Pancakes and Hot Chocolate Sauce (x 2 versions)

Tuesday 5th January 2010

The girls had a sleepover and their favourite brunch is pancakes. They have them with maple syrup, sometimes lemon and sugar, but their speciality is with chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce recipe has been lavishly embellished by Annie over the years and now resembles a rich truffle filling. It’s in the department of Nutella without the nuts, the grease or the over sweetness. I’ve also put in my original, simple budget version too. For the B&B visitors I offer American pancakes. I used to make them thicker with self-raising flour and add sugar, but they really weren’t as good – more like cakes. So I now serve proper pancakes with whipped cream, smoked bacon drizzled with maple syrup in their last minute in the pan, and plenty of berries (previously frozen ones are fine), with lashings of maple syrup (not for the faint hearted!)

Sophie’s Pancakes

Makes 1L, approx 12 thin pancakes

milk, 1 pint/½ litre

flour, plain white, x 8 heaped tbsp

egg, x2

butter for greasing the pan

Heat your best cast iron or non-stick pan. Put all ingredients into a jug and mix to smooth cream with the zummer. The mixture will keep 24 hours in the fridge, and is better the next day. Make sure the pan is hot. Put a small dob of butter into it and melt. Pour in enough pancake mixture to cover the bottom of the pan (you know how you want them, thin and crispy, thick and doughy). Loosen the edges with a spatula and turn once when the base has an even speckling of golden brown freckles.

Annie’s Luxury Chocolate Sauce

Butter, x1tbsp

Golden syrup, x2 tbsp

Melt the butter and golden syrup until just beginning to blister on the edges. Remove from the heat. Add:

Chocolate, good quality milk (G&B), 100g, broken into squares

Leave the chocolate to melt without stirring. After a few minutes add:

Crème fraiche, x1 heaped tbsp

Stir very gently until mixed. It is quite runny and perfect for pouring on to pancakes or ice cream. When it cools it sets quite hard, pour into eggcups for a chocolate pot treat after dinner. Keep in the fridge.

Chocolate Sauce, my budget version

Butter, x1 tbsp

Golden syrup, x2 tbsp

Melt the butter and golden syrup and boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Add:

cocoa powder, x1 tbsp

Pour onto ice cream, or pancakes or add corn flakes or rice krispies for Rice Krispie Cakes. They need to chill for a couple of hours to set.

Amanda Nantgwynfaen

www.organicfarmwales.co.uk