Heart Shaped Pancakes (Romantic Dessert)

This recipe is my favorite for breakfast or dessert, also it's so suitable for romantic dinners or special occasions. A pancake is a thin, flat cake prepared from a batter and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side. Depending on the region, pancakes may be served at any time, with a variety of toppings or fillings including jam, chocolate chips, fruit, syrup or even meat.

English pancakes have three key ingredients: plain flour, eggs, and milk. The batter is runny and forms a thin layer on the bottom of the frying pan when the pan is tilted. It may form some bubbles during cooking, which results in a pale pancake with dark spots where the bubbles were, but the pancake does not rise. English pancakes are similar to French crêpes. American  pancakes (sometimes called hotcakes) are pancakes which contain a raising agent such as baking powder; proportions of eggs, flour, and milk or buttermilk create a thick batter. In India the Pooda (sometimes called Cheela) is a pancake. They can be made either sweet or salty and are of different thicknesses in different places. In South Africa pancakes refer to crepes, they are traditionally prepared by the Afrikaans community on gas stoves, and called a pannekoek in Afrikaans, eaten on wet and cold days. Pannekoeke are served with cinnamon-flavored sugar (and sometimes lemon juice), the sugar may be left to dissolve onto the pancake, if eaten immediately the pancake is crispy. In Kenya pancakes are eaten for breakfast as an alternative to bread. They are served plain with the sugar already added to the batter to sweeten them.

Recipe tips:

1- It's better to use a whisk to mix ingredients, it helps mixing the flour will with milk, you can also use food processor.

2- You can add vanilla as you like, I just find it better without it so I didn't add it.

3- I used heart mold, you can make pancakes without it.

4- When placing the batter inside the mold make sure you add half of it so it doen't go out of it.

5- If the batter leak outsite the mold it's OK you can remove it after cooked on one side.

6- It's better to use nonstick molds, or else you can grese them with butter.

*How can I make heart shaped pancakes without a mold?!

- If you don't have these molds you can cut it heart shape after cooking:

1- Draw a heart on a parchment paper.

2- Cut the paper with scissors .

3- Put it on the cooked pancakes and cut them :)

Makes: 5 pancakes

Prep. time:   3 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp butter for cooking

6 tbsp maple syrup (or your favorite syrup)

6 tbsp strawberry jam

Cherries to garnish

Directions:

1- Sift the flour with the baking powder.

2- Add milk, salt, and sugar to the flour and whisk till mixed well, then add oil and whisk then add the egg and whisk.

3- Place a pan on medium heat, place some butter to melt then place the molds.

4- place the some pancake batter into the molds, and cook till it bubbles like this.

5- Carefully remove the molds and flip the pancakes to cook on the other side for 2 to 3 minutes approx.

6- Place the pancake onto a plate like so.

7- Spread 1 or 2 tbsp strawberry jam.

8- Add another pancake and spread it like the first one, and top with another pancake then garnish with a cherry.

9- Add 3 tbsp maple syrup (or as much as you like), and serve, Bon Apetit :)