Osomatsu-san Week 1: Osomatsu Pancakes

Happy New Year, readers! First blog post of 2017, so let's get straight into it!

Osomatsu is the eldest brother of the sextuplets so it only makes sense that we kick off this feature week with him! Described as the ‘leader’, he’s fond of gambling and is usually found wearing the colour red. In his Sweets set, the translation of his costume is 'Osomatsu as a pastry chef riding on pancakes. He throws a small bottle of maple syrup when he attacks.' (shout out to the lovely mods at the tumblr blog Hesokuri Wars for providing the translation)

I'd be smiling like that too if I was riding on a pile of pancakes.

That is the expression of a man that is plotting evil.

Ta-dah!

Some of my fondest memories involve pancakes: I remember watching Ma Sloth, late at night, flip tiny pikelet after tiny pikelet onto a waiting dish, to be smeared with butter and jam. (Pikelets, for my overseas readers, are basically small pancakes). It was also a common sight at birthday parties as a riff on the ever-popular fairy bread, with a pikelet as the base.

For this recipe I wanted to make ‘meatier’ pancakes, ones that are soft as pillows and soak up syrup and butter like a sponge, and I think I came pretty close with this! The recipe’s inspired by an episode of Jamie Oliver I watched when I was younger, and I’m at least 90% sure he was talking about Yorkshire puddings, but the recipe works. Dead easy, it’s all about the magic ratio: 1 cup of self raising flour to 1 cup of milk to 1 egg. That’s it. It’s never failed me (so far) and you add sugar depending on your taste. I don’t tend to add a lot, maybe 1-2 tablespoons, and I like to add a pinch of salt as well. If you’re in the mood for something fancier, try adding berries for a fruity version or, the always classic can’t-go-wrong choc chips.

I've doubled the quantities in the actual recipe because the pancakes are thicker. 

The method is a little bit more involved than what I would normally do for pancakes, but I think the extra effort makes the difference. By beating the egg whites separately, and beating the egg yolks with the sugar first, you increase the amount of air in the batter, therefore making it lighter (or so I assume). If, however, you’re a bit more strapped for time, chuck all the ingredients into a bowl (milk, egg, flour, sugar) then whisk until it’s all combined into a thick-ish batter and that’s ready to use. I don’t think you’ll get as fluffy a result, but it’ll still turn out a decent pancake.

Whip 'em good.

The mix was very frothy - think beer batter kind of froth

The solution for getting a thick pancake was simple, and it’s something I utilise for cakes – a paper collar. I’ve seen in some videos, people use cardboard milk cartons, but I didn’t have one on hand. I did think to use regular cardboard, but decided against it. A folded bit of baking paper does the job, and has the added benefit of being non-stick. Just make sure it’s properly sealed at the join, otherwise you’ll have a leaky pancake.  You’ll also want to make sure the collar isn’t too tall so you can cover the fry pan with a lid of some sorts. This way, you ensure the pancake is cooked the whole way through, so you don’t end up with a pancake that’s oozy for the wrong reasons. Also once the pancake is cooked through on one side, it becomes a lot easier to get a neat flip (and the pancake makes a satisfying ‘WHOMP’ sound when it hits the pan).

It would have been easier if I had stapled the paper together, but overlapping it works just as well.

I may have miscalculated a tad.

Maybe not a tad.

It's a lot easier if you measure it prior to putting it in the pan, in all honesty,

You want it to look like a crumpet - best cooked on low to medium heat otherwise it'll burn. 

If you're still following the script, this involves a bit of chocolate work and piping. Just make sure you pipe the decorations thick enough otherwise when you go to transfer it, it’ll break apart. Fun fact, the loopy bit of chocolate is a stylized ‘matsu’ or pine. Now, I’ve got to admit, I did deviate from the source material because I forgot which way the writing went, but all in all, I like to think I was pretty faithful to the original. Finish it off with a dollop of whipped cream, halved strawberries, blueberries and a scoop of pink coloured icecream (I went with strawberry) and there you have, your very own Osomatsu pancake stack!

Pancakes aka. syrup sponges

One day I'll temper chocolate properly. That day is not today.

It was about here I realised I had written 'Osomatsu' back to front

That being said, I'm still impressed it was legible. 

Om nom nom. 

Osomatsu's Pancakes

Makes 5 big pancakes

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 2C self raising flour
• 2 eggs, separated
• 2C milk
• 1/3C caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• pinch of salt
• Paper collar

METHOD

1. Separate egg whites from yolks and transfer to clean, dry mixing bowl.
2. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form then set aside.
3. Whip egg yolks and sugar together until pale and creamy.
4. Add the milk and vanilla to the egg yolk mixture and mix until well combined
5. Sift the flour and salt into milk mixture and stir until well combined.
6. Fold in 1/3 of the egg white mixture to loosen up the flour mixture. 
7. Fold in the remaining egg white mix gently.
8. Grease a frying pan with butter/margarine/oil and place paper collar in pan.
9. Ladle sufficient batter into paper collar (I used 2 ladles per pancake to get a thickness of about 2 cm)
10. Cover with lid and cook for ~ 1-2 minutes, checking occasionally (pancake is ready to be flipped once lots of little bubbles come to the surface)
11. Remove paper collar then flip pancake to cook the other side until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
12. Stack and serve with your favourite toppings!

• For Osomatsu Pancakes you'll need: 
• chocolate decorations
• whipped cream
• strawberries, blueberries
• strawberry ice cream
• maple syrup

Happy slothing!!

xx