A good pancake is a thing of beauty. It's crispy at its lacy edges and pillow-soft in its middle. And fluffy. A really good pancake should be so light and fluffy that it melts in your mouth. Here is a restaurant trick for making the fluffiest, airiest pancakes in the world that we'll need to try (and taste) to believe.
Chef Clayton Miller at Wit and Wisdom restaurant in Baltimore folds not one or two, but three whipped egg whites into his signature pancakes. He then cooks the pancakes very briefly on the stovetop before transferring them to the oven where they rise even further.
Chef Miller calls them "soufflé pancakes" and it's easy to see why. These sound like pancake nirvana: tender, airy, and perfect. He also promises that these pancakes won't collapse or sink like a traditional soufflé will do.
Get the Recipe: Chef Clayton Miller's Soufflé Pancakes from Shine
Think this will work, or do you have your own secret to fluffy pancakes?
Related: Take Pancakes Up a Notch: 7 Mix-Ins that Make Mornings Brighter
(Image: Stephanie Frey/Shutterstock)
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I actually adapted my favorite recipe for pancakes using one of The Kitchn's suggested techniques. I simply fold in an unwhipped egg white to the batter. Makes the fluffiest, most tender, syrup soaked pancakes I've ever had. http://bakeeatrepeat.blogspot.com/2012/06/perfect-fluffy-pancakes.html
Another way to make a fluffy pancake is white vinegar. You make a milk/vinegar mixture, let it sour for a few minutes, add an egg and melted butter, then add this mixture to the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, any seasonings). Yum!
@lucidfuse- so essentially, you add buttermilk?
@ambitious, I thought the same thing!!
And this isn't a secret for restaurant styled pancakes. This is how one place does it. For most, restaurant pancakes are like Ihop or a diner and they're not taking time to "souffle" their pancakes. They drop them on a griddle then on a plate, repeat. Recipe is important.
I've been trying to figure out the secret of Elaine's Special Pancakes at Mitchell Londong's Café at Fairway on the UWS (I think now it is just the Fairway Café).
I've hit on sour cream and beaten eggs whites, but have heard rumors that the batter is left to sit overnight in the fridge so that the pancakes are not too fluffy (and yes, they can be too fluffy).
In search of pancake perfection...
Aaach! Mitchell London's!
@AMBITIOUS - yes! I don't think it gives the pancakes as much of a buttermilk taste, however.
Ricotta. North Star in Columbus, Ohio puts ricotta in their cloud 9 pancakes and they are TO.DIE.FOR.
Fresh baking powder.
my father swears by a can of beer, and instant pancake mix
Beer sounds great, as does vinegar. It seems the easier way than putting them in the oven!
It's interesting that the two-step pancake technique (griddle than oven) is exactly what people recommend now for steaks and roasted meat!
The recipe I use for pancake batter incorporates 3 whipped egg whites folded into the batter. This recipe comes from The Tassajara Bread Book, written by Edward Espe Brown and published originally in 1970. This makes the best pancakes ever. I have found it best to let the batter rest for at least an hour before putting the batter to the griddle.
I've always made buttermilk pancakes using the Fannie Farmer recipe. I scale the recipe down by 1/4 for one person, but that means using half an egg so I just use a whole egg--seems to make especially light pancakes. But recently a friend suggested using plain kefir instead of buttermilk, so I tried it and it was a revelation--the pancakes were incredibly light, tender and delicious!
Looking at the recipe on the link almost made me laugh - Eight Easy Steps! Imagine: a Sunday morning, making them one by one and finishing them in the oven, too? Whew! There are so many easy ways to make light pancakes - using a hot griddle, lightly oiled, letting the batter sit 10 minutes before using, not overmixing the batter, using buttermilk and fresh leavening ingredients - as others mentioned. The recipe had great entertainment value, but for more than 2 people (who aren't too hungry, at that!) - less than realistic.
My mother in law adds some soda water to the batter and then lets it sit around for a bit before cooking up.
For me it's about the technique I suppose. I place the just about cooked pancakes on a plate, which is on top of a saucepan of simmering water, and put some kitchen foil over them. The steam 'finishes' the pancakes and the result is a lovely fluffy consistency.
I don't like my pancakes fluffy. I like them thin & dark, like my mother made them. I think it's why I rarely order them out, they almost always disappoint.