When people ask you what you want for your birthday, what would it be? In my case, it’s been always pancakes. But if you ask me to describe my dream pancakes, here’s what I would say.
I want my pancakes with Burrata.
And chocolate.
And whipped cream with a hint of vanilla beans.
And all the berries I can find at a local farmer’s market.
And I want them all in my favorite pancake plate, and I want to devour them like there’s no tomorrow.
Whenever I tell my people this, they always think I’m taking opium, or something. So I posted this on Instagram the other day to show them that I’m not taking opium, and how beautiful my dream pancakes could look like:
This illustration motivated me to follow my dream, and that’s how I decided to make this article today.
Here are the main ingredients for happiness:
- 2 eggs
- 25g flour
- 10g soymilk or any non-dairy milk
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Butter
- Burrata
- Berries
- Whipped cream (with vanilla beans!)
- Separate the egg yolk and the egg white into two different bowls.
- Place egg yolk into a mixing bowl, add milk and mix well.
- Sift the flour into the yolk mixture and mix well.
- Make the meringue: Take the egg white out of the fridge and add a cream of tartar.
- Whip the egg white until bubbles start to form.
- Add half of the meringue to the egg yolk mixture and fold it in.
- Add the rest of meringue, and again carefully fold into the yolk mixture. (Don't mix too much. Otherwise, your pancakes won't be as fluffy.)
- Drop a spatula spoonful of the batter onto a cooking plate, then top with an additional ½ spoonful on top of each pancake to help add height and cook it for 3 minutes.
- Flip them over after 3 minutes and then cook for a further 3 minutes or until both sides are browned.
- Done. Eat with your favorite toppings!
When you overmix the batter, gluten in the flour will react and make your pancakes look flat.
You see, gluten is like a push-up bra on a first date. You put so much effort into making yourself look bigger, but when you flip them upside down, all you have is the unexpected flat “pancakes” with the side of gnawing doubt.
So, don’t put too much effort into mixing the batter. Your pancakes do not need much help from gluten.
For the homemade Nutella recipe, here is the link.
I didn’t have hazelnuts that day, so I substituted with cashew nuts. It turned out really well. 
It was also impossible for me to find birthday pointy hats in Matsuyama, so I made my own. They also turned out really well.
I was almost impossible to find burrata in Matsuyama. And when I found it at one and only the international market, they were all on sale and half-priced.
So I did it. I made my dream pancakes. I was in heaven tasting this masterpiece, so I took this selfie:
Thanks for reading.
-Yuki
Leave a Reply