye, a pancake may share a certain affinity with the flat pita bread, or a corn tortilla, but they are decidedly different things. A fundamental distinction must be made. According to Ken Albala, author of a book devoted to the subject, there is a certain set of criteria that must be met.

 

Pourability

Pancakes are proverbially flat. They are made from a batter thin enough to be poured, but never so thick that they must be shaped by either hand or machine. That would be the signifying mark of a flatbread. Shaped by gravity, pancakes are generally round, but are occasionally drizzled into lacey patterns or poured into molds; these are still deemed pancakes.

 

Leavening

Most pancakes are leavened. Today the most common way is through the use of chemical leaveners i.e. baking soda, or baking powder. However, the rising agent could be anything: yeast, carbonated water, beaten egg whites, even snow. While the mode of leavening is of no real consequence, the light and tender quality it gives a pancake is what we’re after, and remains one of the stamps of authenticity in a real pancake.

 

Grains

The range of ingredients combined to make a pancake plays no part in defining a pancake. Though wheat flour is common, barley, rice, corn, and buckwheat are all acceptable alternatives. No one grain holds exclusive dominion over the pancake. For it is not what goes into the bowl that makes the pancake but what comes out of the pan.

 

Pancakes Discovered

There was never any “first pancake”, nor was the pancake invented by any one person. Pancakes were a movement that evolved independently of particular societies. The pancake was one of the first cooked foods and as such one of the earliest signs of civilization.

Upon examination, the extremely well preserved archaeological sensation and media star from the Copper Age, Otzi the Iceman, was found to have eaten an einkorn cake along with ibex and red deer for his last meal, potentially dating pancakes back 5300 years. But did Otzi’s pancake meet our criteria? There are some things we will simply never know.

 

Pancakes Through the Ages

The jury still out on the Otzi cake, we are forced to jump forward in time to 900 AD. Here we find the first written documentation of pancakes in one of the earliest cookbooks ever compiled, Apicius. Named after the wealthy Roman merchant and famed epicure, the book describes something called “honeycakes” made from a batter of eggs, milk, water, and flour then seasoned with honey and pepper. Ancient Greece too had its pancake, very similar to the Roman variety, called tagenites or kreion. The Elizabethans enjoyed pancakes as well. Theirs was a heady concoction traditionally flavored with spices, rosewater, apples, and sherry. In short, pancakes have had no trouble establishing themselves in the hearts and the stomachs of practically every culture in one form or another.

 

 

The Pancake Bell

The forty days leading up to Easter are known in the Catholic church as Lent, a time of fasting and reflection to honor the forty days Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness. A tradition emerged the day before Lent known as “Shrove Tuesday” or “Fat Tuesday”. In an effort to use up all the ingredients in the house that would become untouchable the next day, practicing Catholics would make massive batches of pancakes. It was thought that on the day when all rejoiced alike in the forgiveness of their sins, all should feast alike as well. A bell was rung on the morning of Fat Tuesday reminding the people to come to the church to be forgiven, and came to be known as the “Pancake Bell”.

 

A Pancake by Every Other Name

The pancake was well represented in colonial America traveling under a slew of different names. There were Hoe Cakes and Hot Cakes, Johnny Cakes, Journey Cakes or was it Jonukin? Flips, Flaps, and Flop Jacks, Snow Cakes and Griddle Cakes, exhaustion sets in before the list reaches its conclusion. Though there were many names, most of them connoting a slightly different amalgam of ingredients, they were each effectively a pancake in the true sense of the word. In fact, America’s first cookbook: Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery, has not one but two different recipes for pancakes, traveling under the names of “Johnny Cakes” and “Indian Slapjack”.

Interested in a poem waxing eloquent on the virtues of our favorite breakfast food? Here’s a link to Henry Pickering’s ten-page masterpiece on just that.

Here’s a recipe for pancakes that travels perhaps rather unexcitingly under the simple name of Pancake. And though it may lack imagination in its title, it lacks for nothing in its taste.

 

 

 

“If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”

-Julia Child

 

The Humble Pancake

Served with Maple Cream and Fresh Fruit

Ingredients

For the Batter

1 ⅔ cups Whole Milk

1 Egg

2 ½ Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour

1 ½ teaspoons Sugar

1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Cinnamon

For the Maple Cream

½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

Instructions

For the Cakes

Preheat your skillet on med-high.

In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and whisk to combine, set aside.

In a second bowl combine all the wet ingredients (this includes the sugar). Using your same whisk mix the wet ingredients together until the egg is evenly dispersed throughout.

Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the dry, and stir together until just incorporated. You pancake batter should still be slightly lumpy.

Your skillet should be appropriately hot by this point. To grease the pan I like to put some vegetable oil on a folded paper towel, rubbing it over the surface. This prevents any sticking without things getting too greasy.

