A few years ago, while on vacation in Ireland, my American partner couldn't believe that the Irish didn’t serve pancakes for breakfast as they do here. And because he couldn’t find them anywhere he started to crave them. To put him out of his misery, I made him some Irish pancakes. One bite and he was a convert for life.
But how can pancakes have a nationality? Because they look and taste completely different from the American version. They’re just better. When Americans think of pancakes they think of flat and fairly tasteless four to five-inch wide wheels that need a third of a cup of maple syrup to become even slightly edible. Forget them.
Irish pancakes are golden, light, fluffy, and indescribably delicious. Some people call them drop scones and others call them crumpets, but first and foremost they’re pancakes and don’t let anyone tell you differently. They’re the ideal combination of texture, taste and bite and once you try them you’ll never look at American pancakes in the same light again.
Irish pancakes recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of self-raising flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- ½ cup of superfine sugar
- Pinch of salt
- One egg
- ½ cup of milk
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
Method
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and break the egg in the center. Add a little of the milk and whisk the contents working from the rim to the center. Keep adding the milk as you go and stop if you feel the batter is getting too runny.
Choose a heavy-bottomed frying pan and add the vegetable oil on a medium heat. Drop large tablespoonfuls of the batter into the oil, making sure to leave space between each pancake.
Serve with a slather of butter, that’s all you’ll need because they’re perfect as is. Some people like to add raspberry or strawberry jam to the mix but we say that’s gilding the lily. A nice warm mug of tea is the perfect accompaniment. Bon appetite.
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