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Breakfast in Bed – Baby Buckwheat Cakes

Baby Buckwheat Cakes 9

Post by: Alison Hein

Wonderful earthy undertones with hints of walnut make buckwheat an ideal substance for creating delicious little brown discs – Baby Buckwheat Cakes. Buckwheat was first cultivated in America sometime during the 1700s, and quickly became a popular ingredient for making pancakes. Sometimes these cakes were made with yeasted batter or sourdough starter. Oftentimes cornmeal was incorporated into the mix. Later, the cooking process became easier with the addition of saleratus, the predecessor of baking soda and baking powder. Buckwheat Cakes were a common choice on frontier menus, and back in the mid-1800s at the What Cheer Restaurant in San Francisco, you could get a whole plate of them, piled high and doused in sweet honey, for a mere nickel.

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I’ve been thinking about babies a lot (as a result of welcoming my first-ever grandchild, Phoebe Rose, into the world on December 16th!). I’ve also been thinking about buckwheat a lot (we have caviar on Buckwheat Blinis every New Year’s Eve and I still have half a bag of flour left sitting on my counter.) Add to all of this that I have been helping my son and daughter-in-law with their grocery shopping during this busy time. My son’s list includes “those little frozen pancakes from Trader Joe’s”. So, I combined my jumbled thoughts into one cohesive baby pancake concept.

Since buckwheat is more closely related to sorrel and rhubarb than wheat, it is gluten free. Dough without gluten can be a little fussy – keeping the pancakes small helps. And, since there is absolutely no butter in the batter, its nice to serve your babies with a generous clump, with real maple syrup or honey for the topping.

With a new baby around, I’m pretty sure my son and daughter-in-law won’t be enjoying a leisurely breakfast in bed anytime soon. But with their freezer stocked with these buckwheat babies, at least they will be enjoying breakfast. 🙂

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Ingredients

1¼ cups buckwheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil, for cooking

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Preparation

Combine buckwheat flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. In a separate large bowl (or stand mixer), add the milk, eggs and honey. Beat milk mixture on low for about two minutes, until thick and smooth. While beating (or with mixture on low), add buckwheat flour mixture to batter. Mix for another minute or so, until batter is well-mixed and somewhat heavy.

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Place pan or griddle on burner over medium heat. Melt a small amount of butter (or heat vegetable oil) in the pan for the first pancake. Use a tablespoon to spoon batter into pan and cook until small bubbles appear throughout pancakes. Flip once with thin spatula and continue cooking less than one minute until golden brown. Serve hot with butter and real maple syrup.

Makes about 40 2-inch diameter pancakes.

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Breakfast in Bed –Buckwheat Pancakes

Post by Alison Hein.

Buckwheat, despite its name, is more closely related to sorrel and rhubarb than to wheat. In the usual way of confusing food etymology, the plant’s misleading name is derived from the Dutch “boecweite” or German “Buchweizen,” meaning “beech wheat.” The triangular seeds resembled the much larger seed of the beech nut, and the plant was used as a substitute for wheat in cooking and baking.

Cultivated and popularized around the globe, buckwheat was a common crop in the USduring the 18th and 19th centuries. The introduction of nitrogen fertilizer in the early 20th century led to an increase in corn and wheat production, and a sad but equal decrease in buckwheat cultivation. According to Wikipedia, more than one million acres of buckwheat were harvested in the United States in 1918, and by 1964, only 50,000 acres were grown.

Buckwheat is gluten-free and has an earthy, nut-like flavor and a deep richness. This good old-fashioned recipe for Buckwheat Pancakes calls for a cup of white flour – simply use two full cups of buckwheat flour if you want to keep it gluten-free. I like to separate the eggs and fold the beaten whites into the batter for a fluffier texture. If you’re in a hurry, simply beat the eggs into the batter. The cakes may be a little flatter but their griddled goodness will remain for an old-fashioned breakfast in bed that’s due for a revival.

Ingredients

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus additional butter for cooking
2 tablespoons honey

Preparation

Combine buckwheat flour, white flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. In separate bowl, stir together milk and egg yolks. Pour melted butter and honey into liquid mixture and stir well. Using a wooden spoon or hand mixer, gradually add liquid mixture to dry ingredients until batter is smooth. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter.

Place pan or griddle on burner over medium to medium-low heat. Melt a small amount of butter in the pan for the first pancake. Ladle batter by ¼ cupfuls into pan and cook until small bubbles appear throughout pancakes. Flip once with spatula and continue cooking until rich brown, one to two minutes, adding more butter and adjusting heat as necessary. Keep warm while making the remainder of pancakes. Serve hot with real maple syrup.

Makes 8 to 10 4-inch diameter pancakes.

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