Monday, July 06, 2009

Cornmeal Red Currant Pancakes with Red Currant Syrup


As I've mentioned before, things tend to get a little nutso during the summer months; however, I find that as long as we maintain a few constants from day to day, we get through the crazies just fine and enjoy each day to it's full potential.

It shouldn't surprise you that pancakes are one of those constants. I declared them good mothering material long ago, disguised them as baby food, and dressed them up as dessert; yep, we are pancake aficionados around here. We like them so much, I've even considered devoting another blog entirely to pancakes, but I'd rather spend my time flipping them and eating them alongside my boys.



This last batch of pancakes was inspired from an outing to my friend Jamie's red currant patch. She graciously invited me to come raid her backyard/Garden of Eden, which I was happy to do. Her bushes was laden with ripe berries and I picked about ten pints in under an hour. I have to say, I'm pretty happy in a berry patch; I'd rather be getting my hands stained and my back sore than watching TV or getting a manicure (like that ever happens). I picked a lot of berries as a kid, so guess it brings back fond memories.
The best part though?Jamie offered me one of her red currant bushes, so next year I'll have my own stash. Sweeet. Thanks, Jamie!


That evening after berry picking, I stewed up some of the crimson red currants with a splash of red wine and spices to make a killer syrup. The next morning the only logical route was pancakes, ideal Saturday morning fare.

We were scheduled to go out for a brunch later, but anyone with young children knows that brunch is usually lunch, and we needed something to tide us over until then. Fortunately I had spotted a recipe for Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes in Martha Stewart Living (June 2009 issue) and they proved to be the perfect platform for my red currants.



The tart red currant sauce from the night before was just exquisite with the cornmeal pancakes. There's no way this is getting past your palate unnoticed, no matter how groggy you are or how engrossing the comics are; a real sit-up-and-take-notice breakfast!

We're crazy about anything with cornmeal or polenta and these pancakes are a keeper. The cornmeal gave them a lovely texture and rescued them from being too pasty, as I find some buttermilk pancakes tend to be.
Of course you can substitute whatever berries you happen to have on hand, or none at all.


Later that afternoon upon returning from brunch, I found myself with a couple of quiet hours while the babies napped, and I turned the rest of the red currants into nine jars of ruby red jelly. It was my first canning of the season. Hurray!

Cornmeal Red Currant Pancakes

adapted from Martha Stewart's Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes (MSL June 2009)

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar, divided in half

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 tsp. coarse salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup fresh red currants


Red Currant Syrup
(recipe below)

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, milk, butter and egg.

Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (for keeping pancakes warm). Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Toss red currants with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Brush griddle with melted butter.

Spoon batter onto griddle 1/3 cup at a time. Sprinkle with sugared berries, about 2 tablespoons per pancake. Cook until edges are set, 3 to 4 minutes (bubbles won't appear as with traditional pancakes). Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and currants, adding more butter to griddle and keeping prepared pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven.


Serve with Ruby-Red Currant Syrup



I can see myself stewing up another big batch of this tangy sauce and serving it with roast pork or turkey, or just dousing a bowl of vanilla ice cream. It's superb.

Ruby-Red Currant Syrup

2 cups red currants, rinsed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine (0r water)
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon OR 1 whole star anise


Combine everything in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat ad simmer gently for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Berries will disintegrate and mixture should reduce and thicken slightly.
Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve.
Cool slightly and serve with pancakes.

24 comments:

Emeline said...

we are HUGE currant fans here too! my mom makes gelly every year: her most prized jars! i LOVE that you love pancakes as much as I do!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

I love how vibrant the currant syrup is. I haven't had currants, so I'll have to imagine how awesome that tasted with cornmeal pancakes. What a great way to start the day!

Kelsey B. said...

These look delicious! I love the color of the syrup!

Jessica said...

These look absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!

Maria said...

I adore currants. I will have to search for some so I can make these pancakes. They look fabulous!

Kristen said...

How gorgeous are those? I'd love to wake up to some red currant pancakes!

Creative Classroom Core said...

Love the sound of that syrup! SO creative and colorful!

Lucy said...

Crikey just look at that GLORIOUS colour of the sauce! Superb and delicious - these pancakes would wake me up every day, any day :D

Anonymous said...

I have always wanted to try currants. I'm not sure where I can find them in my area but they look delicious. The color is amazing too.

Rachel said...

These look delicious! I have never had red currants, but I will have to find them. The recipe sounds awesome and I want to try it. :) So beautiful.

CookiePie said...

That syrup is beautiful! I bet it really made those yummy pancakes sing. You know we love pancakes in our house too - I'll have to try these!

Marta said...

Lovely breakfast! things like these do make for memorable mother-children moments! Especially if you took them berry picking also, they'll never forget that!

PheMom said...

Your photos are perfectly stunning! We are really big on pancakes around here too. I don't think I've ever had any currants at all, and this is making me sad that that hasn't happened yet. I'm going to have to track some down!

Julie said...

Oh my. I do love currants. And pancakes! This looks like the perfect summer cabin breakfast.

Melissa said...

It was so funny to hear my dad talk about currants just a few days ago. As if it were just discovered! He was so excited about them.

Gorgeous pictures! So beautiful.

Deborah said...

I just had cornmeal pancakes for the first time not long ago - and I'm hooked!! And that red from the currants is amazing!

Emily said...

You've outdone yourself! Those pancakes look fantastic. I love that cornmeal-red currant combination. That's a great idea.

I love that you used a little spice and wine in the syrup. Yummm. Beautiful pictures!

Cheryl Arkison said...

Yum! I'm sending this to my MIL, so she'll use her red currants a little bit more.

Lo said...

Oh, yeah.
And my grandmother thought that currants were only for making jelly :)

We made Kir from our red currants last year... but I might just think pancakes this time around. Gotta check to see when they'll be in season...

Ange said...

Yum....I want to reach through my monitor and take a bite out of those pancakes!

LoveFeast Table said...

I love cornmeal in my pancakes!

Jen said...

I loved the look and sound of these pancakes from the moment you posted them. But I despaired of ever tasting them, since I've never seen currants for sale in my area, and as far as I know, they don't grow around here. Then one day this past week I was walking through my grocery store and found red currants! I was so excited! I bought them and tried this and it was AMAZING. The syrup, the pancakes, everything. The only trouble I had was with the syrup. The berries just wouldn't disintegrate. I wound up using a ricer to smush them up without putting the skins in. That may not have been the right thing to do, but it worked pretty well. I love food, but I've never been big on cooking, until I found your blog. Now I get excited about trying new things. Thank you for the inspiration, and the recipes!

runswithscissors said...

Hello!
syrup is scrummy! waiting for pancakes tomorrow... but dipped my morning glory muffin in it this morning ... mmmm... tastey...
now, all the berries that don't make it through the sieve... what do you do with those... spread on toast?... throw them out?
i'm not a cook so i don't want to throw them out if there's something that can be done.. they're so appealing!
thanks
ab

Unknown said...

Those pancakes were delicious!! Even my husband loved them, and he usually hates berries in his pancakes. Didn't try the syrup, but maybe next time. Didn't have any time for that. You have a great blog by the way!

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