perfect pancakes

i think i may have finally found a recipe for perfect pancakes. it probably needs some tweaking (i like my pancakes on the sweeter side), but i've never had pancakes as thick as these, without being cottony and dense.

yesterday morning, having woken up late, i cast about for something to do. i was about to go watch some episodes of coupling, since we now have a dvd player, but i opened the door to the living room to find ray fast asleep on the couch. so that's why the door was shut. anyway, v was still asleep and mary was on her way out, so i decided to make pancakes for v and ray (it was nearing noon, ie, time to get up). as they were both still asleep, i set about doing so in a leisurely fashion. without my joy of cooking, which is packed up in lmf, i always make up a new recipe every time i make pancakes, based on my vague memories of the recipe in the book. i also decided to beat the egg whites with a fork (but not on a plate, a la little house on the prairie), to see how long it would take.

fifteen minutes later, i had an egg foam that was still slightly runny at the bottom, with no sign of metamorphosing towards stiff peaks. i was too impatient to beat them for longer, so into the batter they went...and the resulting pancakes puffed up more than i've ever seen them puff. they also tasted pretty good, although i'd add a bit more sugar, and probably another tablespoon of butter. these are good pancakes for soaking up maple syrup...mmm.

as we have no ketchup, and one of my really weird food quirks is that i like pancakes with ketchup, i resorted to the homemade ketchup that i'd made earlier in the week to use up our tomato puree. it's a spicy ketchup - perhaps a bit too spicy - but like anything with spices in it, it matured really well in the fridge. it's also better cold than hot. anyway, it was quite good; the recipe is from the boston globe, and is intended to be a hamburger topping. gotta go grab some hamburger meat now...

last on the lineup for the weekend is a coffee cake that i made on saturday. the recipe comes from nigella lawson's last column in the ny times (the one on spatchcocked chicken); it's a sour cream strawberry streusel cake. essentially, there's a layer of strawberry puree in the middle, and streusel on the top that makes the top pleasantly crunchy. i liked this cake, but it wasn't my favorite thing in the world. i think it's worth making if you just add a bit of sugar to the recipe; i found the taste to be slightly cloying...you know, which is probably due to the cornstarch in the strawberry puree mixture (i used rice flour, as i didn't have any corn starch). i wonder if it's really necessary to put the cornstarch in. the bottom layer of cake was too dense, but i didn't mind that too much. however, the crunchy streusel top was really spectacular, and the cake itself looks quite pretty. both roommates and allie seemed to like it a lot, so i'll probably make it again at some point. it's quite easy to put together, although you will need a blender to make the strawberry puree. incidentally, this is another example of me cooking something based on the photo (in this case, it actually turned out looking pretty much like the photo). for your notes, the cake originally had 1 tablespoon of vanilla in the cake instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons, and had 3/8 cup of sugar instead of 3/4 cup.

puffy, ultra-absorbent pancakes
1 1/2 cups flour
2T baking powder
1/2t salt
3T sugar
1 cup milk
2T butter
3 eggs, separated
pinch of salt

[1] mix together the flour, baking powder, 1/2t salt, and sugar in a bowl.

[2] in another bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. let cool to lukewarm, then slowly whisk in the egg yolks so they don't curdle. whisk in the milk.

[3] in a pyrex or metal bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt, using a fork, until they reach soft peaks.

[4] pour the milk/egg/butter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix. fold in the egg whites.

[5] cook in a greased skillet over medium heat.

[makes approximately 16 5" pancakes]

spicy ketchup
2T canola oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1T chili powder (ground red chilies)
1/2t cayenne pepper
1/4t coriander
scant 1/4t allspice
scant 1/4t cloves
1 can tomato puree
1/4c brown sugar
3T cider vinegar
1t salt
1/2t black pepper

[1] saute the onions in the oil until very soft, about 10 minutes. add the spices and cook 30 seconds.

[2] add the tomato puree, sugar, vinegar, salt, and pepper. bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes.

[3] let cool, then blend in a blender until smooth.

[makes ~ 2 cups. keeps for a week]

strawberry streusel cake
for the strawberry puree:
8 oz strawberries
3T strawberry jam
2t cornstarch
2t vanilla

for the cake:
3/4c sugar
2c plus 2T flour
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
12T cold butter, cut into 1/2" chunks
1c sour cream
1 egg
1 1/2t vanilla

for the streusel:
2-3T dark brown sugar

[1] in a blender, combine all of the puree ingredients. puree until smooth.

[2] preheat the oven to 375 degrees. oil a 9" springform pan and set aside. in a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, and baking soda. sprinkle in butter cubes and rub in by hand until the mixture almost reaches the consistency of coarse meal. reserve a half-cup of the mixture in another bowl, then finish mixing in the butter for the rest of the mixture. add sour cream, egg, and vanilla to the mixture and mix well.

[3] using half of the cake batter, drop dollops of batter into the pan. pat batter across the pan and about 1 inch up the sides; mixture will be sticky (be sure to leave it uneven). add the strawberry puree, tilting the pan to let it spread evenly. add the remaining cake batter in dollops; use a spatula to spread the dollops fairly evenly across the top.

[4] to make the streusel, combine the reserved flour/butter mixture and the dark brown sugar and mix well. sprinkle evenly over cake.

[5] bake cake until lightly golden, about 45 minutes. cool completely, then remove from pan.