Sparkle Kitchen: Peach Pecan Pancakes
In Part One of How to be Super: The Violet Crown, “Part One: The Welcome Wall,” Dante wakes up on his twelfth birthday with no idea of the incredible day he's about to have. He eats the peach pecan pancakes his mother makes him for breakfast and gets on his bike to ride to school. But when a bolt of lightening strikes him from the sky, his life will never be that of an average boy again.
Perhaps, given Dante's experience, these pancakes should come with a warning to be prepared for anything, but, instead, here's something else Dante would like — a bit of geography.
Because, you see, I first encountered the general idea for these pancakes — which are made fluffy by the addition of whipped egg whites — on the website of a British chef. He called them “American pancakes,” which I've always thought was a way to distinguish them from thin, flat “French pancakes” (a.k.a. crepes).
However, although I've lived in middle America all my life, I've never seen pancakes this thick and fluffy. So now, in our house, we call these “British pancakes,” and every time I make them I chuckle a bit at how we all interpret cultures different than our own.
Whatever country they originate from, the extra thickness of these pancakes makes them perfectly suited to being stuffed with goodies. Try them with Dante's peaches and pecans or whatever else you can imagine up. Then, get ready for an incredible day.
Peach Pecan Pancakes
(makes 5-6 dessert plate sized pancakes)
Ingredients
6 eggs, whites and yolks separated
2 cups flour
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 peaches, chopped
⅓ cup pecans, chopped
butter and maple syrup, for serving
Directions
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Preheat a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-low heat.
Using a stand mixer if you have one, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Set them aside.
In another bowl, mix the egg yolks with the flour, milk, baking powder, and salt, until everything just comes together.
Gently fold in the egg whites, resisting the urge to mix them more than about 20 strokes. There will be streaks of white where they don't fully incorporate into the batter, but that's okay.
Then, again with a minimal number of strokes, fold in the chopped peaches and pecans, reserving just a little of each to sprinkle over the finished pancakes later.
Ladle the batter into circles on the preheated skillet. Because these pancakes are probably thicker than you're used to, they'll probably take more time to release the tell-tale bubbles that mean it's time to flip them. Resist the urge to turn up the heat. These have to be cooked low and slow, or else the outsides will crisp before the insides are cooked.
After cooking the pancakes on both sides, pop them onto a bake sheet in your warm oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.
When all of the pancakes are finished, serve them up with warm maple syrup, butter, and a sprinkle of chopped peaches and pecans on top.
About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
