Adventures in Shaw

For me, Sundays mean decadent breakfasts spent lounging over the newspaper and listening to the pundits battle it out on the talking head shows. So when I woke up on Sunday, I decided to treat myself to my favorite: mixed berry pancakes. The recipe is not only easy, but it turns out fluffy pancakes every time!

Seriously, this recipe has less than ten ingredients, can all be mixed in one bowl and is fool proof. It’s an old recipe from a church cookbook my mother owned for years. And since I had a busy weekend of baking and cooking, making these were a no brainer. You can use any combination of berries, but since I had strawberries and some dethawed blueberries lying around, I decided to throw them into the mix. I also added some cardamom, a spice I am now totally obsessed with and use every chance I get.

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cardamom

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup berries – I used strawberries and blueberries

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Sift together the flour, baking soda, sugar and cardamom into a mixing bowl. In a measuring cup, pour out the two cups of buttermilk and add the eggs and butter. Whisk together and then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until all the lumps are gone, then add the berries.

Either spray a frying pan or griddle with Pam or melt an additional tablespoon of butter in the pan. Pour out enough batter to make a small or medium sized pancake and watch until bubbles form in the batter. Then gently flip the pancake and allow to brown on the other side for about 2 more minutes. Transfer the finished pancake to a plate and repeat the steps with the remaining batter.

I used the juices from the berries as a sort of syrup for these babies. I simply boiled the juices down until they thickened and let the concentration cool to room temperature. I was actually surprised it worked (and that I didn’t burn my pot), so it was a nice bonus. Notice I refrained from making any bacon…and it just about killed me.