Pancakes
It's that time of year again, so get your fry pans out and get flipping - here Richard Maggs shows us how it's done.
Ingredients
Serves 4- 115g (4oz) plain flour
- 1 large egg
- 300ml (10fl oz) milk
- 55g (2 oz) melted butter
- 6 Fresh lemons
- Caster sugar
- Real Maple or golden syrup
To serve:
Crêpes
Next time you make crêpes or regular pancakes, cook each one in an Aga pan on the Boiling Plate and then turn out onto the greased Simmering Plate to finish off the other side. You can then start on the next pancake while the first gets completed on the Simmering Plate. Using this method you can halve the time it takes to make a batch.
Drop Scones
Spoon drop scone batter onto the lightly oiled Simmering Plate – you will find that by the time you have poured out the last one, the first will be ready for flipping. You will know it is time to do this as lots of bubbles will start to break on the surface. Turn with a palette knife and cook on the other side, turning the rest in the order that they were poured.
Freeze Ahead
Keep a batch of made pancakes in the freezer, interleaved with baking parchment and wrapped tightly in foil. They may be reheated one at a time from frozen on one side only on the lightly greased Aga Simmering Plate for impromptu desserts and turning into scrumptious Crêpes Suzettes.
Method
Place the butter in a ramekin on the top plate to melt. Whisk the egg into the flour with half the milk to form a smooth batter. Finally blend in the remaining milk and a tablespoonful of the melted butter. Alternatively, use an AGA kMix hand blender or mini food processor – whiz all the ingredients for a few seconds, scrape down and process again.
2, 3 and 4 oven AGA: Preheat the fry pan on the Simmering Plate for a minute, then transfer to the Boiling Plate.
Pour in a little of the remaining butter and swirl it around and pour back the excess. Wipe the pan with a piece of kitchen paper and spoon in a ladleful of the batter, immediately tip the pan to allow the batter to run around and form a pancake. Once it has set, loosen at the edges and turn with a palette knife. If making a batch, lightly oil the Simmering Plate and the second sides may be cooked here while you start to make the next pancake in the pan on the Boiling Plate.
Squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle with sugar, fold and drizzle with syrup. Serve hot.
Rayburn cooking: Cook in the frying pan on the hotplate
Conventional cooking: Cook in the frying pan on the hob.
Variations- Lightly spread with crème fraîche and layer of smoked salmon. Roll up tightly and cut into pinwheels to serve as an easy canapé
- Fill with cooked chicken breast, a coating white sauce flavoured with Cajun seasoning. Cover with extra sauce and grated cheese and bake until bubbling.
- Fill with cream cheese and brandy-soaked raisins or a banana, lime and coconut mixture.
- Fill with lightly sweetened, cooked apple purée with a little cinnamon and sultanas.
Recipe by Richard Maggs, The AGA Cookery Doctor
