I always knew that taking part in the Great Bloggers Bake Off this week was going to be a challenge. With the programme not airing until Wednesday evening, Thursday being my Farm shop baking day with the additional pressure of forty cupcakes to make for a wedding, and then having to leave for a weekend away teaching embroidery on Friday there was a good chance I wasn't going to do it before the weekend if at all. But as many of you already know I am just a little bit bonkers!
I wasn't overly inspired by "Batter Week". The bakers had to make filled Yorkshire puddings for their signature bake, lacy pancakes for the technical challenge and churros for the showstopper. I know I'm probably on my own here but I'm not that keen on Yorkshire puddings. I can make them... and did so on a weekly basis when all the boys were still at home... but I can take them or leave them. I quite liked the idea of making churros and will probably give them a try when I've got more time as that is something I've never tried before. So that left the technical challenge... pancakes. As far as I can see, frying pancakes has very little to do with baking... and is not that much of a challenge either... except these ones were lacy! So I decided to make them for dessert this evening.
I only made half the mixture as with only two of us here I thought twelve pancakes might be a few too many, especially when we don't usually eat dessert. To be fair getting that lacy pattern was trickier than it looked... my first attempt wasn't terribly elegant! But it got easier as I went along. By the last one I'd got the hang of it.
Should you want to try them yourself my pancake mixture was 90g plain flour whisked up with one medium egg, 130ml milk, a dessert spoon of caster sugar and a teaspoon of melted butter. You need a non stick pan smeared with butter and your mixture in a squeezy bottle. Get the pan reasonably hot, squeeze out your design... cook for about a minute until set and flip over to brown the other side... that's all there was to it. If you really want my opinion (and you probably don't) I wouldn't bother with the squeezy bottle and just put spoonfuls of the mixture in the pan to make normal pancakes because I can't see the point of all the lacy nonsense! But what do I know?
I guess they did look pretty and they tasted good with a sprinkle of sugar and ice cream... although bang goes the diet for this week!
Joining in with Jenny of Mummy Mishaps for the Great Bloggers Bake Off.
Your pancakes would have won, I am certain of it! I am not a fan of pancakes, never make them myself. I am more of a waffle kind of girl. Enjoy your teaching weekend, hope the weather is as good down South as it is here. x
ReplyDeleteOh, my! That pancake is so pretty, I want to wear it!
ReplyDeleteLike you say, pretty indeed, but what a faff. I must admit to sniggering when you said you don't usually eat desserts, but you do make cake! :D
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw your lacy pancake I thought you must have made it in a special shaped pan! I suppose, with all those holes, they must be less fattening than the ordinary ones but I like 'proper' pancakes, even if they aren't as pretty - I'm greedy!
ReplyDeleteYour lacy pancakes look great but I am not a great lover of pancakes. I do admire you for taking up the challenge each week, particularly when you are so busy.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that pancakes weren't that much of a challenge but this years bakers proved that not to be the case. I wonder where baking comes on the list of requirements for the GBBO?
ReplyDeleteGina, I think you will now be the Queen of Lacy Pancake Hearts! They are lovely, but I agree with you about whether they are part of the baking kingdom.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up Churros, and discovered that I have seen them many, many times being sold in and around subway stations on weekend evenings by tiny ladies dressed in traditional South American outfits. Many times, coming home late from the shop, I would be tempted to buy some, but never did. Now perhaps I will, given a future opportunity.
Enjoy the embroidery weekend. xo
Those lacy pancakes are absolutely fab! Though I hear and completely agree with what you say about just making regular pancakes.
ReplyDeleteAngela x
Worth doing... Once!
DeleteThe pancakes look amazing, love them. I was thinking of doing them myself, but I'm not sure I can make ones that look pretty.
ReplyDeleteYou should give them a try as they weren't that difficult. Worth doing once!
DeleteI wish I had your patience!
ReplyDeleteNot really that patient Jessica, only when I set myself ridiculous challenges!
DeleteThese look fabulous, I would definitely eat them x
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Deletewow what fantastic lacy pancakes !what an amazing design and cooked to pancake perfection. i think you could have won the technical challenge! thank you for linking up x x
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny,although I still don't think this was much to do with baking!
Deleteoh yes - they do look lovely! x
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhen it comes to pancakes I think it would be difficult for me to make a batch all identical never mind creating lacy ones! Yours looks lovely.
ReplyDeletevery pretty but agree what has pancakes really got to do with baking.
ReplyDeleteVery little! I think they are starting to run out of ideas!
DeleteYou're too funny! I don't much see the point of lacy pancakes either, since we have ours with syrup -- the syrup would just run out of the holes LOL. It was fun to "paint" pancakes though, when the kids were little. Nothing better than a pancake with a smiley face!
ReplyDeleteThey look so pretty! I agree though why bother! A whole one would be just as tasty
ReplyDeleteThese look great. Think I am going to have to have a go at this type of pancake just to see if I can do it!
ReplyDeleteWell, the lacy pattern does look kinda cool. Here those little holes would be perfect for puddles of maple syrup (the real stuff). I'm not much of a pancake eater, but the kids all like them.
ReplyDeleteI once saw a recipe in an American cookbook for "oven baked pancake". It sounded rather good, and it claimed to feed a family of four. I put it all together and baked it. When I checked it in the oven I realized it wasn't a pancake at all, but Yorkshire pudding!! A big supper fail!
Wendy