Souffle Pancakes with Maple Syrup

Cook Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Non-stick cooking spray

Maple syrup, to serve

Wet ingredients

100 ml (3½ fl oz) milk

100 ml (3½ fl oz) soda water (club soda)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry ingredients

200 g (7 oz/1⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

50 g (1¾ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Pinch salt

Method

Combine all the wet ingredients in a jug and leave to stand for 5 minutes. The mixture will thicken slightly.

Sift all the dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl with a pinch of salt and make a well in the middle. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and, using a spatula, gently fold the dry into the wet, mixing only until there are no visible dry spots. You need to keep the mixture light and airy for this to work.

Spray a heavy-based cast-iron frying pan with non-stick spray and warm over a low heat for a few minutes. For these pancakes to do the whole soufflé thing, they need the assistance of metal ring moulds. The higher the sides, the higher you can get your pancakes. Spray the inside of four high-sided ring moulds and place two in the pan (it’s best to cook them in two batches as you need space to flip them). Fill with 2–3 tablespoons of the mixture, depending how high you’d like them.

Once the mix is in and level, place a lid on the pan and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and flip the pancake while still in the mould. Place the lid back on the pan and cook for another 2 minutes. To test whether they are cooked through, press on the top of a pancake – if there is slight resistance, you should be good to go. Repeat to make the remaining pancakes. Top with whatever you damn well please, but I love maple syrup.