Corner Bakery Pancakes

Home reconstruction

Buttermilk and baking powder give you a good pancake. Separating the eggs and folding whipped whites in at the end gives you a tall one.

Chemical raising agents produce gas as a reaction, and that gas has to find somewhere to go in a batter that is already fairly heavy. Whipped egg white brings pre-formed air bubbles into the batter, and the raising agents then inflate those bubbles rather than having to create them.

The difference is roughly half again in height, and a noticeably lighter texture.

Whip to soft peaks, not stiff

Stiff whites are dry and grainy, and they break into lumps when folded rather than dispersing. You then have to work the batter to get rid of them, which knocks out the air you just added.

Soft peaks — the peak flops over when you lift the whisk. They fold in smoothly in a few strokes.

Fold in thirds

A third of the whites first, stirred in properly to slacken the batter. Then the rest in two additions, folded gently.

The first third is sacrificial. It loosens a thick batter so the remaining whites can be folded in without fighting it, which is what protects the air in them.

Rest the batter, but only briefly

Ten minutes for the flour to hydrate, and that is it.

Longer and the bubbles you whipped in start to collapse. This is the one pancake batter that should not sit around — the usual advice to rest for half an hour works against a separated-egg batter.

Medium heat, and the first one is a test

Too hot and the outside sets before the raising agents have finished, so the pancake stops rising and burns.

Flip when the surface bubbles pop and the holes stay open. Bubbles that close up again mean the batter underneath is still too wet.

What you need

• 250 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 420 ml buttermilk
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 60 g butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate and salt in a large bowl.
2. Whisk the buttermilk, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla together.
3. Pour wet into dry and stir until just combined. Leave the lumps.
4. In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks.
5. Stir a third of the whites into the batter to loosen it.
6. Fold the rest in gently, in two additions.
7. Rest 10 minutes only.
8. Griddle on medium, a ladle per pancake. Flip when the bubbles pop and stay open, 2–3 minutes, then 1–2 minutes more.

A clean, dry bowl for the whites

Any trace of fat — yolk, butter, a greasy bowl — stops egg whites whipping. The fat molecules interfere with the protein network that traps the air.

Glass or metal, not plastic, which holds a film of grease however well you wash it.

Serve them straight away

The lift from whipped whites is not permanent. A stack held in a warm oven for fifteen minutes will have deflated noticeably.

If you are cooking for several people, this is the pancake to serve in shifts.

Storing

Three days in the fridge and two months frozen, but understand that you are storing a normal pancake — the extra height goes on the first day.

Reheat in a toaster.