Makes enough for 3-4
Time: about 15 minutes + resting time
Cost: about £1 a head
150g plain flour
30g wholemeal flour (optional, but gives a nice nutty flavour)
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
200ml milk + 1 tbsp plain yoghurt (makes the pancakes moist and rise better)
60g melted butter
50g frozen or fresh blueberries
(frozen are cheaper!)
Yoghurt, sour cream or fromage frais and honey or maple syrup for serving
In the bowl, sieve all dry ingredients and stir through with a spoon to distribute the baking powder so you don't have one voluminous pancake and lots of deflated, sad ones!
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the liquid ingredients. Stir through until all the liquid is incorporated with the flour - don't stress about lumpy bits of flour bobbing along the surface, they won't make a difference to the end result
Set aside for 30 minutes (this allows the starch cells in the flour to swell and creates a thicker batter)
When you're ready to make the pancakes, put the oven on to 50°C, and keep a plate in the oven while you're frying.
Heat a pancake pan or non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, adding a small blob of butter to the pan. Make a "tester" of the batter, adding a few blueberries to the batter once it's in the pan (see below, right) and cook for about a minute on each side. Taste this and see if the pancake is to your liking - you can add a bit of extra sugar if you think it needs it.
Start making the pancakes in batches, I did quite small ones so I could cook more at a time and we could then eat them as soon as they came out of the pan. If you're blessed with more patience than me, then place each batch on the warm plate from the oven and keep the pancakes in the oven until you've finished.
When you're ready to eat, serve the pancakes with a dollop of yoghurt or sour cream, and drizzle some honey over the top. If you're feeling extravagant, a drizzle of maple syrup won't go amiss . . .
* other ideas for toppings: fry some bacon and serve with the pancakes - sweet & savoury works better than you think. Bananas are also great, as are nuts such as walnuts or pecans.
