Jun 27, 2017

Pancakes Aplenty

By MaryAnn Miano

Did you know there are countless possibilities when making pancakes? There are so many combinations, so many creative flavors you can invent, and so many breakfast and dinner meals you can craft – all with a little help from a book such as Pancakes Aplenty by Ruth Ellen Church. This collection of scrumptious recipes is available for checkout from the Kitty Henning Cook Book Collection at the Colts Neck Library. Plain or fancy, you’ll find a recipe in this book to suit your desire for pancakes, waffles, fritters, and even omelets.

The earliest pancakes were a simple combination of pounded meal mixed with water and baked on stones outdoors. Crisp tortillas are not much more than that. But crepe-like pancakes have become a delicacy and are used as hors d’oeuvres with dipping sauces at parties.

The book’s chapters break out as follows:  Pancakes, with tips on pancakes and plentiful pancake recipes; Waffles, and how to make them crisp along with waffle recipes; Fritters, with ideas for dessert and recipes to follow; Omelets, and how they are a special kind of pancake, along with omelet recipes; and finally, Butters, syrups, sauces, and fillings, with ideas on how to dress up your pancakes, along with great dressing recipes.

The author wisely includes recipes for the most popular pancakes we all know and love, such as buttermilk, blueberry, buckwheat, or plain. Other choices are from Swedish and German classics, potato pancakes, strawberry pancakes, sausage roll-ups, and cheese blintzes. The sauces in the last section are to be tried on pancakes, waffles, omelets, and fritters. According to Ms. Church, your favorite pancakes are an unfinished dish until they are dressed in a sauce or syrup. Her chapter on butters and syrups has suggestions for toppings like honey-butter or orange-butter whip, fresh blueberry or caramel syrup, orange sauce or raspberry-lemon sauce, among many others.

You will be able to come up with an endless combination of attractive and different types of dishes! The following recipe is a sample for you to try:

YOGURT PANCAKES

3 eggs, separated

¼ cup sugar

2 cups yogurt

¼ cup melted butter

1 ½ cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Mix well-beaten egg yolks, sugar, yogurt, and butter. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in egg whites (beaten until stiff peaks form). Drop from a large spoon onto a lightly greased griddle. Bake until brown on both sides. Serve with honey or syrup.

Recipe from Pancakes Aplenty, Page 84, By Ruth Ellen Church, Publisher: Rand McNally & Company, 1962.