Pucker-Up Cloudcakes
By America's Test KitchenPublished on July 14, 2011
Yield
Serves 4 to 6 (Makes twenty-five 3-inch pancakes)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Serve these very light, lemon-scented pancakes with blueberry sauce or syrup. Home stovetops vary, so you may need to adjust the burner setting between medium-low and medium. For maximum rise, allow the eggs and buttermilk to come up to room temperature before using them. Low-fat buttermilk works best here; if using fat-free buttermilk, reduce the amount to 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons. Although these pancakes are at their puffiest when served in batches, they can be kept warm on a cooling rack coated with cooking spray and placed over a sheet pan in a 200-degree oven for up to 20 minutes.
Instructions
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest together in large bowl. Stir buttermilk and sour cream together in medium bowl until combined. Add egg yolks and butter to buttermilk mixture, and stir well to combine. With electric mixer or balloon whisk, beat all 4 egg whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Pour buttermilk mixture over dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. (Batter should be lumpy, with visible streaks of flour.) Using spatula, carefully fold whites into batter until just combined. Do not overmix--a few streaks of whites should be visible.
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Using 1/8-cup measure or small ladle, spoon batter into pan. Cook until bottoms are evenly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Serve, cooking remaining batter and using more vegetable oil as needed to grease pan.
Yield
Serves 4 to 6 (Makes twenty-five 3-inch pancakes)Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
One of our favorite pancake recipes is Cloudcakes. This recipe creates light-as-air pancakes with a tangy kick. Cloudcakes get their airy texture when the eggs are separated and the whites are beaten into a stiff foam. We used a rubber spatula to gently fold the whites into the other ingredients, and were careful not to deflate them. To create an even lighter texture in our Cloudcakes recipe, we added two egg whites to two whole eggs. We found that combining buttermilk with sour cream in this recipe created a great tangy flavor and gave the Cloudcakes an added lift. Adding lemon zest brought a new twist of flavor to the original Cloudcakes recipe.
Before You Begin
Serve these very light, lemon-scented pancakes with blueberry sauce or syrup. Home stovetops vary, so you may need to adjust the burner setting between medium-low and medium. For maximum rise, allow the eggs and buttermilk to come up to room temperature before using them. Low-fat buttermilk works best here; if using fat-free buttermilk, reduce the amount to 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons. Although these pancakes are at their puffiest when served in batches, they can be kept warm on a cooling rack coated with cooking spray and placed over a sheet pan in a 200-degree oven for up to 20 minutes.
Instructions
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest together in large bowl. Stir buttermilk and sour cream together in medium bowl until combined. Add egg yolks and butter to buttermilk mixture, and stir well to combine. With electric mixer or balloon whisk, beat all 4 egg whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Pour buttermilk mixture over dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. (Batter should be lumpy, with visible streaks of flour.) Using spatula, carefully fold whites into batter until just combined. Do not overmix--a few streaks of whites should be visible.
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Using 1/8-cup measure or small ladle, spoon batter into pan. Cook until bottoms are evenly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Serve, cooking remaining batter and using more vegetable oil as needed to grease pan.
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