Pancakes with Coconut Milk
The other morning, I woke up craving sweet stuff. I was thinking of poppy seed cake, a fluffy pleated pastry with raspberry jam or similar. Of course I didn't have any of those at home. Disappointed, I sunk back into my pillow for a few more minutes, when suddenly I had a great idea. Pancakes!
I generally always have the ingredients for at least one pancake at home. Pancakes only consist of eggs, milk, flour and ideally baking powder, so they rise properly. Classic pancakes are served with maple syrup, but alternatively, you can use honey or even just sugar. Garnished with berries and coconut flakes, they are heavenly.
My sugar craving and the idea to make pancakes inspired me to try a coconut milk variation. I simply substituted normal milk with coconut milk, which immediately turned the pancakes into a very yummy lactose-free version. My favourite blog Green Kitchen Stories even featured a flourless pancake recipe - I definitely have to try that one next.
The most important aspect of pancakes is their fluffiness. They should rise while in the frying pan. How to get them perfectly round, I still don't know, but the Americans probably have shaped trays for them or they make pancakes as often as we make our Palatschinken, so practice really does make perfect after a while. Your pancakes will be the right kind of fluffy, if you whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks and then carefully fold them into the batter.
In my job with KochAbo, I have tried two delicious savoury pancake versions: one featured turmeric, which turned the cakes a wonderfully bright yellow, the other one added ricotta and parmesan to the mix. The pancakes were served with Swiss chard, fried bacon and salad. The preparation remains the same, you just add the different extra ingredients and substitute sugar with salt and pepper.
Here is the simple, classic pancake version:
Pancakes mit Kokosmilch
Ingredients:
Ingredients for the batter:
- 150g (gluten-free) flour
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder (for coeliacs: use the one by Dr. Oetker, the Haas one isn't gluten-free)
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 eggs
- 250ml milk or coconut milk for a lactose-free version (or use any other type of milk you like, such as almond, millet, rice or soy milk)
- 2-3 TBSP oil for frying
- sparkling water (optional)
Additional ingredients:
- maple syrup to garnish (or honey/sugar)
- fresh berries or other fruit
- coconut flakes
- Sonnentor's Blütenhäubchen edible-flower-herb-mix (optional)
Preparation:
- Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Separate the eggs, add the yolks and sparkling water (for even more fluffiness) to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Beat the egg whites with a little salt until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the flour/egg mixture.
- Heat some oil in a pan and add the batter in a circular motion portion for portion. Fry for around 3-4 minutes on each side, but not too hot or too long - they can still be white on the inside.
- Wash berries and/or other fruit and chop finely. Serve the pancakes on plates, garnish with coconut flakes or the edible-flower-herb-mix as well as fruit and a generous glug of maple syrup.
