Brinner

Pumpkin Pancakes

Breakfast for supper- it's like a dream. From watching TV I've been brainwashed to think of two meals as taboo and just completely wonderful: ice cream for breakfast, and breakfast for dinner! Sorry about these photos- I took the with my phone quickly before we ate!

I'm not really big into change. I wouldn't be that person that sees something like squid, goes out and buys something I've never eaten before, and cooks a dish with it. I have to take small steps in almost familiar territory but I still get there! For example, a couple of years ago I would refuse to go near anything that contained onions, and now, here I am, making and eating bacon carbonara!

This time, as usual, I was looking around for something that doesn't take to long to put together but is still wonderfully delicious, as I really try to super yummy things for Ralph. The thing that really sold me on these pancakes was the blog post by The Curvy Carrot, the things that she said about pumpkin pancakes just stuck them in my mind. I love the healthy twist on the pancakes, but I ended up using a more simple recipe from Baking Bites, just because I wanted to use thing I already had in the house. Also, the recipes mention pumpkin spice, which I haven't found in South Africa, so I read up a bit and put together a combination of spices that worked wonders for me.

Once the idea of breakfast for dinner was agreed (actually I only thought it was- Ralph thought 'pumpkin pancakes' meant that I was telling him to make normal pancakes for supper), all that we needed was bacon and a nice tomato sauce that was very much like the tomato herb pan sauce to complete the meal.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Adapted from Baking Bites

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup mashed pumpkin  (I used butternut. I microwaved it and mashed it)

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp oil

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1) Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour,baking powder,soda,salt,nutmeg,cinnamon,ginger) and whisk to mix around nicely.

2) Put the rest of the ingredients (wet ingredients) in another bowl, whisk these nicely too.

3) Put the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix well.

4) Fry pancakes on a medium heat. I fried two at a time on my medium pancake pan. They are ready to turn over when they resemble this:

It was one the best evenings I had in a while. Ralph's mom decided to join us at the last minute, and we had a lovely family supper at home. I love making food for people I love, and I'm so happy when they enjoy it. This meal was such a hit. The pancakes are soft, delicious, mushy, and sweet the bacon is salty and crunchy, and the tomato sauce brings everything together with a herby tangy flavour.

I'm so happy to finally be able to make pancakes that rise but aren't dry or flavourless! Ralph makes the best pancakes hands down, which usually means that he's the one making breakfast. At least now I can give him a break and a treat every now and again.