Fluffy Japanese pancakes

Make these tall Japanese pancakes and watch them bounce and jiggle. You’ll need two crumpet rings to make them.

MAKES 6 PREP 10 mins COOK 36 mins (or approx. 12 mins per pancake) EASY V

150g self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp rapeseed, sunflower or

grapeseed oil

180ml milk dash of vanilla extract oil spray for cooking or a mildflavoured cooking oil (whatever you use in the batter) maple syrup, ice cream, crisp bacon

or berries, to serve (optional)

1 Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the sugar. Make a well in the centre, crack in the eggs and add the oil. Stir, gradually pouring in the milk, then use a whisk to combine. (You can also put the ingredients in a blender and blitz it.) Stir in the vanilla. Don’t leave the batter to stand, it’s best used straightaway. 2 Put a large non-stick frying pan over a low heat and put one or two oiled non-stick crumpet rings (about 31/2 cm high) in the pan. Spray (or brush) the pan lightly with oil. Fill the rings until threequarters full with batter, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10 mins on a very low heat. By this time, the tops should be covered in little bubbles and look dry around the edges.

3 Very carefully turn the pancakes over. You can do this by lifting each pancake in its ring onto the lid and then inverting the pan over them before turning the whole thing back over and taking off the lid. Cook for another 1-2 mins. Keep warm in a low oven while you use up the rest of the batter. Stack and serve with your favourite toppings.

PER SERVING 174 kcals • fat 4g • saturates 1g • carbs 27g • sugars 8g • fibre 1g • protein 6g • salt 0.4g