Rise and Shine!

Spiced Banana and Pineapple Pancakes

First things first: I was born in England, where a pancake is flat and not puffy. Not like the delicious American ones I love, drizzled with maple syrup and with a couple of rashers of crispy bacon on the side. Why else do you think that people use the term "flat as a pancake" in England? I hope that now excuses my pancakes for not being thicker and fluffier! Because they may be as flat as a British pancake, but they are probably a lot more tasty!

There is something wonderful about the flavor of banana and rosemary in combination. Also cinnamon and nutmeg go well with it- very well indeed. And ginger? Off the scales! So I decided to add those spices into my pancake batter and let it sit for around 30 minutes to become wonderfully infused. I sincerely hope I don't need to tell you how to mix your batter!

I start my pancakes off by popping some little scraps of bacon into a dry Teflon pan and giving them a blast of heat- just enough to make it go translucent and to start giving off that lovely, flavorful fat. Remove the soft bacon and set it to one side. Don't worry- we are going to crisp it up later! But for now, we want to use that fat to fry our pancakes in. Again- I don't want to add any more fat to this meal as absolutely necessary. Just simply because it is NOT necessary.

 If you really want to- go ahead, add butter, knock yourself out. I don't.
And my pancakes tasted pretty-damned wonderful I'll have you know! Rant over.

Pour your batter into the hot pan and before it starts to set, set out your banana and pineapple pieces. Pour a little more batter on top to fill the gaps and then sprinkle very lightly with sugar. The banana and pineapple are already sweet enough and you just want the sugar to melt and caramelize a little in the oven. Don't overdo it with the sugar, because we are going to have some maple syrup on top once it's ready... patience!

Pop the pan under the broiler to finish cooking- this should only take 3-4 minutes. The pancake will puff up and brown nicely, the sugar will crisp up deliciously and a breakfast star will be born! Add a few fresh leaves of rosemary and flavor- don't do it before browning in the oven or they will burn. Now- add that maple syrup! Or honey! A little dusting of extra cinnamon? Sure? Powdered sugar? It's all good! Grab your coffee, get comfortable and enjoy! It's gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiney day...