October 6, 2012

The Leaning Tower of Pancakes


I wasn't planning to post today, but I just had to share the hilariously ginormous stack of pancakes I cooked up this morning. Lila and I were making, "Whoa, whooooaaaaaaaaa" noises as I carried the wobbling stack to the table for a photo. It reminded me of the poem "Pancake?" by Shel Silverstein.

PANCAKE?
by Shel Silverstein (from the book Where the Sidewalk Ends

Who wants a pancake,
Sweet and piping hot?
Good little Grace looks up and says,
"I'll take the one on top."
Who else wants a pancake,
Fresh off the griddle?
Terrible Theresa smiles and says,
"I'll take the one in the middle."

This is the Perfect Pancakes recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's fabulous cookbook, Vegan Brunch (published by the Perseus Books Group).

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 to 1 1/4 cups plain rice milk or soy milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cooking spray
  • Preheat a large skillet over medium heat for at least 2 minutes (and up to 5 minutes).
  • In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
  • Make a well in the center and add the oil, water, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix just until ingredients are combined. A few lumps in the batter are just fine.
  • Spray the pan with a light coat of cooking spray (or a very light coat of oil). Pour pancakes one at a time and cook until bubbles form and the top looks somewhat dry (about 3 minutes). Flip over and cook for another minute.
  • Serve!
My Notes:
I substituted white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour and it worked great.
I also substituted coffee liqueur for the vanilla extract and that was divine.


If you haven't already purchased every cookbook available from 
Isa Chandra Moskowitz, I suggest you do so a.s.a.p.
I have yet to be disappointed by a single one of her recipes.

Cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:
Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook

Lastly, I just want to applaud Nickelodeon for turning off
the shows on all of their channels and, instead, posting this...
Click to learn more about the Worldwide Day of Play!

3 comments:

foodfeud said...

They look great, if dangerously precarious! Love that poem :)

Anonymous said...

That pancake tower is a thing of beauty. An architectural feat of food, if you will.

And I agree with you about Isa's books. Her recipes almost never fail and that's about the greatest compliment I can dole out.

jd said...

Somehow, I'm hoping that if I open my mouth wide enough, that tower of pancakes will lean right in! :)