A stack of Pancakes is everyone’s favorite breakfast. When syrup and melted butter are drizzled over top, everyone joins the “clean your plate” club. Every Dad that made breakfast for kids has created a Mickey Mouse cake or two.
Pancakes have been around for centuries. This easy to make meal is a favorite at most hunting, fishing, and campouts. There are so many variations and ways to make these cakes your own.
Most cultures have a variation of Pancake on their menus. They have been called Griddle Cakes, Hot Cakes, and Hoe Cakes. Soldiers and pioneers often made these cakes on their tools. A garden hoe or shovel made a perfect cooking surface.
In China, pancakes are called Bing, Korea boasts Hotteck, Native American Tribes made Fry Bread. If you are a Flapjack Jon, you are a pancake connoisseur.
Making pancakes into characters or changing sizes has made many shapes like Mickey Mouse or Silver Dollars. A Stack happens when the cakes are placed on top of each other. Butter is put between the layers and syrup is drizzled on top.
Not everyone prefers syrup, which is made from Maple tree sap, berries, or melted sugar. Powdered sugar, peanut butter, and jelly will do in a pinch.
You can use the classic Aunt Jemimah mixes, Bisquick, or other premade box mixes, or make your own. After years as a Boy Scout, Scoutmaster, hunter and fisherman, here is my simple and memorable recipe!
1 ½ cups of Milk Some folks prefer Buttermilk, but plain milk works fine for me.
2 ½ cups of loosely measured flour
6 tbsp of sugar
4 tsp of baking soda and Baking Powder to make the cakes airy and light.
4 large eggs beaten. A single large Goose or duck egg can be used.
2 tsp of Vanilla just because
¼ cup of honey.
4 tbsp of unsalted butter
Pancake Instructions
Use a large mixing bowl to combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and Baking Soda. Whisk in the beaten eggs, milk, vanilla, and honey. Whisk until you have a pourable, smooth consistency.
You can pour the batter with a spoon or carefully tip it out. I enjoy using a plastic squeeze bottle. The short, stubby ketchup bottles work great. Fill with the batter and squirt the batter into shapes, words, names, or patterns. Presentation is everything.
Place a tab of butter onto your cook surface. If you are using a hoe, or shovel, clean it first. A Dutch Oven lid works great for making 1 perfect cake at a time. The concave lid can be placed on the campfire coals or a grill and will keep the batter from spilling over the sides. The long handle helps you stay back from the fire. Cookie cutters work well to make shapes. Spoon or squirt the batter onto the melted butter. You want a medium low heat.
I use a cooking spray on my spatula to help control the cakes and keep them from sticking. The spray oil will work on the cooking surface too, but I prefer the butter flavor.
Cook the first side for about 3-4 minutes, The bubbles will form holes across the cake. Now they are ready for a flip. 2-3 minutes on the second side is perfect. Keep the made cakes warm until they are ready to be served.
SYRUP
You can certainly buy premade syrup but sometimes at a camp, you need to make do. I made syrups from jelly by thinning them a little and heating them up. Foraging in your area can be fun. Huckle berries, Buffalo berries, wild plums, blueberries, sassafras, Blackberries, persimmons, and other sweet treats are available, especially in the Fall. Place them in a pan, simmer and sweeten. You can thicken them with a little corn starch. The hot syrup makes the Flap Jacks even better. Warmed Honey will also make a fine topping for your Hot Cakes.
Stack and Flap away!
Montana Grant
