Crepecake roll-ups

I seem to have a thing with rolled-up food at the moment. My mouth clearly thinks knives and forks are overrated-hands are the perfect shovel-it-in accessory.  Or perhaps it’s just that I eat far too many meals when I’m working. I’m not and advocate for working whilst you eat- but we all know sometimes it just, well, it’s unavoidable. And at other times- eating with your hands is just way more cool. Talk about being in touch with your food.

I’ve called these crepecakes because they are a cross between a pancake and a crepe. One of my oldest and dearest friends Robin introduced me to them and call me cheesy but it was love at first bite. I’ve invited myself over to her house on countless occasions since for crepes- and as a true friend she’s happy to oblige, even putting the coffee on too. Robin, you’ll note still calls them crepes but I think that’s deceptive. Not that you’ll find yourself unpleasantly deceived- but deceived nevertheless. They are based on a crepe recipe, though- from the Joy of Cooking, so I’m led to believe. Robin’s father took it upon his gifted self to alter the recipe and they morphed magnificently into crepecakes. I love how that happens.

They are thicker than a crepe but thinner than a pancake and I think they’re just divine. You can serve these anyway you like- my favourite is  to spread them with a layer of peanut butter, top with apples cut into matchsticks and rolled up. Don likes to fill his with crispy bacon, sharp cheddar and a drizzle of honey. Either way- you’re on to a good thing!  More recently Robin’s been making them gluten and dairy free and I think they’ve become something even better. She never actually gave me the recipe- I’ve been hassling her for about two years now- but never-you-mind, this is pretty darn close. Although I have to admit, they taste so much better when an old friend makes them for you.

I’m back off to West Virginia tonight for 3 1/2 weeks so please bare with me I will try to post as often as possible!

Crepecake roll-ups

I love these for breakfast or even an afternoon snack. They are thicker than your average crepe and thinner than your average pancake and they freeze beautifully.

Makes 12

Diet Facts better than your average pancake

140g/1 cup Gluten free flour

75g/1/2 cup brown rice flour

75g/1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

500ml/ 2 cups almond milk (or regular milk)

1 Tbsp honey

cooking spray, butter or oil

Peanut butter and apples to serve, optional

1/ Whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flours and crack in the 2 eggs and half the almond milk. Begin to whisk incorporating the dry ingredients gradually and then continue to add the remaining almond milk. Keep whisking until completely smooth.

2/ Heat a 6 inch frying pan over a medium heat for about a minute. Add either a small knob of butter or drop of oil and use a piece of kitchen towel to grease the entire pan or spray with cooking spray. Spoon 3/4 of a ladle-ful of batter into the pan and swirl the pan around so that the batter covers the base of the pan.

3/ Leave until you start seeing little bubbles form all over the surface. Run a spatular around the sides to release from the pan- if you swirl the pan the pancake should move- if you’re feeling daring you can go ahead and flip it in the air. Alternatively you can flip using a spatular. If the colour is quite pale, turn the heat up a bit for the next pancake. Keep cooking for another 3o seconds, then repeat with the remaining batter.

4/ You can serve these anyway you like but I love to spread them with peanut butter, top with apple stick and droll them up!