Blueberry Pancakes with Blackberry Syrup

Ok, Sean is crazy about blueberry pancakes. Just plain crazy. He makes a rich blackberry syrup every summer and carefully hoards it in the freezer. Maybe, just maybe, if you are nice, he will give you a taste. No guarantees, though.

For the blackberry syrup, we don't really have a recipe. We just cook the berries a bit and strain out the seeds and pulp, and make a syrup by adding sugar and boiling for a while. Sean freezes it and gets it out for his pancakes, and returns it when he is done.

I make waffles/pancakes pretty much every Saturday. The kids aren't usually allowed to eat the special blackberry syrup, so they usually stick with waffles and homemade maple syrup, or homemade *buttermilk syrup. Sean always wants his made into blueberry pancakes.

I found that I have eaten as many pancakes (blueberry or not) in my life as I will ever need, and that I just do not require more, ever. For some reason, I do not feel the same way about waffles, and I am more than happy to eat waffles. Just don't give me pancakes. Sean is more than happy with that because, as his equal (i.e., I'm not one of the kids), I have every right to the blackberry syrup. Since I don't want blueberry pancakes, I don't really require the blackberry syrup. Less for me=more for him.

When I made pancakes/waffles, yesterday, I made raspberry syrup. It was not nearly as rich as Sean's blackberry syrup, but I thought it turned out rather nice.





Blueberry Pancakes

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries (slighly defrosted)

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add buttermilk, egg yolks and oil. Stir to combine.

Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into the batter until fully incorporated. Do not over mix. You want the batter to be light and fluffy.

Butter a hot skillet. Add about 1/3 cup of batter. Top with a handful of blueberries. When the top of the pancake bubbles, then carefully flip the pancake. After a minute or two, flip the pancake again and check around the blueberries to see if the batter is cooked through. If there is any oozing batter, then cook a little longer.

Raspberry Syrup

1 cup water (or less, if you want it thicker)
2 cups sugar
1 pkg frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or more, if you like that flavor a lot)

Combine the sugar, water, and frozen raspberries in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Boil for 1 minute. With a fork, stir and mash the raspberries. Strain, using a fine mesh sieve. Press the solids to extract every last bit of flavor that you can. Flavor with the vanilla and almond extract.

* I'm not giving you the recipe for buttermilk syrup because it is evil. It involves large amounts of butter.