Extreme Pancakes 26 Pancake Masterpieces Worth Waking Up For Michael Goudeau
Contents Chapter 4 Introduction Stacking Chapter 1 The Easiest Pancakes Welcome to the easiest pancakes. These are all round or mostly round. They re decorated versions of that standard pancake you ve loved all of your life. You ll probably get some version of these if you order the funny face pancake at your local pancake establishment. With these I use a little fruit, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, or anything else you wouldn t mind eating on a pancake to decorate. Strawberry Sun Cat Mouse Inchworm Chapter 2 Shapes and Letters I can t explain why but my kids LOVE to see their name in pancakes. They re crazy for it. This started our obsession with pancake art and drove me to search for a way to control the batter. I m positive I m not the first to discover the squeeze-bottle technique. I m just the first not to get bored with it after a couple of weeks. Emily Joey Gingerbreadman Chapter 3 Two-Toned Pancakes When you break a picture into smaller pieces it becomes easier to make them more visually complex without messing up. The inchworm from earlier in the book is a very basic example of what I m talking about. A number of simple shapes can be assembled to make anything you might want. Bee Checkers Train Chapter 6 Holiday Chapter 5 3-Dimensional The 3-D Pig was one of my early pancake sculptures and it really got me excited about what might be possible. I mean, if a professional juggler (such as myself) can make a 3-dimensional pig out of pancakes and a single sausage, what are the limits? The future of extreme pancakes is bright, my friends. The Pig Chess Board The Snail Things get a little crazier here. Something great happens when you draw a couple of spots and a smile, then wait a minute before you add the rest of the pancake batter. The pancake batter that was first on the griddle browns more, and the possibilities get more extreme. Smiley Face Bacon, Eggs and Toast The Lincoln Pancake Lion The Scream The 3-D Pig was one of my early pancake sculptures and it really got me excited about what might be possible. I mean, if a professional juggler (such as myself) can make a 3-dimensional pig out of pancakes and a single sausage, what are the limits? The future of extreme pancakes is bright, my friends. Santa Birthday Cake Turkey Valentine St. Patrick s Day Mother s Day Father s Day Halloween
Introduction Can a Pancake Be Extreme? Your Extreme Pancake Toolkit Pancake Batter There are a zillion books about pancakes. You can read about the history of pancakes or find pancake recipes from around the world. There is even pancake fiction. This book isn t about anything like that. This is about making crazy, amazing, extreme pancake-pictures and eating them. I have been making extreme pancakes since my children were old enough to eat pancakes. They are now 9 and 7 years old. We have made a lot of pancake art. It is time to spread the pancake love. Batter Squeeze bottle If you re serious you might want to get a couple. You can use different nozzle sizes for more detail. Also, you can add food coloring to batter and maybe you d want an artist s pallet of colors. Non-stick spray You should probably avoid the olive oil ones. Maybe it s just me but that olive taste mixed with most breakfast pancakes... ick. Here is a recipe for a basic pancake batter. I like to make my own batter mix but you don t need to. Most of the store-bought mixes make a pretty good pancake with very little work. You ll be working hard enough creating extreme-ness in your pancakes. Save a little of the dry mix on the side. You might need it to mess with the batter until it is the right consistency. You ll want the pancake batter to squeeze out of the bottle under your control. It should be thick enough that you can turn the bottle over without the batter running out, but it needs to be thin enough to pour slowly and Ingredients 1 cup (128 g) all purpose flour 2 tsp sugar ½ salt ½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda ¾ cup buttermilk ¼ cup whole milk 1 large egg, separated 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted canola or veggie oil for brushing griddle Non-stick pan or griddle Big and flat are the qualities I m looking for here. Spatula. Again, big and flat. smoothly into the plastic bottle we re going to use to create the pancakes. Directions 1 Whisk dry ingredients together. Optional: Infrared, Laser Sighting Thermometer. How extreme are you? Here s a chance to get something for your kitchen that shows your friends 2 Whisk egg white into milks. 3 Whisk egg yolk into melted butter. and your enemies that you re serious about cooking. 4 Then stir egg mixtures together. Dump wet ingredients into dry and beat. 10 Extreme Pancakes Extreme Pancakes 11
Chapter One The Easiest Pancakes Welcome to the easiest pancakes. These are all round or mostly round. They re decorated versions of that standard pancake you ve loved all of your life. You ll probably get some version of these if you order the funny face pancake at your local pancake establishment. With these I use a little fruit, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, or anything else you wouldn t mind eating on a pancake to decorate. For every pancake you make you re going to want to spray that non-stick pan with non-stick spray. I spray it on and then wipe it off with a paper towel.
