A pile of pikelets with crushed nuts and honey

There has been much discussion this week in the office about “Is a pikelet really a crumpet and what’s the difference between a pancake and a pikelet?"  What we did discover is that they are also known as dropped scones or scotch pancakes in regional parts of the planet and pikelets are a huge hit with antipodeans.

 A pikelet contains yeast or a raising agent but unlike pancakes it's cooked on a hot griddle frying pan and without the use of a ring which is used in crumpets. The texture is light and soft due to the addition of bicarb of soda.

At Melrose and Morgan we are big fans of the pikelet and our recipe takes the best from all the various aberrations above. Serve hot from the pan with blueberries and yoghurt, toasted crush nuts and honey,  strawberry jam or marmalade.  The whole family will be sure to LOVE them.

 This recipe makes 12 (4 servings)

 310g Self Raising Flour

75g caster sugar

1 large free range egg

340ml full fat milk

75g unsalted butter

1 tsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

 Sift the flour and sugar into a large clean bowl. Using a balloon whisk beat in the eggs and milk to a smooth batter.  Heat the butter in a small saucepan to bubbling hot. Remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar and bicarb. The mix will fizz, quickly stir into the batter. Heat a frying pan and cover with a little oil. Pour away any access oil.  Temperature of your pan is key here. It needs to be hot but not scorching. You may need to test a few small spoons of batter before you progress.

 Spoon about 50g (3 tablespoons) of mix for each pancake into the hot pan. Flip when you see the bubbles come to the surface, about two minutes. Cook for a further minute.

 Serve with crushed toasted nuts and honey or blueberries and yoghurt.

 If you have any Pikelets let over keep them in the fridge and pop them in the toaster to reheat.