Peanut Butter Cup Pancakes.

PEANUT BUTTER CUP PANCAKES. Mmmmmhummmm. That's right. And not Reese's Cups IN pancakes...actual peanut butter cup pancakes. Like...a layer of chocolate pancake and a layer of peanut butter pancake IN ONE PANCAKE. I'm quite excited about this discovery...can you tell?

I can't really claim it as my very own discovery...like Christopher Columbus, someone had been there before me. But also like Christopher Columbus, I'm going to pretend like I've discovered the best thing ever and I should get allll the credit. 

I think these would make really great dessert pancakes with ice cream and chocolate sauce...otherwise make sure you've got a realllllly busy day of running around ahead of you so as to feel justified in sprinkling chopped up actual Reese's Cups on the pancakes.....

Or maybe you had a really busy day yesterday and you need a reward today, or perhaps you've got a hardcore day tomorrow and you need sustenance in preparation, or maybe it's your birthday, or your friends birthday....whatever, just make sure you make these, chuck chocolate at them and have a bloomin' good time. With Love and Cake.

Peanut Butter Pancakes

A few notes:

• This is just my recipe for peanut butter pancakes split in half and cocoa added to one half. You could add cocoa to the whole thing and just have chocolate peanut butter pancakes without the layering and save a bowl.
• I served mine with butter and the chopped Reese's Cups but I can imagine they would be scrumptious with Nutella or even chocolate sauce and ice cream.

Makes about 10, depending on how big you want them

You will need

A non-stick frying pan

250g self-raising Flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 heaped tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp cocoa

• Get your pan on a medium heat.
• Pop the flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl and give everything a stir.
• Now whisk in the milk and egg, followed by the p. butter. You'll have quite a thick, stiff batter.
• Now add half the batter to another bowl and stir the cocoa into one of the halves...adding a little milk if it gets too stiff to manage.
• If you want a little help with non-stickness, grease your pan with a bit of butter.
• Now spoon heaped tablespoons of the chocolate batter into the pan and on top of each add about the same amount of peanut butter batter.
• Cook for a few minutes and when bubbles start to show on the up-facing surface, give the pancake a flip and cook for another few mins.
• Keep in a warm oven while you get on with the rest.

Oat and Raisin Pancakes.

I haven't made pancakes for aaaaaaaaaaaggggges. Don't know why really, probably because I am a FOOL. What's been even longer though is the time I've been meaning to try an oat and raisin pancake recipe. It's been so long that I had the recipe bookmarked in a little folder named 'Recipes to try'...that's right, pre-Pinterest times...otherwise known as The Dark Ages. Or have I got that confused?

I made these the other morning as a treat to myself after the Mr had FORCED me to go to the docs, which I hate above most things, because I'd run out of migraine pills....and he finds it quite unpleasant to come home to me in the fetal position in agony...gaaawd, such a mooooanerr.

Anyhoo, I went and turns out the Dr wasn't an ogre that day and it was fairly painless so I probably didn't even deserve pancakes...but we'll keep that quiet for now.

But deserving or not, these pancakes are special and are based on a the classic oat and raisin cookies. Helllooooo....cookie pancakes? Everyone deserves theeese. With Love and Cake.

Oat and Raisin Pancakes.

Adapted from a Joy the Baker recipe

A few notes:

• I actually used sultanas instead of raisins...they're just juicier. Do as you will.
• These spread out a fair amount in the pan, so use a bit less mixture than you think you want for each pancake.
• These are not the most robust pancakes; when they're only cooked on one side and need flippin' they are a bit delicate...not in a disastrous way though, all you need to do it make sure you don't make them too much bigger than your flipping utensil and have a second spatula near by for extra help. When the second side starts to cook they're happy to be flung around as you wish.

Makes plenty, at least enough for 4 people

You will need

2 eggs

250ml buttermilk

55g butter, melted

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

180g plain flour

50g oats

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

pinch salt

50g raisins

• Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
• Fold in the rest of the ingredients until everything is well combined.
• Heat your best pancake pan (I like a large, shallow non-stick frying pan) over a medium to high heat.
• Add a little oil to your pan if you need it (I don't because my pan is nice and non-stick) and fry tablespoonfuls of pancake mix until bubbles start to rise on the top.
• Flip the pancakes gently (see notes), and cook for a further few minutes, until the second side is dark and firm.
• Set aside while you cook the rest of the mix, keeping cooked pancakes in a warm oven until you're ready to serve...at which point add lots of syrup and raspberries. 

