All this rain can be such a damper sometimes on a weekend when you’ve just set your mind on doing something productive. True enough I am happy with the fact that I get a nice break from this endless hot muggy tropical weather, but 3 days straight of just rain… rain… and more rain? Seriously?
As if getting soaked in heels from my Saturday night out wasn’t fun enough, eh? Meh, what am I complaining about anyway. I got to sleep pretty comfy all day Sunday and be completely useless with a hangover from hell sans the AC , that should be a good thing , shouldn’t it?
I love long weekends. And this weekend was one of those easy breezy ones that had me enjoy that once in a while state of just vegetating on a Sunday.  And yeah, the rain was a good thing. I just have to rewrite my mental Filofax of things I know I may never get to do in the next 2 months. Baaah ! Sue me!
I like to linger and relish these bed weather days. Just staying indoors and doing absolutely nothing. Well, if there’s anything I love to do on a really wet weekend …it’s cooking up something fairly easy but tasty and homey. I guess whatever cooking skills I have managed to perfect were borne from rainy days like these that have been spent indoors experimenting on whatever dish.
Pancakes! Yeah, I love pancakes on raindy days. But what pancakes? I thought I’d look around the internet for something a little different than your basic flapjack. And then I thought of crepes! That’s seriously tricky biz. Not everyone can turn out a nice set of crepes. It takes a lot of practice and a good pan or griddle. A crepe differs from a pancake as it is a very thin version of it. It’s French word origin stems from the Latin word “crispa†meaning curled. Crepes are considered a national dish in the northwest of France and traditionally, these crepes are served with cider. Crepes come in two species in France. One is for the crepes sucree which is made with anything sweet and the crepes are a tad sweet as well. The other type of crepe is the crepe salees or the galet which goes well with anything savoury. On my little reading spree, I chanced upon this recipe for snowpancakes. Let’s see how I fair at this and how much rum gets left enough for the rum butter sauce!
Snow Pancakes with Rum Butter
Ingredients
735 g light brown sugar
50 ml dark rum
freshly grated nutmeg
220 g plain flour
4 large eggs
400 ml milk , mixed with 150ml water (or snow!)
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp melted butter
50 g butter , for cooking the pancakes
Instructions
1.For the rum butter: put the sugar in an earthenware bowl. Warm this in a low oven, or in a microwave. Melt the butter in another bowl, either in the low oven or in a microwave but don’t let it start to cook.
2.Once the sugar is warmed, mix in the rum and then carefully add the melted butter, stirring constantly until combined. Beat the mixture until it is creamy and stir in the nutmeg. Pour the mixture into another bowl and allow it to set for 1–2 hours, in a cool place but not in the fridge.
2.For the pancakes: sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it, then whisk them into the flour, taking in all the flour from around the edges. Now gradually whisk in the milk and the water. The mixture should be smooth and have the consistency of single cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and the 4 tablespoons of melted butter.
3.Melt a little of the butter for cooking the pancakes in a frying pan over a medium heat. When it is sizzling, add a ladleful of pancake batter to the hot pan. Swirl the mixture around the pan and leave to cook for 2–3 minutes, then turn it over and cook the other side for another 2–3 minutes.
4.Slide the finished pancake on to a warm plate, set it aside to keep warm and repeat with the rest of the mixture. Serve the pancakes with the rum butter.
Photo Credit: michele eats