Blueberry Pancakes

[Tri2Cook]

Blueberries for many of us are too expensive. Don't waste them on panckes.

I guess that's one good thing about where I live. I already have 8 gallons of local wild blueberries in my freezer from this year and the season is really just getting started. The wild blueberries are usually smaller than most of the cultivated varieties but they're more flavorful in general and hold up well in baking and pancakes. It's just a matter of how willing a person is to spend the time out in the heat and bugs to get them.

And putting blueberries in pancakes is never a waste.

[Ashen]

I do the  set and then add to the top side and push down method as well.  My go to batter is the Instant Pancake mix  from Alton browns Good Eats. The buttermilk/baking soda and baking powder give these a lot of loft, 1/2 " easily up to 3/4 "   if  I use a plain yougurt/milk mixture instead of buttermilk.   I like that  you only have to mix the dry every three or so times you make them. I will sometimes go a step further and mix all of the wet  needed for three batches and freeze them individually  .  Pull out the day before and let thaw in the fridge and the next morn you can have homemade pancakes just by dumping wet on dry  and mixing. 

 

 

Sorry not blueberry but you get the idea how easy it would be to bury even the biggest blueberries  in these pancakes. 

 

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/instant-pancake-mix-recipe.html

Edited August 11, 2014 by Ashen (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I am not quite grasping the problem with just mixing the blueberries right into the batter, which is what I always do. What's going on with yours when you do that?

 

I suspect they'd clog the little valve of my iSi.

 

Having all the ingredients I decided to take on this challenge.  I have not tried making pancakes in years, mind you, so I am no expert.  (What I do cook often is a Dutch pancake, which I bake in a soufflé dish -- much easier.)

 

However for today's pancakes I mixed and matched recipes from Joy of Cooking and the iSi website, as well as my own intuition:

 

90 g cake flour

90 g AP flour

250 g whole milk (yes, I weighed it)

2 large eggs

2 Tablespoons melted butter

2-3 Tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

blueberries (reserved)

 

 

Note, I have blueberry bushes twenty feet from the stove, but for this I used commercial store-bought berries.

 

I processed all ingredients in the Cuisinart except the blueberries, then let the batter rest for about an hour.  After charging and portioning the batter onto the griddle I dotted the pancakes with the reserved blueberries.

 

These were OK, but only the first pancake was very pretty as there were soon mushed berries stuck all over the surface of the griddle.  I then tried using only a few small berries in each cake, but then the pancakes were lacking in blueberry flavor.  I also tried the method of sprinkling the raw blueberries on top of the finished pancakes.  As others have pointed out above, this is totally impractical.

 

The best method, and the one that works for me, is to eat the blueberries by handfuls while standing at the stove watching the pancakes cook.

[Chris Hennes]

Holly said it best, I think:

 

Blueberries on top are nice though they roll all over the place and expertly parry off fork thrusts. They also taste differently fresh than when cooked into a pancake.

Blueberry pancakes are pancakes with the blueberries cooked inside.

 

I don't understand why your griddle had mushed berries stuck all over it. Are your berries bursting and then sticking to it? I wonder if it's actually due to the lightness of the batter having a less moderating effect on the heat that a thicker (non-iSi'ed) batter.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Yes, the berries were bursting on the bottom when the cakes were turned, and sticking (and still are stuck) to the griddle.

[lesliec]

If I understood Jo's method, side 1 was all batter and side 2 was probably mostly blueberry (in contact with the cooking surface).  A second squirt from the siphon after putting the blueberries on might be a worthwhile experiment.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Interesting idea, Leslie, thanks!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I put Leslie's suggestion to the test -- although this time I used a non-stick ceramic coated skillet, rather than my poor blueberry pocked griddle.  Nice thick pancakes.  Essentially no berry leakage.

 

However I tended to overdo it on the second squirt and ended up with larger (in diameter) specimens than I might have liked.  I think it just takes a little practice.

[lesliec]

You're saying bigger pancakes are a bad thing?  Surely not!

 

Glad it worked, though.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I tend to think of blueberries as exclusive to North America.  Do you grow them down there?  Or are they exotic products of marketing the way kiwi fruit are here?  Or do blueberries exist only in the realm of forbidden pancake porn?  ...With maple syrup and bacon, of course.

[lesliec]

No shortage of blueberries here - even growing an hour or less north of me.  They're not native, of course (neither are kiwifruit!), and presumably their ancestors came from over your way somewhere.

 

I've never 'got' bacon with sweet stuff.  But, as you may be able to see here, I have no problem chucking a handful of blueberries onto a pavlova.

[Kerry Beal]

No shortage of blueberries here - even growing an hour or less north of me.  They're not native, of course (neither are kiwifruit!), and presumably their ancestors came from over your way somewhere.

 

I've never 'got' bacon with sweet stuff.  But, as you may be able to see here, I have no problem chucking a handful of blueberries onto a pavlova.

