pancakes – Page 2 – My Whisk and I

These pancakes are not cocoa-chocolatey-looking but actually contain real chocolate in the batter!! Whether you serve them with ice-cream, fresh fruit and Chantilly cream or plain, from-the-pan, you will love them! Yields about 12 pancakes depending on the size of your pan.

80g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa
250ml + 100ml milk
90ml caster sugar
200g cake flour
100ml water
3 eggs
2,5ml vanilla
butter for frying

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add it to a small saucepan.
Pour in 100ml milk and place on a very low heat.
Stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted completely and remove from the heat.
Add the 250ml milk and caster sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.
Pour the water, eggs and vanilla into a jug and whisk it together.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour in a very thin stream while whisking. Pour slowly, whisk quickly …. you don’t want lumps in your batter!
Now whisk in the chocolate mixture in the same way.
Cover the batter with a tea towel and allow to stand for one hour.

Heat a frying/crêpe pan until it is very hot.
Add a knob of butter and swirl it around so that it covers the surface of the pan.
Pour in a ladleful of batter and swirl again to evenly distribute in the pan.
Turn the heat down slightly and cook the pancake for 1 minute.
Turn the pancake over with a spatula and cook for another 30 seconds. (The combination of sugar and chocolate burns really easy!!)
Keep going with the rest of the batter until you have a heavily stack of chocolate pancakes.
Serve warm.

This is one of my favourite French desserts and really easy to make. Make the crêpes the day before you need them and simply reheat them in the orange-caramel-syrup before serving.

Crêpes:
750ml cake flour
2,5ml baking powder
5ml salt
500ml milk
250ml water
125ml sunflower oil
4 eggs

Orange sauce:
45ml caster sugar
250ml orange juice
the zest of one orange
5ml lemon juice
15ml brandy
50g butter, cubed

For the crêpes:
Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitter with the whisk attachment.
Whisk the milk, water, oil and eggs together in a separate wide-mouthed jug.
Turn the mixer on to a low speed and add the liquid ingredients in a very thin stream. Keep whisking and pouring until all the liquid has been added.
Turn the mixer on to a higher speed and whisk for at least two minutes.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover with plastic wrap and allow to stand for 1 hour.
Heat a crêpe pan/frying pan until hot. Add a small amount of vegetable oil and swirl it around the pan. Pour the oil out and put the pan back onto a medium-high heat.
Spoon a ladle-full of the batter into the pan and cook until small holes appear over the entire surface of the crêpe.
Flip the crêpe and cook for 1 minute on the other side.
Slide the cooked crêpe onto a plate and continue baking the rest.

For the orange sauce:
Tip the caster sugar into a non-stick frying pan on medium to low heat.
Allow the sugar to melt without stirring it. You want the sugar to turn a caramel colour without burning it – watch it like a hawk and do not walk away from it!
Take the pan from the heat when the sugar is brown enough and add the orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice and brandy.
Return the pan to a very low heat. Do not panic if the sugar has seized, continue heating over a low heat and stir lightly until the sugar has dissolved completely.
Now start adding the butter, one or two cubes at a time while stirring constantly. Keep going until you have incorporated all the butter.
Bring the mixture to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly and has a lovely gloss to it.

Fold each crêpe into half, and then fold it again so that you have a more-or-less triangular shape.
Gently slide the folded crêpe into the pan and spoon the sauce over it.
Serve immediately.

Tag: pancakes

Chocolate Pancakes

Crêpes Suzette