Pancakes

My wife is off today and I decided to make my Sourdough Pancakes for breakfast, which are one of her favorites.  Unfortunately, making pretty much anything sourdough requires some advance planning so I don't do it just any old time.  I got my starter out of the refrigerator a couple days ago in anticipation of baking bread, which didn't happen.  A couple feedings later and the bulk of the starter is back in the fridge awaiting another day.  The big bowl of remaining starter has undergone a couple more feedings and now my kitchen has the wonder sickly-sweet smell of sourdough.

My maternal great-grandfather (my mother's maternal grandfather) was a baker by trade.  He came from Germany and was trained by a Master Baker (Bäckermeister) who took him in at a young age.  It is a fascinating story I need to blog about sometime.  When I'm working on bread I think of the man I never met, and reflect on what I know of his story.  Any problems I have pale in comparison to what my ancestors have been through.

In addition to making pancakes, I usually like to make pancake syrup.  I haven't been very happy with store-bought syrup for some time now, and the homemade syrup I've had over the years was lacking.  Sorry Grandma Jean.  You have many.....many dishes I adore, but your syrup isn't one of them.   Because of this I’ve been fiddle-farting around with my own recipe.  I started with a simple recipe I found online and started messing around with it.

The first batch tasted well enough, but was a bit of a mess.  I added butter to the mix and it just never mixed in well.  If you stirred it up just before using, and made sure it was warm, it was OK.  I quickly doubled the batch and changed the ingredients.  Attempts 2-4 involved ingredient substitutions.  This latch batch, which had me substituting cane sugar for white sugar, also had me factoring in the liquid of the molasses.  I’m hoping it ends up just a bit thicker than the last batch, but not a whole lot.

I have the last batch simmering on the stove now.  I’ll let you know how it ends up, but if you want to try the recipe for yourself:

CHRISTOPHER'S HOMEMADE MAPLE PANCAKE SYRUP

2 c. cane sugar

½ c. Molasses

1 c. plus 2 T. water

1 tsp. maple flavoring

1 tsp. butter flavoring

1. Mix sugar, molasses, and water in saucepan.

2. Bring mixture to a boil; simmer for 15 minutes. (Don't let it boil again, or overcook.)

3. Add flavorings and let rest 5’ before use.

4. Chill remaining syrup for future use