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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Shrove Tuesday: Pancakes!!

So.
Every year for Shrove Tuesday, J and I eat pancakes.  I have lots of fun recipes pinned, but for a night like this, a classic recipe is best.  I'll save the peanut butter or gingerbread pancakes for a Saturday morning.  Paired with bacon and maple syrup we bought at the Elmira Maple Syrup last year, dinner is served...with a tall, cold glass of milk.
This is a classic recipe from a classic Canadian cookbook.  This is the pancake recipe I grew up eating for lunch on Saturdays or Sundays.  My Dad swore by this recipe, and really swore by this cookbook.  His favourite birthday cake to make was the rich birthday cake from here.  I love her Seafoam frosting.
According to Wikipedia, Kate Aitken was a pioneer in broadcasting and publishing.  Her cookbook was first published in 1945.  My copy of it is ancient.  Probably not an original edition old, but it is wrapped in old pantyhose cardboard, lacking a front cover, and slowly returning to the earth from whence it came.
About 10 years ago, my mother told me that she'd gotten me a copy of the cookbook from a lady she knew who had died.  What actually turned out to be the case was my mom got a newer copy of Kate Aitken, and I got the old copy.  But the recipes I use are intact as well as the meat roasting charts, which I use regularly.
I now present to you Pancakes from Kate Aitken's Canadian cookbook:

Ingredients:1 Egg
1-3/4  c milk
3 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 sifted all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp melted shortening
1/4 tsp vanilla

Method:
1.  Beat egg until light; add milk and sugar.  Add sifted dry ingredients in 3 siftings, beating only enough to make a smooth batter.  Stir in melted shortening and vanilla. 
2.  Heat griddle; brush lightly with oil; drop batter by tablespoonfuls on griddle.  Cook till pancakes are brown and filled with bubbles.  Turn and bake on the other side.  Do not turn more than once during cooking. 
3.  Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.  The batter will make 12 good-sized pancakes.

Kate's notes:
Use a heavy iron or aluminum frying pan or griddle for baking pancakes.  Heat pan until a few drops of cold water poured into the pan retain their shape for a few seconds.  If drops spread out on the griddle, temperature is too low; of they break up and evaporate immediately, temperature is too high.  Too cool a griddle will produce pancakes which will be thing and tough; too hot a griddle will brown them before the centre is cooked.  To prevent mixture from sticking to the griddle, add a little melted shortening to pancake batter.
From Kate Aitken's Canadian Cookbook

Pancakes are basic.  Don't overmix, or they will be tough.
I could fit 2 in my frying pan.  While from time to time I think a griddle might be nice, it's not often enough to get one.  And frankly, the recipe makes 12.
And as I said on Facebook, pancakes are good anytime.  Especially with maple syrup and bacon.

1 comment:

  1. I find that pancakes are one of those things that everyone finds their own recipe for (or inherits from someone) and rarely changes. We've been making the same one for about 5 years now and I just love it. These look like they turn out great too. Would be fun to do a comparison, but I'm lazy. ;)

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