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Swirls.

I don't really have anything much to say today, apart from OH MY GOOD GRACIOUS ME DROP EVERYTHING (unless maybe you're holding a baby or something) AND MAKE THESE IMMMMEDIATELY. 

Unless you're a peanut butter hater, in which case, I think you've taken a wrong turn somewhere, there is NOTHING to not LOVE about these swirly chaps. It might sound a bit weird having PB IN your bread, but oh no, weird is so far wrong.

But maybe you've never made anything bready or yeasty before and you're thinking, 'hang on now, this all looks a bit too extreme for me'. Well it's a good job I'm here to tell you...WRONG, you're WRONG. They're easy as long as you follow along, step by step, and you don't really need anything (HA, geddit, KNEAD joke), no loaf pans or extract of parrot or whatever some actual hard and extreme recipes require.

So pleaseplease make these, if only so that you can actually see how incredibly off the charts yumsters they are in real life and you'll realise that I'm really not a raving loony, they are just that good. Please. With Love and Cake.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Whirls.

Adapted from my Skillingsboller recipe

A few notes:

• For lots of handy tips which apply to pretty much all things bready and yeasty, check out my White Bread post from last year.
• You don't neeeeed to ice these, but when has need ever come into it?
• My favourite ever peanut butter in this one. So good.

Makes about 10

You will need

2 tsp dried, fast acting, yeast

200ml milk, luke warm

350g strong white bread flour

2 tbsp caster sugar

pinch salt

1 egg, lightly whisked

1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

For the filling

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

For the icing

1 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

150g icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

• Firstly, mix together the yeast and the milk and let them get acquainted for 5 minutes or so.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt and make a well in the centre.
• Add the egg and peanut butter to the well, followed for about 3/4 of the milk/yeast mix.
• Time to get your hands in there and bring everything together to a soft dough, adding more of the milk if you need.
• Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until the dough is shiny and springy.
• Pop the dough back in his bowl and leave somewhere cosy for an hour or until just about doubled in size.
• Meanwhile make the filling by mixing the cinnamon and sugar together.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean floured surface and roll or press out to a rectangle of about 40 x 25 cm.
• Spread peanut butter over the rectangle and roll up from one of the long ends, like a Swiss roll.
• Cut, with a nice sharp bread knife, every 2.5 cm and lay each bun, swirl side up/down onto the baking tray with a couple of cm gap between each one.
• Now leave them to rise back in the cosy place for another 30-45 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200°c.
• When the buns have puffed up a bit, pop them in the oven for 15 minutes, until they look golden and beautiful.
• Allow to cool completely while you make the icing.
• Beat together the cream cheese and peanut butter until well combined and smooth.
• Add the icing sugar and beat gently so that when everything's well mixed, you have a fairly loose and oh so delicious paste.
• Slather over your buns and thank me after devouring. 

Nutella and Cream Cheese Crêpe Cake.

 

Hiiiii. So here's the thing I told you about the other day; the thing that would mean the humble crêpe is not so humble any more.

It goes like this...crêpe, Nutella, crêpe, cream cheese, crêpe, Nutella, crêpe, cream cheese, on and on and on until finally...GANACHE. I mean....wowzeers.

And let's be clear...this is not any old Nutella, oh nonono, this is the homemade stuff I haven't really stopped banging on about that tastes of actual nuts and joyfullness. And the ganache? Yeeeeeah, that's the genius stuff that's made of chocolate and water and NOTHING ELSE.

Maaan, I surprise mySELF sometimes...I mean, yes yes there are plenty of Pinterest pins of Crêpe Cakes, but did those pinners make their own Nutella, or use kitchen wizardry to magic up healthy ganache....I don't think soooo. I'll take congratulations and donations by email, postcard or tweet...thanks. With Love and Cake.

Nutella Crêpe Cake.

A few notes:

• This is not exactly a 'recipe' as such. There is no fine line between success and failure, as long as you have your basic crêpe, you can have all the fun of the fair....perhaps replace the Nutella with lemon curd, or any jam really, or you could go savoury and use cheese and pesto, whatever floats your boat.
• Of course, I used my very genius homemade Nutella (nope, still not over it yet), but do not feel bad about using the bought stuff, it's just harder to convince yourself of it's health giving properties that way. Either way you will probably not use a whole jar as I have prescribed below, but who was ever sad about leftover Nutella?
• For extra fancyness, I topped my stack with some ganache that I had in the fridge. Feel free to do that too, I used 1 x portion of this recipe, but if I didn't happen to have it made up already, I would happily use extra Nutella.

