All posts,  Food

Bush Babe’s pikelets

October 18, 2010 / 19 Comments

It is a rare thing when I skite about my cooking ability.  Don’t get me wrong – I adore food, can hold my own with entry-level Italian dishes and consider myself ‘passable’ in the kitchen.  I have to be – it’s a darned long way to the nearest takeaway restaurants. (Except for the Thai place in our little town – which can match it with the Big Smoke any day and whose lady chef I am officially obsessed with.)  But any kind of ‘serious’ cooking I leave up to blog cuisine experts like The Pioneer Woman, Bakerella and Not Quite Nigella.

One thing I DO cook reasonably well however, is that great Aussie staple, pikelets.  So this morning I tweeted that I had cooked up a whole mountain of them – a triple batch – to keep the troops and visitors sated for the next day or so.  Instantly, it came to my attention that certain people (hello Ree!) don’t know what pikelets are.  And I cannot let that be.  So for the third time in the history of this humble bush blog, I shall share a recipe.

Pikelets (for all those living somewhere OTHER than Australia) are like fluffy little pancakes.  They are quick and easy to prepare and cook (and eat!) and utterly delicious.   And everything should be in your pantry.  Why not try these out on your loved ones… don’t be scared… even I can make ’em!

BUSH BABE’S PIKELETS

pikelet

PREPARATION

  • Heavy-based frying pan
  • Flat spatula
  • deep bowl
  • whisk
  • large serving or dinner plate
  • paper towels

It is also an idea to keep the phone nearby and get kids to help – once you start, you can’t stop when it comes to cooking pikelets!

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ¼ cups milk
  • 2 tspns lemon juice or white vinegar
  • ¼ cup castor sugar
  • 2 cups self-raising flour
  • 2 tablespoons cream
  • Pinch salt
  • Dob of butter for pan

METHOD

1.      Add some lemon juice or vinegar into milk and set aside to sour.

2.      Place sifted flour, sugar and salt into bowl and mix with whisk.  Make a well in dry ingredients.

3.      Break eggs into a small bowl and mix roughly with fork before pouring into well.  Add soured milk and cream.  Use whisk to gently combine all ingredients and continue to stir until smooth.  The final batter should be thick but not gluggy. (Technical cooking terms used there.) Add more milk if yours fall into the ‘too gluggy’ category.

4.      Heat up butter in pan until melted and sizzling.  The temperature (hot but not burning) is very important for the best result, so be prepared to have a few dud pikelets at the start. (A non-stick pan is helpful here)

5.      Drop small pools of pikelet mix (I use a jug to pour) into pan allowing reasonable space between each one.  Turn only when bubbles just start to peep through each pikelet.  Allow a similar time for second side before removing to plate to cool.  Pikelets should be honey brown and smooth, if the pan is hot enough. (NB  Too much butter will cause an uneven colour to result.  I tend not to replace the butter as I cook – if the pan is at the right temperature, you won’t need more butter.)

6.      Slide onto large plate when done – I use a paper towel under the first batch and have two layers of pikelets between each sheet of paper towel to prevent them sweating too much.  The pikelets are best used immediately, but can be refrigerated for a few days and warmed slightly in a microwave before serving.

pikelets1
SERVING

This is the most important bit – deciding how to serve them up!  They are best with good coffee or tea at ‘smoko’ – I tend to whip up a batch of cream when the pikelets are fresh and offer a choice of plum jam and golden syrup for guests.

pikelets3

pikelets2

If they are being packed for school boxes or men’s lunch eskies, I slather with butter and jam and ‘sandwhich’ two together.

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1. Try these out and let me know how you go…

2. If you have a different version of the recipe, please share in comments…

3. Forgive the terrible food photos. They are taken on my new mobile phone as I have left my download cable in Brisbane. Aaargghh!

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