As I told you last week, I was going to try making Breadfruit Pancakes with the soft overripe breadfruit. I did. Here’s how things went.
My friend and taste tester Wendy takes a bite of a still warm Breadfruit Pancake. Her eyes open wide as she chews and smiles. As she takes another bite, she picks up another pancake with her free hand. Between bites, she asks, “Have you organised for anyone else to taste-test?”
(Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Me: “Well, I was planning to call Peter or Floyd.”
Wendy: “Um um… don’t call either of them. You don’t need another opinion. I want these pancakes for myself. This is what I need in my life right now.”
I laughed, shaking my head. But I have to admit, I completely understand not wanting to share. I think these are the best pancakes I have ever made, and I have made a lot of pancakes over the years. These Breadfruit Pancakes are light, picking them up, they are almost weightless. They are fruity with the flavour of the ripe breadfruit and tender to the bite and chew. As soon as you finish eating one you immediately want another. If you are not careful, you can find yourself easily having four or more, one after the other, that is, if you don’t have them stacked as such.
Listen, if you don’t plan to or have not yet made the bread, save that for another time, but definitely, I repeat for emphasis, definitely make the pancakes! Remember what my friend Wendy said: ‘This is what I need in my life right now’? Well, you are likely to be asking where these pancakes have been all your life. They are that good.
With not a lot of long talk (Bajans have this wonderful phrase they use, ‘no lotta long talk’, when they think people want to speechify – talk nuff), I am going to jump right to the recipe and tell you how to make these Breadfruit Pancakes. Remember, for this recipe, just as with the Bread, you need an overripe breadfruit where the flesh is soft, sweet, and creamy.
Scale up this recipe to suit your needs. What I am sharing are the amounts/measurements I used to make mine.
BREADFRUIT PANCAKES
Yield: 10
INGREDIENTS
· 1 + ½ cups ripe breadfruit pulp
· 1 + ½ cups all-purpose flour
· 3 teaspoons baking powder
· 2 tablespoons white sugar
· 2 eggs, room temperature
· 1 + ½ teaspoons vanilla or mixed essence
· Whole milk, room temperature
· Canola or any neutral flavour oil to cook the pancakes
DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk or whip the flesh of the breadfruit to make it smooth. Or you can put it into a food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar.
3. Add the breadfruit to the flour mixture and mix well to combine the two. The mixture should be thick and pasty. Try not to overwork the mixture. The aim is to mix the dry flour with the moist breadfruit so that there are no bits of dry flour.
4. Whisk together the eggs and essence and add to the breadfruit-flour mixture along with enough milk to make a thick batter, just slightly thinner than that of dropping consistency. Make the batter to the consistency that you use for making pancakes. There will be some tiny lumps, don’t bother with them, they will melt as the pancakes cook. Do not over mix the batter.
5. Cover that batter and let rest for 25 – 30 minutes.
6. Heat a pan, tawah, griddle or whatever you use to make pancakes on medium low heat. When the pan is heated, drizzle oil on/in the pan, swirling or brushing the surface. Working in batches, make the pancakes, oiling the pan after each set.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature with your preferred or favourite toppings/accompaniments, or eat as is.
NOTES
· The reason to mix the flour and breadfruit first before adding the wet ingredients is to avoid overmixing which would result in too much gluten developing which would impact the texture of the finished pancake.
· Be sure to use room temperature milk. You can also use some full fat yogurt along with the milk to make the batter, or if you have available, buttermilk.
· While you can cook the pancakes immediately after mixing, I find that letting the batter rest improves the texture of the pancake when cooked and gives the ingredients a chance to meld.
· I got 10 pancakes using ⅓ measuring cup of batter for each pancake. You can make your pancakes larger or smaller depending on how much batter you use at a time.
· If you prefer, you can use butter to cook the pancakes instead of oil.
Cynthia
