Pancake Workshop

Two Fridays ago, we ended off the first half of the semester with a fun, and slightly messy pancake workshop!

Before I dive into my experience of making the pancakes, I will start off with a brief summary of what I have learnt for the topic of baking.

It’s interesting how different combinations of raw ingredients will give totally distinct types of baked goods! The variety of textures of baked goods are attributed to the structures of their doughs and batters, with the basic components being water, gluten proteins of the flour, as well as starch granules of the flour. Depending on the water to flour ratio, we name the flour mixture a dough or a batter, with the latter having a higher water to flour ratio than the former (2-4 times more water). In doughs, the water is bound to the gluten proteins and the surfaces of the starch granules while in batters, most of the water exists as a free liquid, with the gluten proteins and starch granules dispersed in it.

The reason for the drastic change in texture after baking/cooking a dough or batter is because the structure of the flour mixture is temporary. During the cooking process, the starch granules absorb water and swell to transform the liquid or semi-solid batter/dough into a permanent solid structure that is our cakes and bread. The gluten proteins also contribute to the structure of our baked goods by providing a cohesiveness to prevent the food from being crumbly. Overdeveloped gluten however, makes our end product more elastic and chewy. This was interesting knowledge to me, as I did not previously understand why we can’t keep mixing our batters/doughs to our hearts content. I remember baking bread once, and while I baked the first batch of bread, I was bored and started kneading a second batch a lot. The two batches of bread turned out to be very different, with the second batch being so incredibly chewy that it reminded me more of rubber than bread. The first batch was less chewy, but not tasty nonetheless.. I’m starting to doubt it may not just be the kneading that went wrong.. Maybe that’s why I haven’t baked bread in a long while haha!

I also learned that the leavening agents used for different baked goods are different. I never wondered why pancake recipes never called for yeast until I read more about it in the McGee’s book. Apparently, fluid batters (such as in pancakes) cannot retain much of the carbon dioxide that is evolved slowly from yeast. As such, chemical leavening agents such as baking powder/ soda are used in place of yeast. Alternatively, air can also be introduced mechanically, beating in air into the batter or its components (such as egg whites). A combination of mechanical and chemical leavening can also be used, which was the method used in making Japanese Souffle pancakes! (we tried)

Now for the fun part– the actual making of pancakes!

Each group randomly chose the type of pancake they would be making, i.e. Western Pancakes and Japanese Souffle Pancakes. Initially, our group was given Western Pancakes. However we wanted to challenge ourselves, so we exchanged with the neighbouring group to make the Japanese Souffle Pancakes instead. I would think that our decision made the cooking process a much more eventful one!

Our group collected the following ingredients:

Batter:

1. 3 tbs all-purpose flour
2. 1/3 tsp baking powder
3. Pinch of salt
4. 1 tsp granulated sugar
5. 1 egg yolk
6. 2 tbs whole milk
7. 1 tbs neutral oil
8. 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
9. Maple syrup

Meringue:

1. 2 egg whites
2. 1 heaping tbs sugar

We got to work by first whisking the wet ingredients, starting with the egg yolk and 5g of sugar (* sugar is a wet ingredient!) Then we added the flour and baking powder to the mixture, making sure to whisk adequately well to ensure the formation of some gluten. We then added a pinch of salt and some vanilla extract for flavour. Reading more about the purpose of salt, I realised that its function is not simply just for a more balanced flavour. Salt actually tightens the gluten network of the batter, which is helpful for improving the volume of the final product.

We then started the (slightly tiring) task of whisking the egg whites till stiff peaks. Although we did not do it this time, but I read that it’s wise to use very cold (even half-frozen!) egg whites to make meringues. This is because it makes for a smooth meringue that has small and strong air bubbles, increasing the fluffiness of the pancake. Maybe I will give that a shot the next time. Sugar was added as we whisked, which aids in stabilising the structure of the meringue.

After we did the classic bowl-over-the-head test for our meringue and passed, we combined the base and the meringue carefully, making sure we did not mix the batter vigorously and flatten our hard work.

We proceeded to cook our pancakes!

Turning on the hotplate at low heat, we preheated the pan, then added a scoop of batter when the pan was ready. The lid was put on the pan and the waiting game begun. This was a moist heat cooking method, trapping the moisture in the pan with the lid. This is a good approach as it introduces heat very gently, which was important for the delicate pancakes. Since souffle pancakes are thicker than traditional ones, we want to make sure that the inside of the pancake is cooked adequately while making sure that the tops and bottoms were not burnt.

The cooking process was slow, but we figured that the hotplate was not very appropriate for cooking the pancakes. However, online sources did say that the pancakes will cook best low and slow, so maybe we were just not patient enough. After a long wait, we managed to cook our first Japanese Souffle Pancake! It was pretty good if I do say so myself, for a first attempt at least xD

We also noticed that our remaining batter changed from a pale yellow to a darker yellow, and I think that was because the air in the egg whites were escaping as we waited for the first pancake to cook. Our second pancake was.. take a look for yourself:

.. yep. I think the caption explains it. We poured all the remaining batter (it was obviously too much) and we were a little to anxious to flip! Nonetheless, the end product was not too bad taste wise!

If I were to make these pancakes again, I would definitely opt for a bigger pan and a more stable heat source (or use an electric griddle altogether), to better aid the flipping and cooking process.

As a whole, the topic of baking was an interesting one. I have always found baking to be almost magic, but the readings and videos gave me a better idea of the science behind baking. I realised that there are so many little steps that I used to blindly follow without questioning its purpose (e.g. adding salt), so I would definitely be more aware of those in the future!