Serves 6-8 generously

You will need

20-30 crêpes, I used 2 x this recipe

1 x jar Nutella

1 x tub cream cheese

1 x portion ganache (optional, see notes)

1 x handful hazelnuts, toasted under the grill for a few minutes

• Everything is ready, we just need to assemble really. So lay your first crêpe on the plate you want to serve from.
• Spread over about 1 heaped dessert spoonful of Nutella.
• Lay another crêpe on top and spread about the same amount of cream cheese on top of that.
• Keep going like this, crêpe, Nutella, crêpe, cream cheese, crêpe etc until your final crêpe is on top.
• Pretend you're icing a cake and top with a neat layer of ganache (if using) or Nutella.
• Pile the hazelnuts of top and you. are. done.
• Wowzas, so fancy but so simple.

The Humble Crêpe.

I've harped on and on about my love of the pancake, but I have yet to include a recipe for the humble crêpe here on my teensy little corner of Kingdom Blog.

The reason is not profound, not that they are difficult in any way, only that I don't really ever make them, because, well, if I'm going to make pancakes, I really am wanting the fat fluffy American/Scotch Pancake type ones. They are my jam.

But for some reason, I can't even remember the thought process, I got a little hankering for them....ow, no, wait, IIIIII remember now. It all started with a freshly made jar of my homemade Nutella (perfect post training fuel you see) and I was just looking for another vehicle for it. They really are a fab vehicle for anything scrummy that you want to savour, but need a sort of 'turn into a meal' justification to be able to shovel directly into your mouth

I show you them here in their most basic, most delicious form, and the way in which they graced my breakfast table (lap) this morning. But fear not...I am concocting a veryvery Nutella-ey notion that will be winging its way to you very shortly. In the meantime though, get that frying pan heating and perfect that toss, you will be needing plenty of these beauties. With Love and Cake.

Crêpes.

A Delia recipe from her Complete Cookery Course

A few notes:

• With traditional batters, you're usually asked to let them stand, which I think is so the flour particles can soack up all the liquidyness and you get a nice juicy pancake or whatever (though I may be tttttotally making this up). Delia says that you don't have to do this with her batter however, which I guess is because it's quite eggy and therefore quite juicy anyway. I, in fact, did let it stand for a bit, just because it worked out best in terms of my schedge...but you do as you please.
• I think the most important variable factor in terms of your success rate when it comes to pancakes, of any kind, is your frying pan. I want a heavy based one, with good quality non-stick (which NEVER goes in the dishwasher and NEVER comes into contact with metal utensils)....this one is my pride and joy.

You will need

an 18-20cm frying pan

200ml milk plus 75ml water

2 eggs

110g plain flour

pinch salt

2 tbsp butter, melted, plus a bit extra for the pan

• First get your pan on the heat so it gets fairly hot while you get on with the batter.
• Measure out the milk and water in a measuring jug and whisk in the eggs.
• Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and whisk in the milk mix.
• Finally, whisk in the melted butter...your batter is ready. 
• I find it easiest to pour the batter into the pan from a jug, so at this point transfer the mix to the measuring jug you already used.
• Swirl a tiny bit of butter around your hot pan, just to get it started. 
• Pour about 2 tbsp batter into your pan and immediately swirl it around so it covers the base of the pan.
• Leave the batter alone on the heat for a few minutes, until you see the edges brown and curl away from the pan.
• Time to flip, tossing is deffo my preferred method but feel free to use a turner.
• Leave to cook for another few minutes; you want both sides golden and molted dark brown.
• Set the pancake aside, transferring to a warm oven if you want to keep it warm, and continue to use up the rest of the batter in the same way.
• Get going with some lemon and sugar, or stay tuned for a rather exciting crêpe based recipe coming soooon.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Gingery Honey.

I WENT TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH. Does that not just sound like the cutest way ever to spend a Saturday afternoon? It doooooooes...until I tell you that, well, I looked at the very soggy pumpkin patch and it’s big KEEP OUT sign through the fogging up window of the deserted farm shop, and picked my pumpkins from the indoor display.

Yes, weather-wise it was not ideal. It did not live up to my image of crunching through golden leaves and crystallised ground in wellies and woolly hats and cutting my very own pumpkin and taking pictures and hugging it.

