The Pumpkin Pancake – the tastiest reason to carve a pumpkin this Halloween. We know it can be a little intimidating to use your pumpkin friend’s innards to cook with but we promise you the pumpkin is more afraid of you than you are of it, so get scooping. This is the perfect pancake for a Halloween party.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
- 400g Pumpkin
- 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
- 2 tbsp Golden Syrup
- 250g Plain Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 Egg
- 100ml Semi-Skimmed Milk (dairy, soy, or almond)
- 1 tbsp Melted Butter
Serve with:
- Golden syrup or ice cream
METHOD
To Make the Pumpkin Puree
- Cube 400g of pumpkin (around 1/4 of a medium-sized pumpkin or 1/2 a mini one). To do this, cut the pumpkin in half by slicing all the way through it like an apple. Then cut one of the halves into two and remove the stringy flesh and seeds with a knife or spoon. Then peel your hunk of pumpkin with a vegetable peeler and cut the flesh into cubes.
- Put the cubed pumpkin in a large saucepan and cover with water. Boil for 15-20 minutes or until soft.
- Blitz the cooked pumpkin in a blender.
- Stir in the ground ginger, cinnamon and vanilla essence. If you don’t have ginger and cinnamon spice, you could always swap these for a teaspoon of mixed spice powder.
- Add the golden syrup and mix.
To Make the Pancake Batter
- Measure out the plain flour into a mixing bowl along with the baking powder, a bicarbonate of soda and a generous pinch of salt
- Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients and crack in the egg.
- Gradually add the milk, whisking as you go until you have a smooth batter.
- Stir in the spiced pumpkin puree and the melted butter.
To Cook your Pancakes
- Heat a little butter in a frying pan over a medium-high heat.
- Add large spoons of batter to the pan and smooth into neat circles with the back of the spoon.
- Cook the underside of the pancake for a few minutes until bubbling on top and golden brown underneath.
- Flip the pancakes with a spatula and cook the other side until golden brown.