A healthy breakfast considered...

Quick and easy breakfast solutions. I have searched for them, have you? Toast on the run, done. Cereal when you arrive at work. Fruit smoothy with some muesli thrown in. Pancakes on weekends. Bacon and eggs. Bagels, etc, etc.

Muffins though, are just an excuse to eat cake first thing. And sometimes I feel guilty about this. Surely I should maintain and promote healthy eating. Surely I should make wise, considered choices about what I eat. I should look after myself now for the longer term. Maybe these muffins count towards this... maybe.

Made with breakfast cereal, these muffins could be considered healthy. Bran and sultanas, super healthy. With fresh fruit also! I try to convince myself... I originally considered making these when I found a recipe posted by Joy the Baker for a similar creation. She made up the batter at the beginning of the week and then cooked fresh muffins each morning. Would it work with this recipe? Perhaps the fresh pear would render it undesirable. Oh well, simply make up a dozen, refrigerate and heat each morning in the microwave to enjoy with coffee.

Sultana Bran & Pear Muffins

Makes 12

Around 1 3/4 c sultana bran, or similar cereal

1 1/2 c flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp all spice

1 pear, cored and diced finely

3/4 c milk

1 tsp white vinegar

75 g butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

Pre-heat oven to 180* C. Line a muffin tray with papers.

Combine dry ingredients with the diced pear in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Leave to sit for around 5 minutes. This will sour the milk and make it thicken. For some reason, muffins often call for buttermilk or this soured milk. The theory is that the end product is light due to this process. Add the butter and eggs, stir to combine.

Mix the wet ingredients gently into the dry ingredients until just combine. Scoop into the muffin tray.

Cook in the oven for around 15 minutes, until golden, risen and cooked. Enjoy either warm for breakfast or as they are.

Adapted from the Coles brand Sultana Bran equivalent cereal box.

Whole oranges for afternoon tea...

Afternoon tea just demands a little mouthful of goodness, doesn't it? Something that is light but sweet, that slips down with a cup of something hot. That gives you a little energy to get through to your evening meal. But does not send you off into a siesta.

In keeping with these ideas, I turned a cake into cupcakes recently. And I don't think I'll be heading back to cake world with this one. Cupcakes it is. Easy to snaffle down. Less mess than a whole cake. Very transportable, to work for afternoon tea say...

This recipe has come together from a variety of sources. It is intended to be a quick, whip up sort of cake. But no matter how much you process whole oranges I have found it still get chunks of peel. And peel puts people off. So I followed the Jewish/gluten free ideas of boiling your oranges first until sumptuous and soft. Until the whole house smells clean with citrus scent. This does extend the cooking process by a few hours. But it effectively uses up some sorry fruit you may have lying around. And I often boil the fruit the night before and leave them sitting in their water until I'm ready to cook. Or boil up a few oranges, stash them in the freezer and simply defrost whenever the need for cupcakes arises. Hurrah!

Whole Orange and Raspberry Cupcakes

Makes 28 or so

2 whole oranges

1 3/4 c plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 c sugar

3 eggs

150 g butter

3/4 c raspberries (frozen is fine)

A good few hours before you want to eat your cupcakes, place the oranges whole into a saucepan of water. Ensure the oranges can be fully submerged. Cover and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for an hour or so, until soft but still holding their shape. Cool.

Pre-heat oven to 170* C. Place cupcake papers into an average sized cupcake/muffin tray.

In a food processor, blitz the oranges until they are smoosh. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar and eggs. Pulse until combine. Melt the butter and then add it to the batter with the motor running. Turn off the processor and fold in the raspberries.

Spoon mixture into the cupcake papers, until 3/4 full. Bake in your oven for around 15-18 minutes, until golden and lovely looking. Cooked through helps too. Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the baking process until all the mixture is transformed into cupcakes.

Serve dusted with icing sugar, or with a touch of cream along side. Or simply as they are.

Old and faithful crumble cake...

