Spelt and I don’t get on.
I tried to make a spelt bread recipe, twice, and both times it came out inedible. Proper inedible, not even butter and jam would fix it.
I went on my merry way, whistling in my head every time people mentioned how tasty it can be, how much more substantial it made baked goods. Whatever, I thought, spelt is just too worthy to be good.
Clearly I came around, as I made these pancakes. But this is not spelt in a carob-and-wheatgrass kind of way, it’s more of a tempering, grounding element. More guts, less blood sugar spike. Because the eggs are separated and the whites whipped, it gives these pancakes a light texture that takes away from the masonry tendencies of spelt. Plus you’re halving it with all-purpose flour here, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.
Buttermilk spelt pancakes
Makes five big pancakes, double the recipe if you’re feeding more than two adults
100g all-purpose flour
140g spelt flour
1 tbsp baking powder
Teaspoon of sugar
Pinch of salt
2 room-temperature* eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
Proper Canadian maple syrup for serving
1. Combine flours, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine egg yolks, buttermilk, milk and butter in a measuring jug and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
3. Whip egg whites in a second mixing bowl until soft peaks form.
4. Add wet ingredients to your flour mixture, stir until combined, but don’t overmix! Ten deep, bowl-scraping strokes should do it.
5. Fold egg whites into the batter, taking care not to lose too much of the air. Don’t panic about this, use big J-shaped strokes of the spatula and it will be fine.
6. Cooking pancakes is a form of alchemy, it requires vigilance and quite a bit of good juju, so be patient and stay by the hob. Stove, whatever. Make a cup of tea. Then heat a non-stick frying pan over medium to low heat. Spoon a good portion of the mix onto the pan – it’s not going to spread much, so coax it gently outwards with your spatula a little bit. When the edges look a bit dry, gently flip it. These don’t seem to bubble through the way plain old buttermilk pancakes do as the mix is a bit thicker, so don’t wait to see those bubbles. I find it’s about 3-5 minutes a side. Serve with proper Canadian maple syrup, and streaky bacon.
*Room temperature is key here, you will get loads more volume from the whites if they are not fridge temperature. If you forget to take them out earlier, put the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