The Sun This is as easy and as delicious as pancake pictures get. It calls for slices of strawberry around a basic round pancake, blueberry eyes, and a whipped-cream smile. If you delivered this pancake as someone s birthday breakfast you d be serving a pancake-y notice of your intention to make the day special. (2 ) + (2 ) + Like I said, we re starting off easy. 1 Slice up a couple of strawberries The long way so you get those good looking sun ray shapes. This is a delicious combination. The only real issue is: Is this enough whipped cream? I think not. You re going to want to serve it up like the picture and humbly accept the heaps of praise you ll receive for your amazing new skill. But once it is time to eat, give him dread locks, a Santa beard, bushy eyebrows or whatever it takes to get some more whipped cream on there. You know what else you could do? Stick a bunch of blueberries into the batter on the other side just before you flip it. If you wait long enough before you add the blueberries they won t show up on the face. AND, if you want to be really sneaky, you can put a little puddle of syrup on the plate before you add the pancake. This will hide the syrup and you ll have the complete standard pancake breakfast ready to eat. You won t mess it up pouring syrup on it later. 2 Find two blueberries. 3 Make that basic round pancake that you ve been eating since you were born. 4 Drop that pancake into the center of a plate, surround it with the strawberry rays, stick on the blueberry eyes, then draw an enigmatic smile with a can of whipped cream. Note: Whipped cream doesn t last very long on a warm pancake. You should do any whipped cream decorating just before you serve your pancake. Pancake Koan Oil on the pan will cause your pancake to become splotchy. No oil on the pan will cause your pancake to stick.
The Cat I m allergic to cats. This is the only one I ll let into my house. I know some of you are thinking, These pancakes don t seem very extreme. That may be true, but if you tell your friends, I ate a cat s face for breakfast, all of a sudden you re pretty extreme. Also, it is still early in the book, my friends. We re building a skill base you can use to create pancakes that your neighbors can t even dream of. (1 ) + (1 ) + (1 ) + (2 ) Note: I like blueberries so I ve usually got some at home but I agree that buying a tub of them for one blueberry nose is a little crazy. Maybe you could pretend to taste one at the grocery store and hold it, hidden in your mouth, until you got out to the car. You could also use a chocolate chip or a raisin or a bug. I don t know, maybe you re making pancake cats for someone you don t like. Together we shall achieve pancake dominance. 1 Slice 2 thin pieces from the middle of a grape. This will be the outer part of the eye. 2 Slice 2 end pieces off a grape. This will be the inner part of the eye. 3 Find a single blueberry. 4 Cut 3 slices out of a strawberry, the long way. Two of these will be the ears and they re done. On the one remaining slice, carve a piece that will look a lot like an anchor. This will be the mouth and that dent that goes from the nose to the lips. On people this is called a philtrum. Maybe it s called the same thing on cat. I m not that good at cat physiology. 5 Cut a few strips of strawberry for the whiskers. 6 Make a basic round pancake. 7 Assemble your cat so it resembles the photo. Flapjack Tip: I frequently form the fruit features first then finally the flapjack. That makes sure you re eating the warmest pancake possible. 28 Extreme Pancakes
That Famous Mouse Yes, that really famous mouse. There were cartoon mice before Him and there will be cartoon mice after but right now there is only one mouse people seem to want in a pancake and it isn t Ignatz. Pancake Koan As a flavor bonus, slice up the rest of the strawberry and put in on the plate to be covered up and hidden by the pancake. Technically this is stepping a little outside of our basic round shape but I think you re ready for it. 1 Cut two tiny end pieces off a banana for the whites of his eyes. 2 Slice a blueberry in half for the pupils and save a whole one for the nose. 3 Cut a slice out of a strawberry and carve it into a smile. If you were so inclined, you could do a frown instead. After all, he is about to be eaten. 4 Pour out enough batter to make a regular round pancake and give that circle a few seconds to stiffen up. Add two smaller pancake circles to the pan where they ll expand and intersect the larger circle. This will make the ears stick to the head. Cook and flip the pancake as usual. Be careful, it s easy to break off an ear. Not your ear, the mouse s. 5 Pour a little chocolate syrup onto a plate or into a bowl. Dip your finger in the chocolate and color the ears and features to make this mouse seem familiar. See that Eddie Munster widow s peak? I think that s important to make this mouse complete. If you re really serious about your pancake art you could get a small paintbrush for your chocolate. That would open up an entire set of artistic pancakes that, frankly, I don t want to get into. At least not until chapter tk. 6 Assemble the fruity facial features, then serve it while squeaking, That sure looks swell! (1 ) + (2 ) + (1 ) + (2 ) Extreme Pancakes 31
