Perthshire Pancake Stack with Atholl Brose & Spiced Brambles

  • Chris Young

Recipe by Chris Young – Entry 2013 – thehandmadeoatcakecompany.co.uk

Inspiration / Influences / Story behind recipe
I visited Amsterdam  many yrs ago with Fiona my partner and we always used to eat these small pancakes off street vendors, so we bought a pan and have  made so many variations on different pancakes over the yrs to go with starters mains and dessert, but because of this competition thought i would come up with my take on a Scottish pancakes using oat flour Basically oat flour has little or no gluten in which make these little beauties just melt in your mouth.

Ingredients
PANCAKE MIX ;-
10g Malt extract
1 Egg
9g Granulated sugar
36g Sieved Oat flour
40ml Heavy cream
3/4g Salt
10ml Whole milk(body temp)
28g clarified butter

ATHOLL BROSE CREAM
160ml Heavy cream
15ml Heather honey
20g Toasted oatmeal(pinhead, medium or fine)
1 large measure of malt whisky
(10ml of whisky for recipe and the rest take yourself just for quality control.)

BLACKBERRY COULIS
250g Brambles (Blackberries)
50g Castor Sugar
1/4 tspn vanilla essence
4 crushed Cardamom seeds
2 Inches of cinnamon stick
100ml Water

Method
Pancakes
Whisk egg, sugar and malt extract, blend well.
Stir in warm milk to half egg mixture.
Now using whisk still, gradually add flour and heavy cream to a smooth paste, scrape down the sides.
Add remaining egg mix, vanilla essence salt and butter, slowly whisk together then leave to rest, the longer the better up to an hr if possible but always give a stir before you use it as the flour may go to the bottom.
I use a pan with small indentations for each pancake if you don’t have one then half a tsp of batter for each pancake.
There is enough butter in recipe so you don’t need to oil the pan, test the heat by putting a droplet of water onto pan it should evaporate immediately, then you’re ready .
They only take ten to fifteen seconds on each side so be quick.
Keep them warm if possible, best served straight away.

CREAM
Lightly whip cream till soft peaks and fold in honey toasted oatmeal and whisky, leave this till the last thing and serve asap, it can be kept in the fridge for several hrs but tends to thicken up if left.
Don’t forget to finish rest of whisky (never pour back in bottle – Just in case of contamination, better to be safe than sorry.)

Blackberry coulis
Heat cardamom and cinnamon in pan for 20 or so seconds to release oils giving better flavour. Add 3/4 of blackberries sugar and vanilla essence and boil for five minutes.
Blend with electric or magic whisk like i have then put through sieve.
If you want the sauce thicker then return to heat for a further few minutes, then sit aside for a few minutes before use but place rest of blackberries into sauce to use for garnish but will also take on the taste of the sauce.

As you will no doubt see i will be using an edible flower called Borage to keep the theme as purple as the Heather,
Borage was fed to armies of past in soups and stews to impart courage before going into battle.(Borage soup is gorgeous made with fresh flowers, all of the Borage is edible.

Now we have all the elements. I feel a nice stack of pancakes held together with some coulis is in order, a gentle dollop of cream and some strategically sprinkled Toasted pinhead oats and the   blackberries with a little dash of   extra dipping sauce .Don’t forget the flower, and all going well depending on time there may be a simple sugar decoration on the cream to balance out the height and give a sweet crunch to a Truly Scottish oatmeal desert.