Silver lining though...the farm shop folk seemed to just so grateful that anyone would even leave their front doors that day, let alone make a special ‘out the way’ trip to pick veg, that they gave everyone a big bargain and we got 2 hefty pumpkins for £3. Bargain. That’s a lot of pumpkin baking that’s got to be done.

The reason I did make the ‘out the way’ trip was because sooooo many of the recipes that are floating around bloggyland at the mo are pumpkin all the way; in the states they buy pureed pumpkin in cans you see, and I was determined not to be left out. And I am sooooo pleased I did. The puree is super easy to make....I explain how here, and it’s just so much fooooood; tasty and nutritious food at that, for such little effort and money. You can expect a fair few pumpkin recipes popping up here over the next few weeks so be sure to find your local patch and to go on a soggy day when the people behind the till will feel sorry for you. With Love and Cake.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Gingery Honey.

A few notes:

• I wanted to make these kind of wholesome, hence the addition of oats and wholemeal flour. If you're not feeling the hippy vibe just replace the wholemeal flour with extra self raising and leave out the oats.
• I cannot stress enough how much difference a good, heavy based frying pan makes to pancake success. I have a little but brilliant one and big rubbish one....I use both at the same time for maximum output and the difference in pancake lovelyness is thoroughly evident I'm afraid. It's not a bargain addition to your cupboard but will be a lifelong investment if pancakes are your thing.

Makes about 20

You will need

For the syrup

4 tbsp honey 

1 tbsp golden syrup

2 cm fresh ginger, finely grated

For the pancakes

100g wholemeal flour

125g self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tbsp caster sugar (golden, for preference)

pinch salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

300ml yogurt or buttermilk

300g pumpkin puree (homemade or from a can)

1 egg

100g rolled oats

crystalised ginger (optional)

• First we'll make the syrup. Pop the honey, syrup and ginger in a little saucepan with a small splash of water.
• Heat gently until a syrupy consistency is achieved and set aside while you get on with the pancakes.
• Stir together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl or mixing jug, whisk together the yogurt or buttermilk, pumpkin and egg.
• Whisk the pumpkin mix into the dry ingredients until well combined and fold in the oats.
• Heat your frying pan over a medium heat and cook heaped tablespoon-fulls of pancake batter until you see little air bubbles all over the surface of the uncooked side of the pancake; a few minutes.
• This means it's time to flip and cook the pancakes on their second side for another couple of minutes...they're ready when they're firm and bronze on both sides.
• Keep the pancakes warm in a low oven if you need, while you carry on cooking the rest of the batter.
• Top pancakes with butter and ginger syrup and a few pieces of crystalised ginger if you're feeling fancy.

Carrot Cake Pancakes.

Yep. That’s right. Carrot. Cake. Pancakes. So good I made them twice in one week. 

Weeeeell you could say that I suppose, ooor you could say that while they are very lovely, it was actually me being a bit of a dimwit, making my first major camera based booboo in the form of taking  a whole set of photies of them sans memory card and not noticing until they were all tucked up tight in the freezer, that caused the excessive devotion to these spiced flatties. *Slow clap for me*. 

But I’m going to see it as a blessing in disguise because your experience of these pancakes will be greatly improved by my assessments of the first batch and the subsequent alterations I made to the recipe. Yippeeee for silver linings.

You therefore have a lighter, tastier and all round more interesting breakfast at the tip of your fingers. AND they have fruit and vegetables and wholemeal flour and you could even add nuts if you wanted to go all the way to Health Food Heaven. Cake...unhealthy? Not here. With Love and Cake.

Carrot Cake Pancakes.

Inspired by Joy the Baker

A few notes:

• These need spice, so don't skimp on that part of the recipe.
• You don't have to use wholemeal flour if you don't fancy it or simply don't have any; just replace the quantity with extra self-raising.
• Feel free to omit the sultanas or go crazy and accompany them with a handful of chopped nuts.
• These are a bit more high maintenance to cook because of the added extras that stick a bit to the pan so just be patient, don't stress, use a good heavy based pan if that's poss, otherwise greasegreasegrease with butter or oil. 