Inch Worm You don t need to get more complex than round pancakes to make art that will please your most discerning pancake guest. Of course I m assuming that your friends are able to separate the idea worm from an actual worm. You d be surprised. Some people might walk out, saying, I don t want to eat a worm. Let them go. They re not your real friends. 1 Make a bunch of small round pancakes. Vary the size somewhat so the pancakes available for the tail end are tiny and round. There are 12 round pancake segments in that worm in the picture. 2 Use your squirt bottle to make a couple of antennae. 3 Use your squirt bottle to make two spots for eyes and whatever mouth you want. If you don t flip these over to cook they ll stay a much lighter color and so will stand out against the golden-y goodness of the facial pancake. 4 Assemble the chain of pancakes into a pleasing wormy shape. I found this part is a little trickier than you d think it should be. I have no special tips for you other than to mess with them until they look right. 5 Drop those facial features and antennae into place. This is a lot of pancake coolness for a very little bit of work. Extreme Pancakes 39
Chapter three Two-Toned Pancakes We have arrived at the moment in the book where I reveal the true secret to the extreme pancake. Truth be told, you may have already stumbled onto it while making the preceding pancakes. Something great happens when you draw a couple of spots and a smile, then wait a minute before you add the rest of the pancake batter. The batter that was first on the griddle browns more. This was an exciting discovery for me. Clearly I am no Sir Isaac Newton but this discovery did make it possible for me to make a Sir Isaac Newton pancake. In some circles that has greater importance than the Principia Mathematica. You don t want to hang around in those circles. So lets make our first two-toned pancake.
Smiley Face Pancake Two-Tone Technique GRIDDLE MINUTES Now you understand how to achieve the two-tone look, and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 it s time for a little discussion on the technique. The issues are temperature and time. A hotter griddle will mean less time waiting between layers of batter BUT a grill that is too hot will cause a splotchy complexion. Too cold means that 1 you will have to wait a long time and I find that I don t get Fill that bottle almost to the top with pancake the contrast I want between color layers. batter. 2 3 If you are cooking over flames it may help you to turn off Squeeze out 2 dots (for eyes) and a semi-circle the heat while you lean over the griddle. This will reduce (smile) onto a hot pan. burning arm hair syndrome and that resulting burnt-hair Then add enough batter to create a round pancake that surrounds the facial features. 4 Those features are now a different color than the rest of your pancake. When the pancake has cooked a little, flip it over to reveal your artistic smell. Everyone s dining experience and your arm comfort will be improved almost immediately. Remember to turn the fire back on, otherwise you ll flip the pancake and it Here is a pancake rainbow representing the color variations at one-minute intervals on a 400 F griddle. will be a pale and squishy mess. Smooth Splotchy creation. You ve created a smiley face pancake. Note: If you fill the bottle all of the way up, the batter will bubble out of the bottle and run down the sides like a volcano. This is because the baking powder and/or baking soda used in vs pancake batter is making bubbles to help create that light and fluffy pancake. Now you know the foundation of fine flapjack art. With a little practice you ll be a Pancake Picasso. The great news is that practice is delicious. 48 Extreme Pancakes Extreme Pancakes 49
Bacon and Eggs Pancake Next time someone complains that they want something other than pancakes for breakfast, whip this up for them. For one second they ll be really pleased. Then they may punch you. Flapjack Tip: If you ve made pancake batter with eggs there is some concern that the eggs might not get hot enough to kill off any bacteria. The risk is very, very low but it is still a risk. Make that judgment yourself. In 2002 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture s Risk Analysis math showed that one egg in 30,000 would contain salmonella. The average egg diner, if they ate all of their eggs raw, would find one about every 42 years. You ve got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk? 1 Start making the bacon. Squirt a couple of very wide, very flat Zs. We re going for actual size in the breakfast so make this as long as a standard issue bacon strip. Let those Zs sit on the griddle until they are pretty dark, then fill in the opposing color stripes. 2 Now for the toast. Raise the temperature on the griddle a little to get a more bread-like texture. Remember that splotchy vs smooth pancake photo from page 00? You can use that splotchy texture to improve the look of your toast. Draw the outline of the bread, and as it is darkening, turn up the heat for the texture trick, then fill it in. Flip it and cook. 3 Next make the eggs. Lower the griddle temperature to get a very smooth look for the eggs. Pour the two yolks, let them darken, then flip them and let them cook on the other side. For the whites, pour out an egg-white sized pancake. To make this work really well you could make a thinner batter than normal. That will cause the resulting pancake to be thinner. Once the whites are poured, place the yolk into the center of the white. You re not going to flip it, so let this pancake cook a little longer so that the whites don t taste like raw batter. Note: The only thing you ll need that may not already be in your pancake tool kit is a pat of butter. You don t need a pat of butter for the toast but I like a little butter on my pancakes. Don t tell anyone, but I actually prefer most pancakes with just butter. Extreme Pancakes 51
