Red Velvet Pancakes for dinner

It started out with this:

That's all I needed to change my dinner plans from stir-fry to RED VELVET PANCAKES! Over Easter weekend I bought a new bottle of white vinegar and a tin of baking cocoa. I've been anxiously awaiting my next red velvet cupcake adventure. Looks like pancakes take the cupcake tonight!

Are you alone? Baking for one? "Just you, miss?" YES! Well then you are in luck because I translated my recipe to be for one person! These turned out great and have all the makings of a traditional red velvet recipe: cocoa powder, red food coloring, baking soda, and vinegar! Lots of other typical ingredients are involved, but the four I just listed are the primo parts.

{FYI: Little "t" = teaspoon. Big "T" = tablespoon.}

Whipped Dream Cream (for one): 

- 2 1/3 t. Sugar (or 4 Sweet 'N Low packets)

- 1/6 t. Vanilla Extract (measure just short of a 1/4 t.)

- A pinch of salt

- 2 2/3 T. Heavy Whipping Cream

- 1 T Cream Cheese

- 1 T Clotted Cream or Double Devon Cream

Add ingredients to a medium-small bowl. Use a sturdy metal whisk. If you are making this for more people (you probably don't cook for just one like me... sad), use an electric mixer on medium-high or a stand mixer on medium to whip the cream cheese and clotted cream until smooth. Then reduce the mixer's speed and add the sugar, salt, vanilla. Continue beating and, on a low speed, add the heavy whipping cream. You might want to add the cream in 1/4 cup at a time. Increase the speed a bit and whip until soft peaks form. 

IMPORTANT: stick your finger on the side of the bowl for a taste test. I was just messing around with this recipe, and the first words out of mouth were: "holy jesus, oh my god." I'm not kidding.

FULL ORDER of Whipped Dream Cream:
- 1/4 c. Cream Cheese
- 3 T. Clotted Cream or Double Devon Cream
- 1/3 c. Sugar
- 1 t .Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 t. Salt
- 1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

Everything you'll need!

Red Velvet Pancakes (for one):
- 5 T. Flour
- 3 T. Sugar
- 1/4 t. Salt
- 1/4 t. Baking Powder
- 1/4 Egg (or 1 egg white)
- 1 T. Canola Oil
- 4 T. Buttermilk
- 1/2 ounce Red Food Coloring
- 1/2 t. Baking Cocoa (use Dutch processed unsweetened if you can find some!)
- 1/8 t. Vanilla
- 1/8 t. Baking Soda
- 1/8 t. White Vinegar

I got to bust out my food coloring gels!

FULL ORDER of Red Velvet Pancakes:

- 1 1/4 c. Flour
- 3/4 c. Sugar
- 1 t. Salt
- 1 t. Baking Powder

- 1 Egg (or 1 egg white)

- 4 T. Canola Oil
- 1 c. Buttermilk

- 1 ounce Red Food Coloring
- 1 t. Baking Cocoa (use Dutch processed unsweetened if you can find some!)
- 1/2 t. Vanilla
- 1/2 t. Baking Soda
- 1/2 t. White Vinegar

Here's how to make the pancakes (right ways and wrong turns):

1. Stir flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.

2. Mix in the egg, oil, and buttermilk. Continue whisking the mix until it gets nice and smooth.

3. Add the red food coloring and cocoa (FUN PART).

4. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and vinegar (in that order). If you don't, your kitchen might turn into a mini science lab. Beat and beat and beat until it is all well incorporated. Shouldn't take you that long.

I'm so happy that I was able to use my Red Velvet Cupcake ingredients!

5. Heat up your pancake griddle (my mom has one - I love it) or large skillet (I have this - not as reliable for pancakes). Use non-stick cooking spray or more canola oil to heat up and grease up your loins pan.

6. When the oil is hot enough, drop a large spoonful of batter into the hot oil (2 T. will give you a nice portion size per pancake - and you'll be able to flip them easily).

7. Once the batter bubbles, take a deep breath, pretend you are Bobby Flay or Paula Deen or Rachael Ray or Alton Brown and flip your pancake like a pro!

7 (b): My first flip revealed a few things to me: my heat was on too high and I left the pancake on the first side for way too long! From then on I started experimenting with size and thickness. The ones that I made wider and thinner were easier to control (instead of burning black!)






8. Serve these red fluffy bumpkins hot with whipped dream cream. I also used a bit of low-sugar syrup.

These turned out delicious! I am definitely a pancake fan. Tico's in Marina makes a great berry pancake. I've been there on two occasions now. (Read about Trip: One, Two). Next time I go out to breakfast in Monterey County I'd like to try one of the restaurants that made Monterey County Weekly's Best Of 2010 list.

They awarded Best Breakfast to First Awakenings (125 Oceanview Blvd, Pacific Grove). According to their website they have NINE gourmet pancakes to choose from "Always made from scratch, never a mix! Singles available." My wandering eyes also spotted Crepeggs "A thin, sweet crepe combined with fluffy whipped egg. Served with homestyle potatoes and an English muffin." (Yelp). Oh my! Can't wait to try that spot out and cross it off the Best Of list!