Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 C Flour
• 2 T Sugar
• 1 t Baking Powder
• 1/2 t Baking Soda
• 1/4 t Salt
• 1 C Buttermilk
• 1 T Oil
• 1 Egg, beaten

Method

Whisk the dry ingredients — flour, caster sugar, baking-powder, baking-soda, and salt — together in a large bowl. The leavening agents need even distribution or you'll get dense patches; thirty seconds of whisking does it. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, and beaten egg. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to create carbon dioxide immediately, so don't let this sit around waiting.

Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten, which turns pancakes tough and rubbery — you want a lumpy batter that looks almost under-mixed. A few flour streaks are fine. If the batter looks thick enough that it doesn't flow, add milk a tablespoon at a time; it should move slowly when you tilt the bowl.

Heat a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat. Test the surface temperature with a drop of water — it should sizzle and evaporate in 2–3 seconds. Pour batter into roughly 10 cm rounds and leave them alone. Watch for dimples to appear across the surface; when they stop closing over (usually 90 seconds to 2 minutes), the bottom is set and the interior crumb structure is firm enough to flip. Turn once and cook the other side for another 60 seconds until it's light gold. The pan-frying surface temperature is critical — too low and you get pale, dense pancakes; too high and the outside burns before the centre cooks through.

Stack finished pancakes on a warm plate. The breakfast case for pancakes is timing: eat them straight from the pan. They lose their steam and become leathery within five minutes. Serve with butter and your choice of topping. If you're making a larger batch, keep cooked pancakes warm in a 120°C oven on a baking tray, but don't stack them tightly — they'll sweat and soften.