Every now and then I like to make some pikelets for
lunch. The name pikelet is mainly found
in Australia and New Zealand, and refers to a flattish pancake-like piece of
batter cooked on a flat surface. It is
similar to a flat crumpet (cooked without a ring), a small pancake, an English
drop scone. It is sort of the same as
several quick breads but also different.
Does that make sense?
They are a favourite afternoon tea item, served cold and
buttered with jam and a blob of whipped cream on top.
My recipe for making pikelets:
1.
Place a griddle over heat to allow it to warm up
(or else use a heavy-base frying pan)
2.
Stir 2 tsp white vinegar into 1 cup milk and set
aside to let it go sour
3.
Sift together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder,
½ tsp baking soda and a pinch of salt into a bowl
4.
Add the soured milk, 2 eggs and ¼ cup sugar. Beat well with an electric beater (can use a
hand beater but electric is easier) until the batter develops bubbles
5.
Add 2 Tbsp melted butter and beat it in
6.
Lightly grease the griddle using a dab of butter
on a scrunched up paper towel (watch your fingers!)
7.
Drop 3 or 4 large spoonsful of batter on the
griddle and cook until bubbles begin to break on the top surface of the pikelet
8.
Flip the pikelet over using an egg slice or
similar and cook until it is nicely browned (very thick pikelets will also have
small bubbles breaking on the sides)
9.
Place cooked pikelets in a pile on half a
teatowel laid over a cake rack. Fold the
other half of the teatowel up and over the pikelets to allow them to steam a
little and remain soft
10.
Re-grease the griddle and cook the next batch of
pikelets
The size of the pikelet will depend on the size of spoon
used to drop the batter onto the cooking surface (I use a large silver serving
spoon, but smaller ones can be made with a soup spoon).
If the batter is so thick that it will not fall easily from
the spoon, stir in more milk to thin it.
They can be cooked without the sugar, but it does help the
pikelet to cook an even gold-brown colour.
Pikelets are best eaten the day they are made.
My favourite pikelets are well-cooked to the stage of almost
being burnt, and then eaten hot with a little butter melting on them. Delicious, but also great for giving you
indigestion if you eat them too fast!
Have a great day J
Margaret.
Yum.
ReplyDeleteYour pikelets bear a great resemblance to my griddle cakes otherwise known as pancakes. I make them whenever my youngest son comes over to help with heavy jobs. He loves a tall stack with a thick blueberry sauce. For my little grandson I make smaller ones with chocolate chips. He takes them for his school lunch and doesn't mind eating them cold.
ReplyDeleteI think all these griddle things are very similar, perhaps with just regional differences. Your thick blueberry sauce sounds yum :)
DeleteOh for a gorgeous pikelet. I remember those mother made. They are so easy, like scones, and yet I don't make either. Hot from the pan with real butter. Yum
ReplyDeleteNot a term familiar to me but they look pretty similar to the pancakes Miriam makes for breakfast the odd time. Then we usually have them with sausage and maple syrup, or sometimes she adds blueberries and we skip the sausages.
ReplyDeletei love crumpets - I am going to copy down your recipe and have a go.
ReplyDeletepikelets are a favourite in our house, we like to drizzle golden syrup on them.
ReplyDeleteI just ate but now you have me hungry again!
ReplyDeleteSounds very good! It is interesting about how different part of the world has some kind of food that is almost the same, but has their different names. They are very much like what we in Norway call "lapper", or "sveler". It is a long time since I made some, we often had them when our sons still lived home.
ReplyDeleteYummy! Love the name too.
ReplyDelete