I had a simply lovely baking day recently. We had gone to the markets, so there was plenty of fresh produce around. We had large fresh free-range eggs in abundance. There was so much autumnal fruit, with the last of the plums and plenty of pears. Simply delicious. I purchased a good amount of pears, raided the pantry and got cooking.

I whipped up the last post, some breakfast bars. And these have been getting us through the week. But some old and faithfuls were baked too. Banana bread, studded with walnuts, deliciously dark with cocoa. Baked in the oven until crisp on top and fluffy in the middle. What a great stand-by recipe. It is what I make when I simply have to cook but don't feel adventurous. The other reliable baked delicious thing that was made was a crumble cake.

Crumble cakes are versatile. Any fruit can be used. And the toppings can be changed depending on what is at hand. This weekend I was clean out of coconut after making the breakfast bars. So I simply added more oats and more brown sugar. As for the fruit, some rhubarb from the freezer was added to those firm and volumptuous pears.

Pear and Rhubarb Crumble Cake
Serves 12 or so

4 eggs

200 g sugar

200 g butter, melted

1 2/3 c plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 pear, cored and diced

handful of rhubarb, diced

crumble topping for cake

50 g butter

200 g dry ingredients - be sure to include brown sugar and flour, oats, coconut, seeds or nuts work also.

2 tsp cinnamon powder

Pre-heat oven to 170 * C. Line a large round baking tin with paper, or grease and flour to ensure the cake can be removed from the tin once cooked.

Cream together the eggs and sugar in your electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the melted butter, mixing to combine. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder, or simply use self-raising flour and omit the rising agent. Pour into prepared cake tin. Sprinkle the fruit over the cake mixture. Any fruit can be used really. Try two apples, peeled, cored and diced. Or some pears and sultanas. Or some frozen berries. Or diced appricots. What ever you have and love.

Make the crumble topping by combining the dry ingredients and cinnamon with the butter, rubbing the butter in with your finger tips until you have soft lumps with no real wet bits of butter. Crumble this topping over the cake.

Bake in oven for around 45 minutes. This will depend on your oven and the size of your cake pan. Cover with foil after 30 minutes if the cake is browning too quickly. Test cake is cooked by inserting a squewer into the middle. If it comes out with wet cake mix on it, return to oven to cook further.

Cook on a wire rack in tin for 10 minutes before removing from tin and leaving to cool completely.

Mum's recipe originally, which I'm sure she got from somewhere. Now my own.

Breakie on the run...

We are often running late in our house, particularly in the mornings. The alarm goes off and the snooze button is pressed half a dozen times. Some one gets motivated the get up then the other person rolls over and squashes any plans for getting out of bed. So we run late. We've tried the alarm on the other side of the room. We've tried putting catchy music on to dance to upon wakening. We've tried having the smells of coffee wafting from the kitchen to entice us in. The promise of bought breakfast even. Doesn't work. We sleep in. We run late.

In my latest efforts I've focused on compensating for being late. Why resist what cannot change? So I bring my toothbrush to work. My make up is done on the road. Toast slides off plates in the car when driving around corners. Or we go hungry until lunch.

So when I found a recipe for home-made breakfast bars it simply had to be made. Nutrition, on the go, sustaining tummies so they won't rumble during a morning meeting yet again. Sounds like a winner. Baked on the weekend in preparation for yet again hitting snooze.

Breakfast Bars

Makes 16 decent sized slices

1 tin sweetened condensed milk

35 g pepitas

75 g sunflower seeds

75 g walnuts, roughly chopped

125 g apricots, diced

125 g sultanas

50 g dessicated coconut

250 g oats

2 tbs cinnamon sugar

Pre-heat oven to 130* C. Line a lamington tin with paper, or any other shallow dish with a large surface area.

Gently heat the milk over a low heat in a large saucepan. Combine the remaining ingredients (except cinnamon sugar) and gently stir them into the hot milk until all is combine. There should be no dry bits anywhere.

Spread into the prepare tin, pushing into the corners. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over before baking in the oven for around 50 minutes.

