Make Mom pancakes for Mother’s Day

Amp up the traditional maple-syrup topping by making a quick maple-blueberry compote.
Amp up the traditional maple-syrup topping by making a quick maple-blueberry compote.

The best home cooks I ever knew were my mother and grandmother. Maybe all the delicious schnitzels, dumplings, cookies and desserts they made for my sisters, my brother and me during our childhood years in Austria convinced me of that. But I really do believe that their honest, simple approach to cooking, emphasizing the best seasonal ingredients prepared in ways that highlight their natural goodness, is the right path to follow for anyone who wants to cook great food.

I like to pause every Mother’s Day, observed here in the United States on the second Sunday of May, to remember everything that those two good women did for us. And, as many fathers will do for their spouses this coming weekend, I also like to recognize all the wonderful things my wife, Gelila, does for our two sons, Oliver and Alexander.

Gelila is a great cook. In fact, there are some recipes she makes in our home kitchen that our boys prefer to my own versions. Fortunately, we all agree on how great homemade pancakes can be, and there’s a good chance I’ll be preparing the four of us a batch from a recipe that we all agree is wonderful. I’d like to share that recipe with you, too, in the hopes that you and your family will enjoy them this Mother’s Day or anytime you want a special Sunday brunch.

Pancake mixes are so widespread these days that it might give the wrong impression that it’s hard to make pancakes from scratch. Nothing could be further from the truth, as my recipe demonstrates. It’s as simple as separately combining dry ingredients and moist ingredients, stirring them together, and cooking them on a lightly buttered griddle or in a frying pan.

Most store-bought varieties taste one-dimensional to me. Yet, my easy pancakes turn out incredibly tender, rich and tangy, thanks to the combination of buttermilk and sour cream in the batter. (For even lighter pancakes, you can make the batter up to 24 hours ahead and store it covered in the refrigerator.)

Once I pour the batter onto the griddle or pan, I like to scatter on some fresh blueberries. But you could also add chopped nuts or, as I suspect my sons might do, some chocolate chips.

It’s traditional to serve pancakes with warm maple syrup, and you certainly won’t go wrong if you do. But I prefer to make a quick maple-blueberry compote to spoon over pancakes — an easy way to add an extra-special touch that shows thanks to Mom.

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES WITH MAPLE-BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

Serves 4 to 6

For the pancakes:

2 1/4 cups whole-grain pastry flour or whole-grain cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Pinch kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

2 large cage-free eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 to 1 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Confectioners’ sugar, to serve

For the compote:

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup

3 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour. Add the baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Add the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir with a wire whisk until thoroughly blended.

In another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until thoroughly blended. Add the sour cream, buttermilk and just over 1/2 cup of the milk; whisk until blended. Whisk in 4 tablespoons of the melted butter.

Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Thin the batter, if necessary, by stirring in enough extra milk for a thick, creamy consistency. Heat an electric nonstick griddle to 325 degrees, or heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Drizzle a little of the remaining melted butter onto the griddle or skillet. Transfer the batter to a large glass measuring cup. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, form pancakes by pouring from the cup onto the griddle or skillet, using about 1 cup for extra-large pancakes or 1/3 to 1/2 cup for smaller ones.

Sprinkle blueberries evenly over the pancakes. Cook until bubbles appear and pop on the surface and the undersides are deep brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with a little butter, and flip the pancakes with a spatula; then cook until browned, another 2 to 3 minutes.

As soon as you start cooking the pancakes, make the compote. Combine the syrup and blueberries in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries are heated through and begin to color the syrup, 5 to 7 minutes. Keep warm.

Arrange pancakes overlapping on individual plates. Spoon the compote over and around them. If desired, sift confectioners’ sugar over the pancakes. Serve immediately.

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