Brown-Butter Buttermilk Pancakes with Whipped Whites and Maple Butter
A brunch-café stack: nutty brown butter in the batter, egg whites folded in for extra height, cooked in ghee and topped with whipped maple butter and flaky salt.
Method
Maple butter: beat the soft butter with the maple syrup and a pinch of flaky salt until pale and fluffy, then chill. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add in this stepSoft butter (for the maple butter) 30 gMaple syrup (for the maple butter) 2 tbspFlaky sea salt ¼ pinchAll-purpose flour 130 gSugar 15 gBaking powder 1 tspBaking soda ½ tspSalt 2 pinch
Brown the butter in a light-colored 16 cm pan over medium heat, swirling, for about : it melts, foams, then turns golden with brown specks at the bottom and smells of hazelnuts. Pour it straight into a bowl, specks and all, so it doesn't burn, and let it cool for 3 minutes.
Add in this stepButter (to brown) 35 g
medium heatSeparate the eggs, putting the whites in a clean, grease-free bowl. Whisk the yolks with the buttermilk and vanilla, then whisk in the brown butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and fold just until no dry flour remains; leave it lumpy. Rest the batter for so the flour hydrates, which makes the pancakes more tender and taller.
Add in this stepEggs, separated 2Buttermilk 250 mlVanilla extract ½ tsp
While the batter rests, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks: when you lift the whisk, the tips curl over (about 2 minutes with an electric mixer, 4–5 by hand). Stir a third into the batter to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest in two additions until only a few white streaks remain. Don't stir again from here on.
Heat a heavy 28 cm frying pan or griddle over medium heat for , until a few drops of water skitter across it. Brush on a thin layer of ghee.
Add in this stepGhee or clarified butter (for the pan) 2 tsp
medium heatTurn the heat down to medium-low heat. Spoon in about 75 ml of batter per pancake, keeping them tall rather than spread. Cook for , until the edges look set and bubbles show on top; flip once and cook for , until deep golden and springy. Cook all the batter in 3 batches, brushing on a little ghee each time.
medium-low heatStack three pancakes per plate, top with a slice of maple butter and a few flakes of salt, and pour warm maple syrup over at the table.
Add in this stepFlaky sea salt ¾ pinchMaple syrup (to serve) 4 tbsp
Cook's tip
Ghee doesn't burn at pancake temperature, so you get even golden color without dark spots. Whipped whites lose air over time: cook the batter within 20 minutes of folding them in. For 1 serving, use a whole egg and whisk the single white in a small, deep bowl so the whisk can catch it.
Cooking it at camp
Brown the butter and make the maple butter at home; carry the dry mix in a jar and the eggs and buttermilk in the cooler. Whisking whites by hand at camp works with a deep bowl and patience, and if you skip that step you still get tender brown-butter pancakes. Use a cast-iron skillet on low.