Weekend Bites: Flipping for pancakes with caramelized bananas

Paper Edition | Page: 24

Cooking pancakes is a way of celebrating lazy weekends for me, and I often have them for breakfast on Sunday mornings.

They’re so simple that you may want to make them every day of the week (probably not such a good idea as they are high in calories). Once you see how easy it is to make them from scratch, you’ll never go back to those pre-packaged pancake mixes ever again!

Serves 2 to 3 (7 to 9 pieces)

1 cup (125 g) flour

1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder

¼ teaspoon (1 g) baking soda

A pinch of salt

2 tablespoons (40 g) caster or brown sugar

1 egg

5 tablespoons (35 ml) vegetable oil or melted butter + extra for greasing

1 teaspoon (4 ml) apple vinegar

100 ml milk

• Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a bowl.
• Add vinegar, which, in contact with baking soda, will create some bubbly foam. This helps the pancakes to raise and become especially fluffy.
• Whisk egg, milk and oil in a bowl. Mix with dry ingredients and beat until combined.
• Grease a non-stick pan with a tablespoon of oil or melted butter. It only needs to lightly coat the surface, so absorb the excess oil with a piece of folded paper towel. Don’t discard, as you’ll need it later.
• Heat the pan over a medium-low flame. Pour 2 tablespoons of the batter onto the hot pan to make one pancake. • You should be able to fit 2 to 3 pancakes in a large pan.
• Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, or for around 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook for another minute until golden.
• Keep the cooked pancakes in a warm place while you continue to cook the rest. Grease the pan with the oily paper towel between each batch.
• Serve warm with whatever topping you fancy.

Although the classic accompaniment of pancakes is a drizzle of maple syrup, I like mine with caramelized seasonal fruits. I thought of using bananas this time, as they’re widely available in Indonesia.

Caramelized Bananas

3 bananas; Ambon, Raja or Cavendish

100 ml maple syrup or honey

A knob of butter

A pinch of salt

• Heat a shallow pan over a medium flame and pour in maple syrup or honey. Cook for 2 minutes until it starts to bubble.
• Peel and slice the bananas into 1-cm thick rounds. Slide them gently into the bubbling caramel. Be careful not to burn yourself, it’s really hot.
• Add butter and salt, and swirl the pan gently to move the bananas around so they’re evenly coated by the caramel.
• Cook for about 3 minutes until they’re tender but not mushy. Serve over the pancakes.

— All Photos by Theodora Hurustiati