Makes 10-15

You will need

good heavy based frying pan or flat griddle, greased

For the pancakes

150g self-raising flour

75g wholemeal flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

50g sultanas

300ml milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 medium carrots, grated finely...and it MUST be finely

For the topping

3 tbsp mascarpone

1 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

• Combine the two types of flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and sultanas in a large bowl.
• In another bowl or measuring jug whisk the egg and vanilla into the milk.
• Whisk the liquid into the dry mixture so everything is well combined and you have a thick batter.
• Stir in the carrots until evenly distributed throughout the mix.
• Heat your pan over a medium heat and cook tablespoonfuls of batter in it until you can can see that the bottom half is cooked. You get fewer bubbles than you would with normal fluffy pancakes that you would rely on to tell you when to flip, so you have to pay attention to the edges to see how much the pancake had cooked.
• Loosen and flip each pancake; it helps to clean your fish slice between each batch.
• Cook until the second side is cooked and then flip a couple more times if you think they could do with a bit more heat.
• Keep warm in a low oven if you're not eating immediately.
• To make the topping, which you'll probably be able to do while the pancakes are on the go, simple whisk the mascarpone, icing sugar, vanilla and milk to a smooth paste.
• Serve the warm pancakes with a good dollop of the sweet cream cheese and an extra sprinkling of cinnamon. 

Dutch Baby.

Helloooooo. I've come to a revelatory conclusion; the conclusion that you can make eating anything, at any time of day, feel appropriate just with a name change and a little twiddle. You want cake for breakfast? Call it coffee cake. You feel like crisps before dinner? Ok, just put them in a bowl and call them nibbles. You want bread for your dessert do you? Well mix in some sugar and eggs and bake a pudding. See, whatever you want, whenever you want it...I can sort it for you.

This treat is a case in point. Basically, you see, it is what us Brits would call a Yorkshire Pudding; plain old batter, cooked in hot fat until puffy and light.

The thing is though, what clever Americans have done is think of a cutey name for it, sploshed in a bit of vanilla and there you have it....Dutch Baby....ooooor Yorkshire Pudding for breakfast.

Present Dutch Baby with a spot of lovely syrup or fruit compote, doused in icing sugar and people will applaud you. Say you’re having a breakfast Yorkshire Pudding (not as crazycrackers as it sounds, I promise, ask Nigella who has it with cream and golden syrup) and they’ll turn their noses up. So go forth and eat weirldly...make this for breakfast and thank out chums across the pond who have a food solution to every problem. With Love and Cake.

Dutch Baby.

A few notes:

• If you have a fav yorkshire pudding recipe, you could just as easily use that...though I would still use butter in the pan instead of oil to avoid your breakfast having a 'roast' air about it.
• As with many of my breakfast recipes, I just use a coffee mug to measure, just because grams feel like overkill in the morning.
• Serve with the same things you would with pancakes...I made a compote out of blackcurrants; boiling 150g of them for a few minutes with 2 tbsp of sugar, but syrup, jam or also fresh fruit seem appropriate too.

Serves 2-3

You will need

1x20cm frying pan or roasting dish

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup strong white bread flour

a splash of vanilla extract

pinch salt

a good knob of butter

• Right...let's go. Pop your frying pan or roasting dish into the oven and turn the heat on to as high as it goes.
• While that's heating up, beat everything except the butter into a nice big bowl so you have a smooth batter.
• When the oven's up to temperature, turn it down to 220°c.
• Take out the frying pan, and pop in the butter. As it melts swirl it around the frying pan so it's nice and covered.
• Pour in the batter and get it straight bake in the oven. DO NOT TOUCH THE HOT HANDLE....YOUR HAND WILL NOT LIKE IT....been there, done that.
• Cook for 20 minutes until it's puffed up and golden.
• Sprinkle lots and lots of icing sugar over the top and eat while hot and buttery.

Raspberry Butter.

Well hi. I’ve been away. Away to the deepest, darkest depths of the wonderful English countryside and it was magical. Being on holiday is brilliant...even for someone like me who thrives off of multiple ‘To do...’ lists despite not even having a real job. It is the LOVELIEST feeling thinking of all the time stretching out in front of you that’s only requirement is that you fill it with fun.

Being on holiday with your parents (some people’s idea of hell, I know, but I happen to like mine a lot) is even better because all the big scary grown up things that you’re meant to worry about just go away. And you can have hugs wheneveeeeer you want; they’re rationed in my house you see.

So here I am, back in Scotland, but panic not, there’s only a few big scary grown up things to worry about, because I came back with parents in tow. Hurrah. And they are staying in the CUTEST little house in the CUTEST little village just down the road.