Once cooked and delicious, remove from oven and slice into 16 pieces. Then leave to cool before storing in an air-tight container. Delicious with a cup of hot coffee for people on the go.

Adapted from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

If only I had time for that cup of tea too.

Who am I - flavours with a twist...

What are they?

They are versatile and are a perfectly legitimate excuse to eat cake for breakfast.

They freeze well.

They don't mind being warmed in the microwave.

They can be made with just about everything or anything in the cupboard.

They work well with coffee.

Muffins! So tasty! So easy to prepare. So readily transformed by whatever ingredients take your fancy. Like today. I had some sour cream in the fridge that needed to be used. There were also some stalks of rhubarb floating around. And surely there was some chocolate tucked away somewhere. Twenty minutes later I had made a delectable snack that would feed us both for the next few days. And what a combination. Bitter depth of dark chocolate, tang of the rhubarb. And the combination of colours won me over too - pink and brown, so irresistible. I must confess, I've eaten more than my fair share today...

Rhubarb and Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12

1 3/4 c plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 c sugar

1 stalk rhubarb, diced finely

3/4 c chocolate, in bits

30 g butter, softened

1 c sour cream

2 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 180* C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and mix to combine. Stir in the rhubarb and chocolate.

In a separate bowl combine the butter, sour cream and eggs. Mix this mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring minimally to combine. Scoop generously into the muffin trays, close to full really.

Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, checking and turning in the oven after 8 minutes. Remove from oven, leave to cool slightly in their tray for 5 minutes before turning onto a rack to cool.

Eat within 2 days, or else store muffins in the freezer for a rainy day.

Inspired by a recipe from the Trinity Church Cookbook.

To market, to market

Being back in Melbs has changed my cooking priorities. Cold weather plays a part. The variety of produce is overwhelming. Costs are lowered. But mangoes are expensive. And Asian greens are not in abundance. But the Victoria Markets are just down the road!

With the fella, I've had an adventure to the markets and loved it. Stocked up on pulses for slow-cooked winter stews. Bought an abundance of stone fruit, which is my absolute favourite. The fella was won over by an incredibly large leg of pork. And I couldn't resist the rhubarb.

Mmm, rhubarb. How I love it. It is pink. It has leafy greens at the top (poisonous though). It is tart. It is wintery and loves a slow cook.

This is one of my favourite ways to cook the stuff. Does it really need a recipe? Not particularly. Serve with muesli or porridge for breakfast. With custard or billowing cream for dessert. Or as pictured with berries and figs. Luscious.

Slow-cooked rhubarb

Makes c. 8 serves.

1 bunch rhubarb

1 - 1 1/2 c sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

Pre-heat oven to 190 * C.

Wash and trim rhubarb. Cut into 3 cm lengths Place in a large shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar over followed by the lemon zest. Using your hands, mix the deliciousness together.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and keep covered until cool. The residual heat of the rhubarb will cause the mixture to sweat and make a thick syrup. Once cool, decant to a suitable fridge container and store until ready to eat.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast.

Raspberry cake for morning tea...

When something is made twice in one week, it must be good. And this cake certainly is. Why I've not made it before now, I'm really not sure. There are only good things about it - lots of butter and sugar, zing from some raspberries, light texture, made in a decorative tin.

I was needing to fill in for morning tea at work. As the designer of the roster, it is my responsibility to ensure that everyone on my team contributes equally to our food intake. And when someone left the team recently, it seemed easier to me to make a cake than change the roster. The cake needed to be done with minimal fuss, and without too much glam. After, it was not really my turn at providing the food. This was the perfect thing to prepare, simple yet delicious, elegant without showing off too much.

Please enjoy with a cup of tea.

Raspberry Cake

Serves up to 10.

250 g butter, softened

1 ½ c sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

2 ½ c plain flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 c milk

2 c frozen raspberries

Spray oil, or similar for greasing your cake tin

Pre-heat your oven to 160 ◦C. Grease a fluted tin with a spray of oil – I have a silicone one that works wonders for this cake.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together in your electric mixer for five minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well between each one. Turn off the mixer, sift in the flour and baking powder and beat together on a low speed. Slowly add the milk with the mixer beating, until well incorporated. Turn off the mixer, fold in the raspberries.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for around one hour and fifteen minutes until cooked. It may take more or less time, so start checking after an hour of cooking.

