Nutty, light, succulent and slightly sour, these buckwheat cakes are based on the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook’s whole wheat pancake recipe. Read about the great pancake debate.
Yield: About 16 4-inch pancakes, or 8 adult servings
Ingredients: 1 cup plain buckwheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
Butter or light-flavored vegetable oil for the pan
Special equipment: 12-inch nonstick skillet; a large non-metal “fish turner” or “fish spatula” (this is a long, flexible spatula that’s great for delicate or difficult to flip foods like fish and pancakes); a large cookie sheet or pizza pan and a wire cooling rack.
Instructions: Place the wire cooling rack on the cookie sheet or pizza pan, and then put the lot in a warm oven (preheated to about 200 degrees). This is where you will keep cooked pancakes
until you’re ready to serve them.
Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. In
a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter and buttermilk. Make a well in the flour
mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, mix the wet and
dry ingredients together very gently until you have a lumpy batter with traces of flour still visible. Do not overmix, or your cakes will be tough.
Cooking: Heat your skillet on medium for about 5 minutes, or until a drop of water sizzles when dropped in the pan. A non-stick skillet is really best for frying these cakes. I add a teaspoon or so of butter or oil to the non-stick pan before cooking the first cake. Subsequent cakes don’t
require any oil or butter.
A little lecture on pans: If you don’t have a nonstick skillet, go buy one. It’s an essential kitchen tool for cooking both eggs and pancakes. Wearever makes a cheap but very sophisticated nonstick pan you can get at any discount department store such as Wal-Mart or Target. If you’re broke or just stubborn, you can use a traditional frying pan. You’ll need to oil the pan well before cooking each cake, though. No matter how much oil you use, the first and last cake will stick. Probably several of them will, actually. Just don’t blame me. Remember, I warned you.
Cooking, continued: Pour 1/4 cup batter into the hot pan for each cake. If frying in a 12-inch skillet, you can do two at a time. If you have a smaller skillet, use it. But it will require you to cook only one cake at a time.
Cook on the first side for about 2 minutes, or until large bubbles appear over most of the surface of the cakes. Flip the cakes and cook until golden brown on the second side, about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Spread the pancakes one-layer deep on the wire rack in the oven. Repeat until all the batter is used.
Serve 2 cakes per person with blueberry sauce, syrup, honey or country gravy. Bacon or sausage patties or links are wonderful accompaniments, as is a good, strong cup of coffee or a big glass of cold milk.
Now you can strap yourself to a plow and work on the farm for about four hours.
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