There is no consensus on what pancakes are. Some people think about American-style thick pancakes, but we call that in South Africa "plaat koekies" or plate cookies. In Britain, they are also called something else. But I would think that South African pancakes are closest to French crepes. But let us not get stuck on semantics.
In South Africa, we normally eat pancakes when it is rainy weather. I am currently visiting my SO in Pretoria and it is a summer rainy season. Today it rained, and currently, the thunder is beating down. What a good excuse to make pancakes!
It is a very easy recipe and thing to make. You should really make some, it is the perfect date night food! Add some strawberries and cream, ice cream, or anything sweet, and this will be awesome! Traditionally, we only throw cinnamon sugar on it.
Please follow along with me to make this really easy yet delicious treat!
My SO followed her trusted recipe. As with many so-called traditional recipes, every family will have their own recipe. For example, my mother's recipe is different from this one.
So what makes a recipe traditional? Nothing much except that we the people who inherit these recipes continually make them. But here is this version:
It is really that simple. Now blend everything together! But let me show you and give you some tips on making awesome pancakes!
The first tip is not to overmix your dough! This will result in chewy pancakes. The end result should be very soft pancakes. Using a blender very cautiously will get you good results.
So the first step is to put everything into a blender.
Some people use hand mixers, and some others make it by hand only using a whisk. But the key thing is
Mix only until all of the flour is mixed into the liquid.
We have pancake pans or crepe pans. But you can use any non-stick pans. Add some oil and wait until it is very hot.
Everyone has their own technique. Various old grandmothers make pancakes for the farmers' market every week. Some have very smooth techniques.
The general idea is to begin in the middle, and tilt the pan so that you make a flat pancake.
If you have perfected your technique, you will have perfectly round pancakes!
This one was almost perfect! But perfection is not something you can ever get.
The next step is to add some sugar. Add some cinnamon to any sugar:
Then spread some sugar all over it.
And then roll them up.
And it is that simple! A comfort food, but an awesome date night idea!
Pancakes are really awesome. We South Africans have grown up with them, it does not matter if you are from the north or the south or the Cape or Durban. It is a comfort food for the rainy seasons. But also for date nights! Me and my SO had so much fun in the kitchen.
The recipe is from her cookbook, Kook and Geniet. Translated, the book means "cook and enjoy". Most girls receive this book at some stage in their lives. My mother has one from many years ago. But to be honest, I use these recipe books more than my mother and SO! So maybe they should have given on to me.
But the fact is, cooking should be fun. Even me and the SO messed up some of the pancakes because we had so much fun in the kitchen. And that is the point: You should enjoy cooking even if you mess up! See the messed-up pancake below:
In the end, we ate it as well. It is about having fun.
All of the images are my own. The musings as well. Can anyone ever own a recipe? The recipe is from the South African youth edition of the Kook en Geniet books. I hope you try this recipe. Please let me know in the comments if you have a similar dish in your culture?
