South Africans love their crumpets (pancakes). However, we usually don’t eat them with syrup. I love my pancakes with fruit preserves and whipped cream.

The first time I made a pancake, I was about 8 years old. My dad who is a medical doctor, left my brother and I and my two cousins at one of his medical offices. This medical office had a kitchen at the back. My cousins, brother and I decided to make a big pancake. The pancake didn’t seem to want to cook. I thought that we may have put in too much liquid. I had a great idea to thicken it with “Rowntree’s Quality Street” chocolates. We unwrapped the entire tin of assorted chocolates and threw it into the pancake batter. Not only did we waste all the chocolates, we also fell asleep waiting for the pancake to cook!

When my parents came to pick us up, the pancake was still not cooked. It turns out that the stove was broken! Needless to say, from a very young age, I loved experimenting with pancake batter.

I love these chewy, moist pancakes.  Whenever I don’t feel like making bread and need to use starter discards, I’ll make these pancakes for breakfast. It has a chewier body and texture like a swedish pancake, a little more dense than a regular pancake with an interesting mouthfeel and complex taste.  Regular pancakes to me feel and taste flat.   It requires overnight preparation but it is well worth it.  Experiment with your toppings.  Instead of just the plain old maple syrup, try experimenting with an apple cinnamon maple syrup or a pina colada or fresh peach topping!  Let me know what you think!

Tips for making sourdough pancakes

When using Sammy Wong's Kitchen's starter maintenance regimen, set aside 20 grams of starter for feeding for future use

In a large mixing bowl, stir together remaining unfed starter, flour, sugar and milk.  Cover and let rest at a cool temperature for about 12 hours, making a type of levain.  If the kitchen is too cold, the sourdough will be slow to activate. If this happens, place the batter in a oven with the light turned on for an hour before adding the egg.

In a small bowl, beat together the egg, vanilla extract, salt, oil or melted butter, baking soda and baking powder. This mixture may bubble.  Gently fold into the levain, making sure that the batter does not deflate. Pour the batter onto preheated non-stick skillet or oiled steel.  See Cooking Golden Pancakes

Flip when bubbles appear. Serve warm with my favorite,  macerated strawberries and cream!