Breakfast for Royalty on Rainy Mondays

I woke up to the smell of fresh rain this morning and a strong craving for something sweet to accompany my morning tea.
I sat on my balcony, sipping earl grey, imagining the perfect breakfast.

Then it came to me: Berry Pancakes with Butterscotch sauce.

I went to the Flea market yesterday and picked up a couple pints of really extraordinarily fresh strawberries. I made little free-form tarts last night with those berries and some blueberries, all wrapped up in a really simple pastry! I had some of the filling (sliced strawberries, blueberries, lemon zest, a couple teaspoons of sugar and a bit of cornstartch -- to thicken it) left over, so I just spooned that onto the pancakes after they had been in the pan for about a minute. As soon as bubbles appear on the outer edges of the cake, flip it over.

I recently went back to Calgary and during my visit I got some new Teflon pans. I feel so spoiled every time I add something to these new pans and feel confident that I won't be scraping it for hours later. The pancakes were so perfectly golden and evenly toasted this morning, I was speechless.

Here's what you do:

Separate 3 large eggs into two bowls. Whisk the whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks. In the other bowl, combine the yolks with a scant cup of all purpose flour, a heaping teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole or butter milk. Mix until smooth batter. Gently fold in the egg whites in, mixing gently so you don't squash out all the air.

Pour your batter into a medium high, non-stick pan. Spoon on some sort of filling, cook for another minute, watch for the bubbles, and flip. Jamie Oliver insists that fresh corn in pancakes tastes 'absolute pukka!', which I am assuming is delicious. He says to drizzle it with a little maple syrup and eat lots of bacon on the side.

I made a on-the-fly butterscotch sauce by melting a little butter (maybe 4tbsp?) in a small sauce pan on medium low, and then adding a few scoops of golden brown sugar. I stirred often until the butter was melted, and then added a splash of cream and some vanilla, mixing with a fork and keeping on the heat until smooth and glossy.

I poured that over the hotcakes and felt like a Queen on a Monday.
Try it, treat yourself, treat someone else. Spread the word, we can all eat like royalty!