Cook for five minutes in the tin before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Delicious with some cream, with some homemade ice cream, or just as it is dusted with icing sugar.

Donna Hay magazine, Issue 17.

Mango madness Mexican style

It is the silly season here is Darwin. Mango madness has struck. The weather is getting hotter and hotter. The nights are no longer cool. The clouds are becoming gray and ominous, but refuse to open and bring relief. Locals recommend you take holidays to a more ambiant climate. The swimming pools are crowded. Everything becomes sticky and hot. People slow down, rest often, drink more. And the trees are ladden with mangos.

I could not believe it when I heard that mangos were left to rot on trees! How could there be so many of them? How could people not gobble them up? I also couldn't believe it when I saw the price of the various kinds of mangos as the local markets. Only $ 1.50 per kilo! Outrageous! And the differing kinds - bowen, ruby blush, thai...

Inspired by a new cook book, as well as a left over mango, we whipped up this salsa to accompany our tea of fajitas tonight. All of the ingredients were at hand, and the process was particularly uninvolved. The flavours of this salsa are verbose and vibrant. Sweet juicy mango, tangy tomato, searing chilli. Simply delicious.

Mango Salsa

Makes 3 cups or so

Cheek of a fresh mango

1 tomato

¼ large red onion

Fresh chilli, to taste

Juice of ½ lime

1/3 c. fresh herbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Finely dice the mango, after removing the skin. (Reserve the remainder for a smoothy, or more salsa tomorrow!) Half and de-seed the tomato. Finely dice it, as well as the onion. If you desire, de-seed the chilli and finely chop. Place these prepared ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spritz over the lime juice, sprinkle on the herbs – I had some coriander, as well as mint and parsley from the garden – after you have roughly chopped them. Mix ingredients together again. Season to taste.

Place the salsa into the fridge for around an hour before serving. The flavours will combine together well, with sweetness and heat permeating the mixture.

Serve the salsa as you see fit. Try it alongside guacamole and corn chips. Or on top of chicken fajitas with sour cream and cheese.

Adapted from Jake Tilson’s A Tale of 12 Kitchens.

Anzacs with a twist...

Anzacs are a real Aussie tradition. They began supposedly during the first world war, when care packages were sent to the troops. As Australia is a long way from Europe, bread and other goodies tended not to last on the journey there. Rather than just send socks, the Aussie women left behind began baking using ingredients that would not perish. So no eggs, not just flour, and something that would work dipped into a hot cup of tea. Thus the ANZAC biscuit was invented. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, and is the general name given to the Australian war/fighting spirit. And the biscuit is a childhood staple for many.

My mother used to make Anzacs just before we got home from school. They were hot and soft and delicious. Unfortunately I was put off them after a Home Ec class in year 7 of my education. These bickies get harder the longer they are left in the oven, so hard they can break teeth. I didn't believe the teacher when she told us this, and I cooked my batch for far too long. They were inedible. And I stopped making them.

This recipe though was made before I realised what I had actually done. It was only when there were in the oven that I realised I had just created. I was shocked. No eggs, lots of flour, being held together with golden syrup. I had made the great Aussie biscuit without knowing it! It was the figs that sucked me in, if the truth be known. I love a dried fig, and wanted a "healthy" treat for a work morning tea. And thus I've been converted back to the Anzac fold - so long as there is dried fruit embedded in them!

Figy Anzacs

Makes around 16 biscuits

1/2 c. plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

75 g raw sugar

75 g oats

100 g dried figs, finely chopped

75 g butter

2 tbs golden syrup

Pre-heat oven to 170 o C. Ensure oven shelves divide the oven into thirds.

