Caramel (dulce de leche) pancakes, banoffee pancakes

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Basic pancake batter does not taste of anything, the milk, flour and eggs don’t have much flavour.  Even recipes with buttermilk do not rescue pancakes from their dullness.  Pancakes act as a transporter for flavoursome fillings or toppings.  All of this changes with a can of caramel in the batter.  The caramel is also sold as dulce de leche.  When I created this recipe I ate the whole pile of pancakes.  I am not proud of it but sometimes eating one is simply not enough to say how good they are, that is the excuse I am owing up to anyway.

These pancakes take on a caramel taste and colour but not sickly sweet.  They are best still warm from the pan because the texture is very soft and light and totally addictive.

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The sour cream makes the batter come up spongier and lighter.  Any sour milk product will do such as buttermilk, plain yogurt, creme fraiche.

Ready made caramel / dulce de leche.

pancakes 1

Add all of the ingredients together until the batter is smooth.

pancakes 2

Add a large tablespoon of mixture to the pan.  After about two minutes little holes will appear on the surface of the pancake and the edges of the pancakes look firm, put a spatula under the pancakes, they should come away easily and turn them over.  Continue cooking for a further minute.

Can be serve with or without banana and if trying to please more than one person as I do in my household, it’s easy to add pieces of banana to some of the pancakes while cooking.

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Caramel or banoffee pancakes

I have halved this recipe successfully, kept the remainder of the caramel for a few days in the fridge and made a second batch.

  • 225g / 2  cups  plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (double acting baking powder)
  • 200g /  1/4  cup  sour cream or creme fraiche / buttermilk / plain yogurt
  • 4 eggs, whisked a little to break them up
  • 397 g  / 1 cup  Caramel  (tin Carnations caramel)  or any dulce de leche
  • 1 large ripe banana, chopped into small cubes  (Optional)
  • Butter to cook the pancakes, about a couple of tablespoons

Add all of the ingredients together.  If adding the chopped banana later in the pan leave it out of the mixture.  Heat a large frying pan until hot and turn the heat down to slow-medium in order to maintain constant heat without burning the pancakes.

Using either a heat proof pastry brush or folded kitchen paper towel spread some butter over the surface of the pan and add a large tablespoon of mixture to the pan.  After about two minutes you’ll start to see little holes appear on the surface of the pancake and the edges of the pancakes look firm, put a spatula under the pancakes they should come away easily and turn them over.  Continue cooking for a further minute.

The first couple of pancakes are always trial and error until you get the heat of the pan right.

 

Quick warm chocolate sauce

Heat 2 tablespoons of cream or milk with 2 tablespoons of chopped chocolate in the microwave for a minute, whisk until combined if the chocolate is not quite melted heat for further 10 seconds at a time until well dissolved.  To make the sauce richer also add 1/2 tablespoon of butter.