Blueberry and Lemon Hotcakes (gf)

These tender, fluffy hotcakes are so delicious I serve them to friends, regardless of whether they’re gluten intolerant or not.

1 cup brown rice flour

½ cup ground almonds (almond meal)

1 tablespoon cornflour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ cup caster sugar ½ teaspoon sea salt 1 cup buttermilk 2 large eggs, size 7 1 tablespoon rice bran oil

finely grated zest 1 large lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 punnet blueberries

butter or vegetable oil for cooking pure maple syrup

Blueberry Topping (optional; see recipe below)

sour cream or yoghurt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 100°C and place a cake cooling rack inside.

Whisk the rice flour, almonds, cornflour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, oil, lemon zest and vanilla together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined then mix through the blueberries.

Heat a large sauté pan over a medium heat and rub with a little butter or oil.

Ladle in ¼ cups of the batter, gently spreading them out a little and leaving space between each one so you can easily turn them over. I can fit 4 in my large pan. Cook for 3 minutes until they’re golden on the bottom, have started to puff up and beginning to set on top. Turn down the heat if they’re browning too fast. Gently turn over and cook for another 1½-2 minutes then transfer to the rack in the oven. The hotcakes are very tender so take care when turning. Wipe out the pan and re-butter between batches.

TO SERVE: Stack the pancakes on plates and drizzle with maple syrup. If making, serve with the Blueberry Topping and a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt. MAKES 10-12 HOTCAKES