High Mountain Lodge
PO Box 1888
Winter Park, CO 80482
425 County Road 5001
Winter Park, CO 80482
Doty Beckwith's buttermilk pancakes
Tom's dad, Doty Beckwith, had a famous recipe for pancakes that visitors to the High Mountain Lodge have been raving over. Here it is:
Sift before measuring:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Resift with:
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
In another bowl, beat
1 egg
Incorporate into the egg:
2 tbsp. melted butter (add the butter slowly and whisk quickly so that the butter doesn't congeal in the cold egg mixture)
1 cup buttermilk (depending on your preference and the moisture content of the flour, use more buttermilk for thinner pancakes)
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry. Using a spoon or rubber spatula (not a whisk!) incorporate the mixture quickly. Do not over-mix. The batter will be lumpy. Cover the bowl and let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes (1 to 2 hours is better).
Pour spoonfuls of batter gently onto a hot, seasoned griddle (dropping the batter will cause irregular-sized pancakes).
Serve with softened butter (because nobody likes chunks of cold butter on their pancakes) and maple syrup. Alternately, serve with a fresh fruit compote.
Makes about 12 medium-sized pancakes.
Depending on number of servings, combine equal parts of fresh fruit and sugar in a small saucepan and very slowly heat under a low flame until the sugar has melted and the fruit is glazed, hot, and beautiful. NB: if there isn't much moisture in the fruit you choose, you may need to add a *small* amount of water, but BE CAREFUL: too much water will not reduce before the fruit gets overcooked.
Fruits to use: any kind of berry. You can make a simple compote of one berry, or combine several kinds of berries for a more complex compote. For larger berries like strawberries, cut them up until they're no larger than blueberries or raspberries. Blackberries, depending on their size, can be cut in half or added whole.
For other fruit, such as peaches, pears, and apples, cut them into berry-sized portions. It wouldn't hurt to add some cinnamon and/or nutmeg or allspice for a festive autumn. Depending on how firm they are, this type of fruit may need longer cooking to soften. Here's where judicious addition of water works: you don't want the sugar to caramelize, and you want the fruit to soften, but not so much that it looses its fresh flavor. Experiment.
Want a waffle variation on Tom's dad's pancake recipe? Click here.
Variations on the recipe:
Immediately after pouring the pancakes on the griddle, but before flipping them, dot the pancakes with thinly sliced bananas slices. If you have children, it's always a treat to arrange the bananas into happy faces. The bananas won't sink into the batter, but float on top; when you turn the cakes, the bananas will brown differently than the batter, and the face will be revealed. You can even cut the bananas into different shapes to make it even more fun. But be careful: bananas are slippery, and you have to work quickly if you have a number of pancakes to decorate!
A variation on this without bananas: drop small bits of batter onto the griddle in the shape of a face--or let your imagination take over for even more creative designs. Then ladle additional batter to surround the bits. Because the bits will have cooked marginally longer, they will be browner and the design will appear when you flip the pancake. But be careful: sometimes you have to create a larger pancake that may be harder to flip!