The recipe then, is a simple pimple one, for easing back in to real life after one of sea side fun. No oven required, a childish sweetie taste and lots of buttery badness. Now would say more about it...but must dash....more fun to be had. With Love and Cake.

Raspberry and Vanilla Butter.

A few notes:

• There are plenty of delicious ways that you could use this. I popped some on pancakes as you can see, but toast would be lovely, or French Toast. On warm scones...oh my...
• I think the best way to keep this if you're not going to eat it all in one go, is to chop it up in to discs, freeze the discs nice and spread out on a baking sheet and then transfer them to a freezer bag and keep frozen until you're ready to pop them on your breakfast.

Makes 1 big log

You will need

clingfilm or foil

250g unsalted butter, at room temperature

75g fresh raspberries

a good splosh of vanilla extract

1 level tbsp icing sugar

• Pop your butter in a bowl and mash it about with a fork to make it into a smooth, pliable paste and get  it a teeny bit more fluffy...though we're not looking to whip it up as you would for buttercream.
• Tumble in the fruit, vanilla and sugar and mash it all in so it's evenly distributed but not mashed 100% smooth, you want oozy bits of raspberry next to smooth butter.
• Blob the butter along a rectangle of clingfilm or foil and roll it up into a sausage.
• Twist each end of the sausage up tightly so the butter is squished into an even tighter sausage.
• Leave to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before unwrapping, cutting into rounds and spreading onto something wonderful.

Chai Pancakes: A Reunion.

Oh hellooooooo. Pancakes and I have been taking a little break from one another recently. Not for any particular reason really, but sometimes a break from something you love happens on its own and it turns out to be brilliant in a funny way. You sort of don’t realise that you miss it until it’s back and then you fall in love all over again. That’s what happened here.

I’ve been seeing and lusting after recipes for chai spiced pancakes for a little while now but all have looked fairly inaccessible. Mostly, to be honest, because they’re American recipes and call for ingredients that we just don’t come across.

But I had a stroke of genius. Well not really a stroke, more of a gradual realisation of the answer followed by the inevitable ‘duuuuuh, OBVIOUSLY I will flavour the milk with teabags...fool’.

So here I am, reunited with the Queen of Breakfasts (yes that is an official title...) with just enough fiddle to my original and ultimate pancake recipe to provide all the fabulous fluffyness I require from my pancakes while remaining new and exciting and spiced to high heaven. With Love and Cake.

Chai Pancakes with Cinnamon Butter

A few notes:

• Of course you don’t have to accompany the pancakes with the cinnamon butter, just the regular stuff and a drizzle of maple syrup would be divine.
• The butter will freeze well though, just chop it all into disc and open freeze, then keep them in a bag in the freezer, ready for more pancakes, French toast, you could even pop some in a chilli to make it shiny and delish.
• The more pancakes I make, the more I realise what a difference a good quality pan makes.I have one lovely Le Creuset one and one 'not Le Creuset' one, and I have them both on the go at the same time for time saving purposes...which makes for an excellent comparison. Obviously I'm not suggesting you have to buy a new pan before you make your next batch of pancakes, but if you have a choice go for non-stick and as heavy a base as poss.
• I used a blender to whizz my pancake batter up, but a bowl and whisk would be a.ok.

Makes around 10

You will need

For the butter

1x250g pack butter, at room temperature

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp demerara sugar

greaseproof paper

For the pancakes

300ml milk

3 chai teabags
225g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
25g caster sugar
1 egg

• The first thing to do, the night before you want pancakes, is to pop the tea bags in the milk and leave them to infuse overnight.
• Then, on 'pancake day', lets do the butter first. All you need to do is mash the cinnamon and sugar into the butter so it's well combined.
• Then, on a nice large rectangle of greaseproof paper blob the butter along one of the long edges of the paper. Roll the paper around it tight and then twist the ends so it looks like a giant sweet.
• Pop it in the fridge to firm up while you get on with the pancakes.
• Remove the tea bags from the milk and add it and all the other ingredients to the blender or bowl and whizz/whisk to a thick, stiff batter.
• Get you pan hot over a medium heat and pour rounds of the batter into it, as big or small as you want your pancakes...up to you really.
• Leave alone until the edges firm up and come away from the pan and bubble form on the uncooked side.
• Flip the pancakes over and cook the second side until golden and firm.
• Eateateat with the butter dripping over or pop into a warm oven while you cook with the rest of the batter. Then eateateat,