Using a large ladle, pour your pancake batter onto the hot skillet. The pancake is ready to be flipped when tiny bubbles have emerged all over the surface of the cake. Flip the jack, cooking it until both sides are golden brown, then repeat with the rest of the batter.

For the Cream

You can dress your pancakes with whatever you prefer. Most days I just stick to maple syrup, but sometimes, when I’m feeling decadent I add whipped cream and plenty of fresh fruit.

In a medium bowl add your cream, (straight from the fridge) maple syrup, and vanilla. You can use a hand-mixer or even a standing mixer for this but such a small quantity of cream can be whipped by hand quite easily. Whip until the cream holds soft-peaks than dollop at your discretion.

 

 

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About Me

Hi, I'm Hannah. Creator of Milk + Honey and long time curious eater. Join me as I explore the surprising history behind some of the world's most iconic dishes, and figure out the best ways to prepare them.

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With piles of historical evidence it would stand to reason that chocolate must be good for me, so I’m going to start making a regular habit of indulging in it. Each bite imbuing me with strength, vim, and vigor. Don’t stay a weakling all your life, join me in making these chocolate pot de creme today and start eating more chocolate.
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milkandhoneythebakery

"By their desserts will I judge them."
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Imagine it: A thick, creamy, salty layer of peanut Imagine it: A thick, creamy, salty layer of peanut butter sandwiched between a crunchy coating of toasted almonds and toffee and a sweet chewy base of dates and oats. Now drizzle that in dark chocolate, and you’ve got yourself these decadent raw chocolate, peanut butter almond bars. 

Vegan, refined-sugar free, and gluten-free, eating responsibly has never felt so indulgent. Get the recipe on the blog this week!
The superiority of chocolate, both for health and The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.
-Thomas Jefferson

While not necessarily for the health reasons stated, Jefferson’s prediction has certainly come to materialize, at least in my home.
A debate I had with my husband shortly after makin A debate I had with my husband shortly after making this honey-almond “snack cake”: As we sat around “snacking,” we began to discuss what the real difference was between Snack cakes and Snacking cakes. Banal, yet relevant in the moment. 

This arbitrary mystery resulted in a lot of opinions and by the end of it, several unanswered questions. 

So I put it to you, Instagram Family, what is the real difference between Snack cakes and Snacking cakes? Are the terms so similar as to be inconsequential, or do their comparabilities hide deeper differences? 

The perimeters (at least in my mind) are these: Leftover birthday cake that becomes the next morning’s breakfast would definitely be a snack cake. Meaning a snack cake, while sounding laid-back, could be a slice of sophisticated dacquiouse or some other luxurious dessert.
Whereas a snacking cake would be something more along the lines of a sheet cake (like the classic chocolate Texas variety). More than a brownie but less than a layer cake. Something you could take a fork to but would probably just pick up with your hands. 

In short, any cake can be a snack. But not every cake is a snacking cake.

Thoughts?
When confronted by the age old question: ‘chocol When confronted by the age old question: ‘chocolate or carrot,’ which do you choose?
Is it too soon for #pumpkinspice ? Is it too soon for #pumpkinspice ?
Fragranced by delicate basil, rich with parmesan a Fragranced by delicate basil, rich with parmesan and pine nuts, and packing a garlicky punch, our braided pesto bread is the ideal way to use up your garden’s bounty. 

Also it looks impressive. Pull-out all the stops and impress your family and guests with this ultra-easy and rewarding loaf.
Consumed by Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs the ancient Consumed by Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs the ancient Mesoamericans are remembered as the original chocolate lovers. Considered a sacred beverage among them, cocoa was used during celebrations and religious ceremonies and was thought to lend the drinker strength.

It is said that Montezuma kept a massive storehouse of cocoa beans, and drank 50 golden cups of the stuff a day, decreeing that only those men brave enough to face battle would be permitted to join him in drinking it. Chocolate eventually becoming a regular part of military rations among the Aztecs. 

The belief that chocolate was a powerful elixir that lent its drinker extra virility and strength seems to have made its way into European and US thinking as well and may explain the application of including chocolate or pressed cakes of cocoa powder in US military rations, an operation practiced all the way up to the Vietnam war. 

With piles of historical evidence it would stand to reason that chocolate must be good for me, so I’m going to start making a regular habit of indulging in it. Each bite imbuing me with strength, vim, and vigor. Don’t stay a weakling all your life, join me in making these chocolate pot de creme today and start eating more chocolate.
A creamy savior, ice cream was America’s refuge A creamy savior, ice cream was America’s refuge during Prohibition, and one of our favorite forms of solace during the Great Depression. One might argue that without the aid of ice cream we might not be here today.
"Good apple pies are a considerable part of our do "Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness." — Jane Austen
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