That is a damn fine looking pavlova!

[lesliec]

Tasted all right, too.  The trick is to forget all about making them immaculate - they're supposed to be lumpy, and probably to collapse when they come out of the oven.  Commercial ones look perfect and taste blah.

 

You guys have got me interested now.  What's a good blueberry pancake recipe?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I stand by my recipe above, although next time I may reduce the milk a tad to make the batter slightly thicker.  However your most helpful workaround obviates the problem of covering the berries.

[Chris Hennes]

I think a good blueberry pancake recipe is to take your favorite buttermilk pancake recipe, remove any vanilla, and add lemon zest (I add the juice of the lemon for good measure).

[lesliec]

That presupposes you've got a favourite buttermilk pancake recipe!  I'll give Jo's a try.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I returned to blueberry pancakes today.  Burned the first one.  (It might have been a clue that the grape seed oil I wiped the pan with smoked.)  It still was good, I ate it anyway.  The second pancake was perfect, my best one yet.

 

That made three blueberry pancake meals on one charge of N2O, not bad.  Though I killed a jug of maple syrup.  Fortunately I have a spare.  Blueberries are on sale and I'd be tempted to keep going but I have only one iSi, and there are other plans for it.

[rosik929]

I always have to use fresh, not frozen, blueberries in pancakes, the frozen ones have way less flavor and make the batter too runny.   I do like them separate, sprinkled over the top or served in a syrup form, although having them cooked in the batter tastes fine as well.  I find that lavendar (culinary edible lavendar buds) added to a blueberry recipe is divine (if done right), and takes the recipe to a whole new level; blueberries and lavendar are a wonderful combination!  I do like a lavendar blueberry syrup poured over my pancakes - amazing.....

 

Here is a recipe for lavendar blueberry syrup - http://gildedfork.com/blueberry-lavender-syrup/

 

If you would like to try a lavendar blueberry dessert, here is a recipe for lavendar blueberry muffins with lavendar lemon glaze - http://epicurean-bites.com/?p=173  and lavendar pound cake - http://epicurean-bites.com/?p=55

[lesliec]

I may have to hand back my platinum eG membership card.  Last weekend I acquired the necessary ingredients for Jo's blueberry pancake recipe (frozen berries was the best I could manage, but at least they're local), then didn't make them.

 

It's probably the hour of waiting for the batter that put me off.  I shall try to do better this weekend.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I believe overnight would work.  Mine were even better the next day and the day after that.

[lesliec]

I believe overnight would work. 

 

Excellent - I had wondered.  Thanks, Jo.

 

I did have one other question.  Your recipe on page 1 of this topic has two types of flour but no raising agent (baking powder et al).  Is that right?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Correct.  I would try using pastry flour if I had it.  Nitrous oxide is the only leavening.

 

 

Edit:  the resting period is necessary because the batter must be beaten until uniform and strained, unlike traditional pancake batter.  Little clumps of flour will clog you up.

Edited August 27, 2014 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[lesliec]

Little clumps of flour will clog you up.

 

And I don't think I'd enjoy that.

 

Thank you, ma'am.  Saturday approaches; I shall report results in due course.

[lesliec]

I'm going to call this a success:

 

 

Recipe as per Jo's in post 28 of this topic, except I only used one type of flour 'high grade' (probably what you know as cake flour, but I can't guarantee it).  I mixed everything (sans blueberries) up last night in the blender, poured it into the iSi and left it overnight.  This morning I got some butter melting in the pan and charged the siphon with two cartridges.  Why two?  Dunno; it seemed like a good idea.

 

These photos are all of the second panful, when I was getting better at it.  Side 1 cooking:

 

 

Blueberries on:

 

 

A second layer from the iSi - not as much as for side 1:

 

 

Flipped; nearly ready:

 

 

The pancakes were a delight.  What most impressed me was how light they were - really delicate.  This made them a little tricky to attack with a slice to turn them over, but I learned fast.

 

There's plenty of batter still in the siphon for tomorrow's breakfast as well, and no shortage of (frozen) blueberries.  It will be fun to do this again when fresh ones are in season.

 

Thanks to eG in general for the idea and Jo for the details.  Highly recommended.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I am so glad the recipe worked for you, Leslie.

 

Today I made a batch again for a latish 7:30 breakfast...or 19:30 breakfast, for those who think in 24 hour time.  For this experiment I reduced the milk from 250 grams to 225 grams.  All other variables held the same.  As expected the batter was thicker but still strained easily into the iSi.

 

And the resulting cakes were thicker, almost not needing a second layer of batter over top of the berries (though I didn't try).  I am delighted with these pancakes, and this time nothing burned nor stuck.

 

I forgot all about serving with melted butter till I went to clean up afterwards and noticed the butter pot simmering on the stove.  Though I must say the pancakes didn't need it.