Sift flour and bicarb together into a large bowl. Add the sugar, oats and figs. Stir to combine.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and golden syrup. Stir occasionally and wait until they have melted together. Remove from heat and leave to sit for around 3 minutes.

Pour the butter mix into the dry ingredients. Stir well to combine. Using your hands, shape the mixture into golf ball sized rounds (or just slightly smaller). Place onto lined baking trays.

Bake in oven for 13 minutes, rotating the trays after 8 minutes of cooking time. Remove from oven, cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Adapted from Delicious Magazine Nov 2003. Original recipe by Jane Clarke.

Crumbling...

Egypt: Karnak, originally uploaded by Brooklyn Museum.

Crumble (verb): break or fall into small fragments; gradually disintegrate.

At times in life, things seem to crumble. One's hopes and dreams, relationships, careers, one's health, houses, old treasures such as letters and timber items.

Crumble (noun): dish of stewed fruit with a crumbly topping.

At times in life, one needs crumble. Preferably made with apples or rhubarb. Or dotted with blueberries. Or sprinkled with almonds and dried apricot pieces. Or made with pears and strips of orange zest. And swimming with custard. Even served in little tea cups. Or spooned out from a big bowl. Mmm, crumble.

This crumble was made for a dinner we had over the weekend. I slow cooked a chicken, lemon and garlic dish, as well as roasted potatoes in the oven. Things were timed to perfection, with minimal fuss at the last minutes. But then the guests were late, around 45 minutes late. So the meal was dry and lacking in lusciousness. Hurrah for the crumble, the dish that saved dinner. As my culinary prowess crumbled around me, the crumble won hearts...

Typically I would make my crumble using sugar syrup to poach the fruit in. This method instead cooks the apples in butter, ensuring they maintain some texture as well as their shape. The port adds depth of flavour and is beautifully enhanced by the sourness of the berries. The crumble topping is how I make crumble, with lots of texture and taste. None of this breadcrumb only crumble for me please.

Apple, Raspberry & Port Crumble
Serves 6 to 8 with custard and ice cream.

20 g butter
6 apples, peeled, cored & diced into medium pieces
300 g frozen raspberries, slightly defrosted
300 ml port
185 g sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Crumble topping:
60 g butter, softened
½ c. plain flour
½ c. raw sugar
½ c. oats
½ c. desiccated coconut

Pre-heat your oven to 180 ◦C.

Over a medium heat, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add the apple pieces. Stir well and cook for around 10 minutes until softened. Add the raspberries, port, sugar and cinnamon. Cover and cook for 8 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove fruit from the cooking liquid and transfer to a suitable round cooking dish. Continue to cook the liquid uncovered until it reduces to a syrup-like consistency. This may take up to 10 minutes. Stir it occasionally to ensure it does not catch and burn on the bottom. Pour this liquid over the fruit.

Make the crumble topping by combining all the ingredients. Mix it together well, rubbing the butter into the other ingredients. It is messy, but easy to do with your hands. The mixture should be chunky rather than sticky, getting towards being like breadcrumbs but not smooth. Crumble the topping over the fruit.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, until golden in parts.

Serve hot with ice cream, warm with custard or even cold with yoghurt for breakfast the next day.

Adapted from Delicious magazine August 2007.

Saturday morning muffins...

Up Side Down Muffins, originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl.

When I wake up on Saturdays, all I want to do is stay in bed, hug my fella and have breakfast magically appear on a tray for me. In reality, I wake up too early as my body has adjusted to working from 8 a.m., my fella is snoring away and no one had put the coffee on to boil. Drats!

But this Saturday was close to perfection. A late start after a late night so somewhat of a sleep in, video hits raging on telly, two pots of bialetti coffee brewing away and a few ripe bananas screaming out to be transformed. No pancakes this day though, as I was after a more labour-less approach to my morning. Rather, a minimal mix of a few bowls, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, twenty-five minutes later, and hot fresh muffins were there for the taking.

My somewhat slimmed down hips should have been protesting. Muffins for breakfast is really just eating cake. Particularly if they contain chocolate. But these have very little sugar, and lots of fruit in them. Or so I told myself...

