I don’t know about you, but often, cooking for me is coming up with something on the fly, throwing together ingredients, putting together a little something, or using out certain ingredients. The way I cook these days has changed a lot, there is very little planning, I simply go with the flow, making it up as I go along. That’s how these pancakes came about.
Earlier in the week a friend brought me some pink-fleshed guavas. I think it is also called Pink Lady (because of the colour of the insides). I had them sitting on the counter in a fruit bowl and as each day passed, they ripened, perfuming the kitchen – natural aromatherapy. I kept saying, I am going to make some drink or puree and freeze for use later but none of that materialized, obviously. By Thursday, I knew it was time to do something about the guavas because the birds had a feast with one of them and they were fully ripened though not mushy. I’d been feeling for pancakes for a couple of weeks now, so I thought, what the heck, put the guavas in the pancakes. I mean, in the pancake batter.
Here’s what I did.
Peeled the guavas and steamed them until a knife inserted easily. In my case, it took 18 minutes. I then tipped the guavas into a bowl, and using an immersion blender, I pureed the soft cooked flesh. A food processor will do the same job. Working in 2 batches, I pressed the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds. I ended up with 1 cup of pureed guava.
The puree was added to a mixture of flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, a little sugar, and a pinch of ground cinnamon. Everything was brought together in a batter with whole milk. I tend to rest my pancake batter for at least 15 minutes after mixing so that it can relax and set up, holding well when cooked.
First, the colour, the slight pink hue of the pancakes felt celebratory and the butter melting and glistening on the hot pancake, very inviting and appetizing. Biting into the soft fluffy pancake, the flavour of the guavas was delicate and not as pronounced as one would think, given how highly aromatic they are when ripe. I ate mine with just butter because I wanted to taste the pancake on its own and I found that I did not need anything with it, but that’s a personal preference. If wanting to have it with syrup, I’d opt for honey to maintain the flavour of guava. Actually stewed guavas would be a treat and ideal accompaniment to these pancakes. And here’s something not to knock until you try it. Have the pancakes with some sharp cheddar cheese, sliced thinly on top or sandwiched between 2 of the pancakes. Umm, tastes good.
If you want to eat it with jam, an obvious choice is guava jam, but pineapple jam would make a delicious pairing.
Often when pancakes are made with fruits or other ingredients, the exception perhaps being pumpkin, the pancakes are usually topped halfway through cooking on one side and then flipped to seal in. Not so with this guava pancake recipe, you get the guava flavour in every bite.
There is no detailed stated recipe to make these pancakes, here’s what to do:
· To make the puree, cook the guavas, preferably by steaming them soft. Do not boil them, because then all the nutrients are left in the boiling water. Remember that guavas have more vitamin C than oranges.
· Puree the flesh, pass it through a sieve and let it cool to room temperature.
· For every cup of puree, use 2 cups of flour or your preferred pancake mix. I prefer a from-scratch pancake mix.
· Use milk (preferably whole and at room temperature) to mix the batter. You can use water too if you don’t have milk, but the texture of the pancake might not be as light when cooked.
· Can you use buttermilk? Sure. Actually, use the pancake batter you use all the time, the only difference here is that you are adding the guava puree.
· I usually rest my pancake batter, but you can eliminate this step and start making the pancakes immediately.
· The batter can be made ahead and refrigerated but must come to warmer than room temperature when ready to cook.
Try a different flavour of pancakes tomorrow for breakfast.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
