03 July 2013

Some Things Are Just Better Homemade


Hannah and I had breakfast out this morning. We wanted to finish the shopping for her bedroom renovation (it's going well, details and pictures coming) so we left home early and decided we'd have breakfast out as a school holiday treat. I have to get as many school holiday treats in as I can, after these holidays there's only one more lot left and then Hannah, and I, are done with school and school holiday treats.

As we were eating our pancakes she commented on the food. How small the package was, how the pancakes smelled like dead fish (they did - I took them back only to be told that's what they were supposed to smell like!) and how chewy the pancakes were. We were both disappointed at our wasted breakfast and it was a unanimous decision to never try that again.

The breakfast cost $7.90, not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but for $7.90 you can make a whole lot of hot cakes and a big bottle of pancake syrup. And the pancakes won't be chewy or smell like dead fish and the syrup will be rich and flavourful and preservative and artificial colour and flavour free.

The list of ingredients for hot cakes reads:
  • Water
  • Wheat Flour
  • Whey powder
  • Maize flour
  • Vegetable oil (Canola)
  • Sugar
  • Raising agents (341, 500, 541)
  • Dextrose
  • Emulsifiers (471, 481)
  • Egg
  • Salt
  • Thickener (415 contains wheat)
The hot cakes are packaged in threes and frozen. They are then microwaved at the restaurant just before they are served to customers - no wonder they are tough and chewy!

Mum's Secret Hotcakes contain:
  • Flour
  • Milk
  • Eggs

The list of ingredients on the syrup reads:
  • Corn syrup
  • Sugar
  • Water
  • Maple flavour
  • Preservative (202)
  • Colour (150d)

MOO Pancake Syrup has:
  • Brown Sugar
  • Water
  • Vanilla extract

With that many ingredients in them it's no wonder they are expensive.  Both my hot cakes and pancake syrup recipes have just three real food ingredients - a big difference.

Here are my recipes for a delicious and inexpensive fast food style breakfast at home:

Mum's Secret Hotcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup SR flour
3/4 cup milk (skim or full cream)
2 eggs, separated

Method:
Beat the flour, water, milk powder and egg yolks together. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. Using a metal spoon fold the egg whites into the batter. Heat fry pan or griddle until hot. Using a ½ cup measure pour batter onto lightly buttered pan or griddle. Cook until bubbles form and start to pop on the top of each pancake then turn. Cook for further minute. Place a clean tea towel on a cake rack and sit pancakes on tea towel until ready to eat.  This recipe makes about 8 medium pancakes.

MOO Pancake Syrup

Ingredients:
2c brown sugar
2c hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Place the sugar and water in a medium size saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil for 5 minutes. Take off the heat and carefully stir in the vanilla extract (it may spatter when you pour it in). Let cool and store in a glass bottle in the fridge.

In the future we'll save our money and enjoy our pancakes and syrup at home, for much less, before we go shopping.

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1 comment:

  1. I used to make those pancakes in the olden days :) 15 yrs ago or so when you mixed up the batter and made them on a hot stove. I have a personal boycot now. Not only do I not like the idea of heating something up in the microwave using a polystyrene tray they are not as fresh, they were made who knows how long ago in a factory. My pancake recipe came from my sisters kids cooking book. 1egg, 1 c sr flour 1c milk (and my special addition before the milk of one mashed banana, makes them soooo moist and yummy!

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