This right here is a breakfast of warm mid-Winter sunshine. I’m sure that citrus fruits are in season in Winter just to remind us of the warm, spirited days of summer.
And I speak as someone who would pick cold weather over warm weather any day of the week.
Part of my reason for feeling this way, is that it’s so much easier to get on with life when it’s cold. You need to warm up, so you power through, you clap your hands together, you get stuck in.
When it’s hot in Queensland it is HOT. It is HUMID. It is all you can do to stay awake and keep drinking fluids in order to stay alive.
But then again, there are those mornings, when Winter is finishing, and the sun comes up and burns away the chill of the night before and the Summer seems full of promise.
Those are the days where you can forget that you have work to do, and that you’re going to be perpetually sweaty for the next 6-8 months, and start thinking about maybe buying a new hat, and a swimsuit.
It’s about this time of year that I start googling places like the Isle of Capri, Corsica and Lisbon. There’s something about that Mediterranean sunshine that calls to me you guys.
And it’s this time of year that is PERFECT for this breakfast. Thick, fluffy buttermilk pancakes, with a hint of brown butter, topped off with my new favourite pancake topping ever – mandarin curd.
The buttery pancakes, and that fresh, tangy and sweet curd are completely delicious and perfect together. And a pile of raspberries provides the exact level of sharpness to round everything out. You have to try the mandarin curd, though. I swear, you will want to rub it all over your body. It is delicious.
So tell me, are you dreaming of a snowy ski-resort right now, or a sun-soaked beach? And what’s your dream holiday destination? And is it weird to talk about rubbing mandarin curd all over your body? You know what, it is. I hear it now. My bad.
xx Sarah.
- For the Mandarin Curd:
- ½ cup (110g) sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1 whole egg + 2 egg yolks
- Zest of 1 mandarin
- ½ cup (125ml) mandarin juice (from approximately 3 mandarins)
- 5 tbsp (75g) butter, cubed
- For the pancakes:
- 2 tbsp (30g) butter
- 1 + ¼ cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- butter, extra, for cooking
- raspberries, to serve
- To make the mandarin curd, place the sugar, cornflour and eggs into a medium-sized saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Add the zest and juice and whisk again, and then place over a medium heat. Bring up to a gentle boil, whisking as you go, and then boil for about a minute. Remove the curd from the heat, and whisk in the cubed butter. When the butter is all melted and incorporated, scrape the curd out into a bowl or jar, and place in the fridge to chill completely. If kept in a sterilised jar, the curd should keep for at least a week in the fridge.
- To make the pancakes, place the butter into a small pan and place over a medium heat. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until the butter foams and takes on a caramel brown colour. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Place the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the eggs to the bowl, and begin whisking, slowly adding the buttermilk as you go. Finally, whisk in the slightly cooled brown butter.
- Heat a large non-stick pan or griddle over a medium-low heat, and add about ½ a teaspoon of butter. When the butter is foaming, add a few rounded tablespoons of batter to the pan at a time. The pancakes need about 2 minutes on the first side, or until the edges look set and bubbles appear, and a further 1 minute on the second side.
- When all the pancakes are cooked, serve with chilled mandarin curd and a pile of ruby-red raspberries! Then start planning a holiday.
I like warmer weather better, but I feel like you and I have lived a whole different life temperature-wise. I live in Montreal (Canada) and it’s hot right now, but I don’t need to shower or anything. Sooooo I feel you, even though we prefer different temperatures. I definitely need to go to Queensland one day! Also, I am really digging that curd! It looks awesome!
These pancakes! They’re so mini and so adorable! I just want to eat them with my hands (read: stuff them in my face). And mandarin curd sounds just perfect with them – ahhh. I love these so much, Sarah!
HELLO BEAUTIFUL STACK OF BEAUTIFUL PANCAKES WITH BEAUTIFUL CURD.
Why oh why is it bikini season& Ok, just wait till fall and i’ll be stuffing my face with these pancakes! I prefer cold weather, too. Really want to go to Norway, to live at a seashore village for a while, wear two sweaters at a time and eat fish steaks all day long!!
I’m sweating a storm here; it’s uncharacteristically hot in Holland this summer. I’m feeling pretty fortunate though – we went to Italy and Iceland this summer, so between glaciers and the mediterranean, I’d say my next bucketlist is somewhere in ‘Strayla.
Oh, and Pancakes <3
I’ve lived in Honolulu for three years now, and while perpetual summer may seem lovely to those trapped in the depths of winter, it does get a bit dull after a while. I miss Autumn every single year. Maybe these pancakes will help me remember what it felt like to be cold.
I’m obsessed with so many things about this post. First, love the smaller pancake size because then I can eat like 9 of them and not feel bad. Second, that blue background wall!!! Is that in your house? Love it. I need a wall like that. Third, let’s just take a trip to Lisbon and escape the cold?