Bake With Bree: Ponderoma Pancakes

A recipe inspired by the Ponderoma - the strange, shadowy servants who inhabit Castle Zarcalat

It's Pancake Day tomorrow. Yay!

I do love a pancake.

Junior and I got busy this evening and knocked up a few delicious, fluffy pancakes for supper. Not the large, thin kind but the chunkier crumpet variety.

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Served with a hefty squirt of lemon juice and lashings of runny Maple syrup, they were absolutely stunning.

In Bree McCready and the Half Heart Locket Bree, Sandy and Honey find themselves trapped in a medieval castle. They meet a man called Don Daines who takes them into the castle kitchen and it's here where they see the Ponderoma for the first time.

"As soon as they opened the door they were met by the sounds of clattering dishes and sizzling hotplates. Inside was a large well-lit kitchen where an army of cloaked people were so busy stirring, tossing and kneading that they did not even look up. The scent of herbs and spices mingled with the heavy aroma of food frying. Fresh fruit and vegetables were lined out on a long wooden table and great billows of steam rose up from huge black cauldrons hanging over raging fires. Loaves were turning brown in an open furnace, filling the air with their mouth-watering aroma. Huge chunks of raw meat were being rolled in crystal salt before being strung up on metal hooks.

The strange, shadowy servants scuttled to and fro, carrying dishes and platters. Bree could see that their hands were red and blistered. Cavernous hoods concealed their faces, making the floor length robes look empty, as though they were floating around the kitchen like canvas ghosts.

Don glided over to a huge stove where two Ponderoma were using a giant spoon to stir a thick batter. The smell of hot fat filled the air as they watched a servant pouring a ladleful onto a gridle. It instantly started to bubble, eventually solidifying into a plump round pancake."

Want to make those plump round pancakes? Here's what you'll need:

1 and a half cups of plain flour

A quarter of a cup of sugar

3 teaspoons of baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 egg

1 and a half cups of milk

3 tablespoons of butter

Measure out the butter and melt it in the microwave for 20 seconds. Keep a close eye on it, you don't want it to burn.

Set the melted butter aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Measure out the flour and add it to a large mixing bowl.

Sprinkle in the baking powder and a good pinch of salt.

Measure out the sugar. You don't need much as the Maple syrup topping will offer much sticky sweetness.

So, you now have all your dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Now it's time to prepare the wet stuff.

Crack an egg in a small mixing bowl and whisk

Add the milk and melted butter to the beaten egg and whisk together with a fork. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture.

Whisk!

The batter should be slightly thick and lumpy

Now that the batter is ready let it sit for a few moments while you heat the frying pan. You'll need a fairly high heat and a knob of butter for each pancake. Heat the butter until it's frothy and sizzling.

Use a ladle to get equal sized pancakes

I always find the first pancake is a little wonky. Is that just me? Still tastes good but it usually takes the second or third attempt to get things perfect. Perhaps it takes that long for the frying pan to get to the correct temperature? One of life's little mysteries I suppose.

Cook on one side for around two to three minutes. You'll know when it's ready to turn when little bubbles appear on the top. Turn it over using a fish slice and cook for a further two/three minutes. The pancake should be nice a brown with a slightly crispy edge.