Abraham Lincoln Four score and seven days ago my children s father brought forth on this continent a new pancake, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that while all men are created equal, some pancakes are better than others. Flapjack Fact: The 16 th president of the United States was born in a log cabin. I took that as a sign that he would be a good pancake. Note: This is actually two pancakes: Lincoln s head, and a stovepipe hat. For this pancake we use only the basic tools, skills, and perhaps a bit of random luck. 1 Draw the outline of the face. 2 Scribble in some beard and hair. Be sure to leave a little space between the beard and hair stripes so that you can fill it in and add more texture to the picture. To get a lot of contrast in the face, let the first round sit on the griddle for a long time. 3 Once you re confident that you ve got the color, fill in the face as quickly and evenly as you can. 4 Make a hat and put it on Mr. President s head. 53 Extreme Pancakes
The Lion This is a breakfast fit for a king; the king of beasts, that is. This pancake was requested by my daughter, who, at 7 years old, wants to run a zoo. If any of you know of a zoo that wants a 7-year old director, please contact me through the website. I ll make sure that we stay as far from that zoo as possible. This pancake is easier if you make it pretty big. 1 Outline the shape of the face. 2 Draw in the first layer of the mane. Note: In addition to the standard pancake tool kit you ll need a couple of slices of grapes and a blueberry cut in half to get that incredibly authentic hungry lion stare. (1 ) + (1 ) 3 Add the nose, mouth and two lines for the eyes. 4 Draw in a second layer of the mane. This will give you more variation of color. (It s chunky highlights for a pancake.) 5 Fill in the rest of the mane, then the face. 6 Install the eyes. Extreme Pancakes 55
3-D Pig body with legs (x2) This is one of my early pancake sculptures and it really got me excited about what might be possible. I mean, if a professional juggler (like me) can make a 3-dimentional pig out of pancakes and a single sausage, what are the limits? The future of extreme pancakes is bright, my friends. body (x2) 1 Hold up your sausage to get a sense for how big the face will need to be to fit that sausage snout. You ll have to estimate how big the head and face will be in relation to the sausage. head (x1) corkscrew tail (x1) 2 Draw the facial features and any sort of ear details you like and let them darken. Fill out the face and ears. If you re confused by any of the next few steps take a look at the photo of the pig parts before they were assembled into the final swine. 3 Make two round, body-sized pancakes with stubs for legs. For this pig, I made the body pancakes about the same size as the head but making them bigger than the head makes a darned funny pig, too. Make two regular round pancakes to become the body. sausage (x1) Note: The only thing in addition to the ordinary pancake tool kit you ll need is a cooked sausage. I use a turkey breakfast sausage because I think there s something funny about building this monument to pigs with a turkey sausage. No pigs were harmed in the creation of this sculpture. Turkeys, well... they didn t fare so well. Extreme Pancakes 65
4 Make a small, round pancake (½ inch or 1 cm) with a corkscrew tail. Don t flip this over. If you leave one side uncooked, it will stick to the sausage coming out the other end of the pig. Some of you will have made the leap in visual imagination to understand why this piece is helpful. 5 Find a hollow tube in your house that is similar in size to the sausage and use it to poke holes in all of these pancakes (Except the tail corkscrew). Picture this as a small cookie cutter. I used the nib from a cake-icing tool. You are removing a small circle of pancake from your larger pancakes to allow the sausage to be threaded through. You could also trim out circles using a knife if you wanted to. 6 Thread the pancakes onto the sausage to build the pig. 7 Pull those legs forward and backward to make the pig lie down. Then surround the pig with a pool of syrup for a wallowing-in-the-syrup effect. In Defense of Pigs in a Blanket + = Where I live it seems that Pigs In A Blanket have fallen out of favor. In the process of making the 3-D pig I became a 3-D pig pig. Pancakes and sausage are great together. They re delicious, they re cute, and they re delicious. I know I wrote delicious twice. That s how good they are. 66 Extreme Pancakes