Happy Pancake Day! One of our very favourite days of the year as it gives us multiple opportunities to enjoy our breakfast of choice throughout the whole day. Not that we need much persuasion in our house! Although I have to confess from the outset that this isn't an entirely virtuous post. See that pan above? Well, it's actually a mini skillet. Six inches in diameter. And perfect for one. This post is all about treating YOU.
I spend my days running around. There are a lot of errands involved and a lot of baking, especially for others. I often skip meals because I just don't remember to eat and then all too suddenly it's time to go pick the boys from school. So when my schedule is a little quieter and my days a bit calmer, it feels really good to treat myself and sit on my own in total peace and quiet enjoying something delicious :)
And if you want to be a little more virtuous (it is Shrove Tuesday after all!), you can triple the recipe below and cook it in a regular frying pan or a roasting tin -- but do remember that as it's oven-baked you don't want any plastic handles so cast iron is perfect for the job. The cooking time for this larger size should be around twenty minutes but keep a watchful eye on it until it's puffed up and golden brown and then bring it out of the oven.
This Soufflé Pancake is exceptionally easy to make and a quick blueberry compote to go with it makes it even more delicious accompanied by a few extra raspberries and a splash of maple syrup. I prefer to whisk the pancake ingredients together by hand rather than getting out the electric mixer and the blueberry compote comes together in five minutes in a small saucepan. What I love about the Soufflé Pancake is that it puffs up in the oven and crisps beautifully. It does deflate when it comes out of the oven so to get the full effect you want to whip it out quickly and shower it with all your toppings as quickly as you can -- but even if it does lose a bit of its puff, it's still a joy to eat.
Whether you're baking for one or the entire family, wishing you all the best of days and I hope you have a Shrove Tuesday packed full of pancakes and fun :) xoxo
Soufflé Skillet Pancake with Blueberry Compote
serves 1
Blueberry Compote Ingredients
- handful of blueberries (no need to count but around 15)
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- squirt of lemon juice
Soufflé Skillet Pancake Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 50ml milk (semi-skimmed or full-fat)
- 40g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 10g butter
- raspberries (to dress)
- maple syrup (to dress)
Method
- Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees (fan) and pop in your skillet to heat it (you want it to be very hot)
- Start by making the blueberry compote and put all the ingredients for this in a small saucepan
- Place over a medium heat for around 5 minutes, stirring and keeping an eye on it - if too much liquid evaporates, you can add a little more water to loosen it
- Remove it from the heat and put to one side
- To make the pancakes, put the egg and sugar in a small bowl and whisk until it's light and frothy (around 3-4 minutes)
- Whisk in the remaining ingredients until the batter is smooth
- Very carefully (remembering that your skillet handle is now red hot), put the butter into the skillet and swirl it around until it's melted
- Immediately add the pancake batter and then bake it in the oven for around 14 minutes until golden brown and puffed up
- When it's ready, remove it from the oven and add the blueberry compote, raspberries and maple syrup
- It should come out of the skillet easily or you can enjoy it straight from the pan
- And enjoy :)