Fluffy Pancakes, Finally!

frankly, my previous failed attempt on pancakes left me feeling embarrassed much more than anything else. for someone who's got almost 4 years of experience in baking and has dabbled with countless of complicated bakes, there was no reason why i could fail in such simple stuff like pancakes (yes i know i've said that before). i was really determined to get it right and i'm glad i didn't have to wait long. i got it right on the next attempt, all thanks to this video on youtube :D i reckon nothing beats watching a video coz it lets u see exactly how its being done, consistency everything. watching beats studying & reading combined and i'm so glad i decided to go on youtube instead.

end result is extremely satisfying. everything, from taste to smell to texture resembled mcdonalds' hotcakes alot. i had them with spiced honey and salted butter and they were so yum! i did not follow the "conventional" pancake rules eg. taking care not to overmix the batter, or using sufficient butter to oil the pan etc. but i do feel that beating the egg whites separately does result in a fluffier pancake and i'm sticking to this method in future. its almost hard to believe that egg whites and not baking powder would make such a huge difference.

ingredients (makes 7) :

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, separated

2 tsps caster sugar

1 tbsp oil

directions :

1. combine flour, baking powder & salt in a bowl and mix well.

2. in another bowl, whisk together egg yolk, sugar and milk followed by oil. mix well and add it into the flour mixture and whisk to combine.

3. whisk egg white until soft peaks, then fold into the above mixture. at this point i refrigerated the batter overnight. this step is entirely optional but it does thicken the batter abit and prevent it from spreading too much when cooking.

4. heat griddle or a non-stick frying pan on medium low heat then scoop batter, about 1 ladleful onto the pan. cook until bubbles appear evenly on the surface, flip it over and cook until golden.