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 7 giant ones.

2 c. self-raising flour
½ c. sugar
½ c. small chocolate chips
2 ripe bananas, or so
1 c. milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
20 g butter, softened
Spray oil, or similar for greasing your muffin pans

Pre-heat your oven to 180 ◦C. Grease a 6-hole Texan muffin tray with a spray of oil.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add sugar and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mash your peeled bananas. Pour in the milk, the beaten egg and some butter. Whisk it all together. It won’t be smooth, but try to get the butter broken up a bit.

Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ones. Give it a really light mix, just making sure you don’t have big streaks of flour throughout your mixture. Spoon mix into the muffin trays, until they are around ¾ full.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool in the tray for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Unfortunately I find that this makes just a little too much to only make 6 muffins. You will need to rinse out the pan, re-grease and bake the final muffin. If you only use 1 banana it will make 6 muffins, but then they are less banana-full in flavour. Tough decisions...

Serve warm. With coffee. Hot butter spread over is optional, but a necessity if you are my fella. These don’t keep for too long, so make them if a crowd is coming over. Or keep them in some Tupperware and microwave for 15 seconds before eating a day later.

Adapted from the Table to Table, Trinity Church Cookbook.

Make me banana pancakes...

Do you debate it in your house? Crepes or pancakes I mean. Which is better? Who prefers what? What will be made? Growing up, my dad preferred the thick, fluffy pancake. Preferably smothered in butter, maple syrup and cream. And perhaps with ice-cream. Rather like the McDonald's hotcakes in fact. I would vote for paper thin crepes, topped with lemon and sugar. They would be rolled into a log and eaten in slices. My sister Rach was a gun at making choc-chip pikelets. Melty chocolate, smothered in dripping butter, napkins mandatory!

More recently, I have been converted to the thick and fluffy side. But with banana if you don't mind. Mmmmmm! Blame it on Jack Johnson if you will:

But baby, you hardly even notice

When I try to show you this

Song it's meant to keep you

From doing what you're supposed to

Like waking up too early

Maybe we could sleep in

I'll make you banana pancakes

Pretend like it's the weekend now...

Sure, I do only make pancakes on the weekend, so there's no pretending about that. But pancakes in our house signals a lazy morning. Waking up late, substituting breakfast for brunch. Brewing an endless pot of coffee in the Bialetti. Raiding the fridge for half-eaten jars of jam... My pick is for banana pancakes, if you please!

This recipe is from one of my most trusted cookbooks, Feast. A few alterations have been made to Nigella Lawson's original instructions. For example, she is light on the sugar. While bananas are sweet, I think a little more is needed. And how she gets 20 pancakes out of it, I'll never know. Read, make, enjoy...

Banana Pancakes
Makes 7

I ripe banana, or two if they are lying around
180 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb soda
1 egg
300 ml milk
Splash of vinegar (or use 300 ml buttermilk and no vinegar if you have it handy)
2 tbs sugar
Butter, for cooking

In the bowl of your food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the butter. Blitz until smooth. Transfer into a jug and let it stand for a while. This can be done in the fridge for 30 minutes, and you will get a thick, frothy mixture. If you don’t have a food processor, mash the banana and add it to the liquid ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients after sifting them. Make a well in the middle of these ingredients and stir in the liquids.

Heat a frying pan or your trusty pancake cooker if you have one (ours was a gift that came from Aldi) to a medium heat. Grease the surface of your frying pan with butter on the back of a spoon. You really don’t want your pancakes to be swimming in butter, so this is a measured way of getting grease in without overdoing it. Pour in a good amount of batter, swirl pan around gently to dispurse the mixture and make your pancakes bigger. Cook until lots of bubbles appear and the underside is browning nicely. Flip and cook. Remove to a foil-lined plate. Keep the pancake warm under the foil while you repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Enjoy your pancakes with whatever toppings you prefer. Sliced banana and honey... butter and fig jam... maple syrup and ice-cream... lemon and sugar.