Apple Pancakes



This past weekend was our first reenactment event of the season. Since it was a living history and there was very little scheduled, I knew I would have time to experiment with a new recipe.

Now, I must confess that I am one of those people who does try new recipes on company. I know you should try it out first, but I seldom do. Perhaps I reason I'll have less leftovers that way. In this case, I felt somewhat confident of success because the recipe was already adapted and tried by others. I also brought extra food "just in case."

The apple pancake recipe I tried came via the blog "Four Pounds Flour" http://www.fourpoundsflour.com/
In a chain of adaptations,the recipe was adapted from Old Sturbridge Village's Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook, 3rd ed , which adapted the recipe from The New England Economical Housekeeper of 1845. I made a couple of small changes myself. Still following me?

Here's the original recipe from 1845

Apple Pancakes No. 1

One pint of sour milk, a tea-spoon of saleratus, a tea-cup of fine Indian meal, a tea-cup of molasses, three sweet apples chopped fine and mixed in, and flour enough to make it the right thickness to drop from a spoon. Have your fat boiling hot. Cook till they slip from the fork.


















Here's the adapted recipe I used along with my comments

2 c sour milk or sweet milk with 2 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar added
2 baking apples
3/4 c molasses
3/4 c cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
2 c flour

If using regular (sweet) milk, add the lemon juice or vinegar and let sit about 10 min. to sour.

Pare and core the apples, chop finely. (If you leave large chunks the apples won't cook)

Combine soured milk and molasses. Add apples; set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together cornmeal, baking soda, and flour until combined. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients; pour in milk/apple mixture and stir until combined. (I just added the dry ingredients to the milk mixture).

Fry in a large skillet or griddle with generous amount of butter. (I found bacon fat to be the absolute best in terms of taste and crispness; lard was second best.)

Serve with maple syrup and or butter.

I used a cast iron skillet. Smaller pancakes seemed better with this recipe, largely because they were easier to turn. Turn the pancakes when the bubbles that rise to the top break.



We never had a chance to test these with butter or syrup, because we ate them as they came out of the pan! The first one was a test taste (how bad/good do they taste?) and the rest just vanished as they were made. Old Sturbridge Village mentions on their website that maple syrup was not as common as we might think today. Syrup needed to be refrigerated or it would mold.

I was worried about grittiness from the cornmeal - there was none. The combination of cornmeal-molasses- apples also concerned me, but the taste was amazing! Several of my happy diners commented that they tasted like doughnuts.

The recipe made a good number of small pancakes

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