Zoom Eats: Irish Pancakes

You might remember our Pancake Tuesday celebration from last year filled with fluffy pancakes and ooey gooey maple syrup. Pancake Tuesday American style, if you will.

This year, we changed things up a bit. You see, Mr. Zoom, isn’t a terribly big fan of American pancakes. Gigantic, fluffy, and doused in sticky syrup isn’t really his thing. I never understood it really. I mean why wouldn’t you want the biggest disc of flour served to you with a side of straight lard and then covered in sugar?

I’ve always loved Pancake Tuesday, but then I’m a sucker for tradition.  I was introduced to this day while living in Ireland and spent my first at Mr. Zoom’s mother’s home. A plate of piping hot, perfectly folded, delicate pancakes was served to me with a side of lemon juice and a small bowl of pure sugar. A bit confused, I watched Mr. Zoom sprinkle his cake with both sugar and lemon juice, roll it up, and then pop it into his mouth. I followed suit and was suitable impressed.

A thin pancake. Who’d have thought?

When we moved back to the States, I tried to recreate his mother’s pancake with a box of Bisquick. And then a box of Krusteaz. Let me just tell you that big, fluffly, from the box pancakes cannot adequately handle a sprinkle of lemon and sugar as a topping. We tried. I’m not sure what took me so long, but this year I set about making serious, Irish style pancakes. I think the rest of the world might call them crepes, but hang with me here.

They were delicious. Light and delicate, they were a perfect vehicle for the sweet citrus topping we covered them in. So where do we go from here? I’m thinking Nutella, peanut butter, ham and gruyere, asparagus and a mushroom cream sauce…the possibilites are endless.

But so long as it’s Pancake Tuesday, it will always be lemon and sugar.

Irish Style Pancakes with Lemon and Sugar
Makes 15 smallish pancakes

4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk (just do it)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
Additional melted butter

Fresh lemon juice
Granulated sugar

You could probably do this in a bowl, but I like to make pancake batter in the blender for easier pouring. Mix eggs, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a blender. Slowly add flour and mix until combined. Let stand for 10-15 minutes to thicken. Heat skillet over medium high heat and brush with melted butter. Pour batter into pan and swirl to make a thin pancake. Flip.  These will cook pretty quickly, about 1 minute per side.

We fold ours into fourths and keep them warm in a 350 degree oven while cooking all the batter. Serve with a sprinkle of lemon and sugar table side.

YUM!