Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things. ~Saki
Pikelets are a bit of an institution round here, especially for morning or afternoon tea. For those of you not in the know, pikelets are like fluffy little pancakes – very tasty with a cup of tea and a neighbourly chat.
Yesterday our good friend Geoff came to visit. Round here, we all refer to him as ‘Timber Cutter’. He’s an old, old man now, with big gnarled hands and still-strong arms (although his skin has thinned and he’s always got a bit of bark off), and he remains a demon with a chainsaw. He can fell anything, quickly, safely and accurately.
Over the years he has logged up and down the north coast of New South Wales, and he knows this country and its seasons like no-one else I’ve ever met. Geoff’s not a well-educated man, education was a luxury when he was growing up, but his manners and values are old-school and he is one of life’s true gentlemen. He has an enquiring mind, and keen observation skills. He thinks deeply, and speaks after much consideration. When he speaks it’s generally worth listening to. 
These days he doesn’t do much felling. He’s replaced that with talking. I think he’s making up for all that time when he was out in the bush on his own, or too busy for idle chatter. Oh man, Timber Cutter can talk. But we never complain. We just fill up the teapot with a good strong brew, go out onto the shady verandah, keep the tasty treats coming, and sit around listening to his many tales. Pikelets are his favourite, and I always make enough for him to take some home. I use my Nana’s recipe. The following recipe will serve four, but I always double it!
Ingredients: 1 cup self raising flour (for my American friends, you can make self raising flour by adding 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt to one cup of all purpose cake flour),1 large egg, 1/2 cup of milk,1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of melted butter or 1 tablespoon of cream, extra butter for your skillet/frypan.
*Note – these work just as well with commercial gluten-free flour. I also like making them with 1/2 cup rice flour and 1/2 cup buckwheat flour and two teaspoons baking powder for my gluten-free friends. Spelt flour, while not gluten-free, is also great!
Method: Add the vinegar or lemon juice to the milk to sour it, and set aside. (Nana always made her pikelet batter by hand but if you want, you can mix this with an electric beater!)
Sift the flour and sugar into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Whisk the egg and pour into the centre of the well. Then add a little milk. Using a wooden spoon gradually beat the mixture from the centre, slowly incorporating more of the dry ingredients. Keep adding a little more milk until the mixture is combined and has a thick, creamy consistency. Add in your butter or cream and stir again until combined. Let the batter sit for ten minutes to thicken further.
Heat a heavy based skillet or frypan and grease lightly. Place spoonfuls of mixture, well spaced onto the hot surface. When they begin to show large bubbles on the surface, turn them over.
Pikelets are delicious served with butter and jam, jam and cream, or butter and golden syrup. My Pa also liked his with a thick smear of butter, sprinkled with sugar, and then doused in lemon juice. They are great as a lunchbox snack and it’s easy to add variations to the batter. Some of my favourites include:
- Stewed apple chunks and a dusting of cinnamon
- fresh blueberries and a little lemon zest
- sultanas/raisins
- date pieces and a shake or two of powdered ginger
- mashed up ripe banana
While we munched away and sipped our tea, Timber Cutter regaled us with stories of the Frost of ’54, which came in November (nearly Summer in Australia) and decimated the lucerne and potato crops, timber-getting at the back of Kyogle in the 1950’s, and tales of growing up in a time where more people had a horse and cart than a car. We laughed and cried over crazy stories and tales of tragedy. Then we went for a walk around the paddocks, looking for koalas and watching the birds.
All in all it was a very satisfying afternoon of yarns, friendship and a shared table.
Your description of Geofff’s hands reminded me of my Dad’s hands, they were very big and gnarled when he grew old. He was a bush man and worked in the 1920’s in the bush of New Zealand. HIs cross cut saw, his axe and his wedges were hung up in the shed. he also used to have lengths of fuses and gunpowder , my older brorthers used to run a strip of gunpowder along the ground attache a bit of fuse and light it. I t made a satisfying bang bang bang. I think I did it once to show my younger brother how it worked. A risky business I realise now.
Made these and they turned out M33N. Had to add more milk during the method process, all the dry ingredients soaked up all the liquids. Which was a bonus because it made more, doublely impressed!!.. 👍😆
I stumbled across your site while searching. Thanks for the awesome. Loving the koala in the tree too. Keep well.xx
Thank you! xoxo
Hello again. I followed the recipe. I have measuring cups and spoons. My mixture turned out VERY thick. I had to add extra milk so the mix would spread in the frypan and not stay in a doughy lump. What could be going wrong?
Cheers
Seren, the mixture will be thick and will only spread a little, but if it is too thick just add a little extra milk. Some flours do absorb more liquid, and if it is very cold the mixture will also be a little thicker. I hope that helps. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. I love cold pike lets with a thick spread of coldish butter and best quality raspberry jam. A good cuppa is essential
oh bert! that is a look of desperation!! it’s in your doggy scavenger dna i’m afraid, i know you can’t help it!!! woof woof!!
C&C,
I shouldn’t read your posts when I wake up, with my coffee… My stomach is acting up on me: Go bake us some pikelet, Le Clown….
Le Clown
Le Clown, it would be my complete pleasure to bake for you. Oh perhaps you could use that charm of yours on someone a little closer? ♥ xx
I have nominated you for the lovely blog award, as you write one of my favourite blogs. http://tryingtoescapethedarkness.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/a-suprise-in-my-inbox/ Kat 🙂
What I’d like to know is how you get your pikelets that perfect colour! When I make these I generally burn them or they’re not cooked in the middle. Getting the temperature right in the pan is difficult, or so I find, and I wish I could get them to fluff up and cook quickly as they’re supposed to. I’m going to try your recipe and see how I get on, I haven’t done that souring of the milk thing before, maybe that will make a difference. I love the look on Bert’s face.
They key is to have a moderately hot pan, with just a smear of butter. Too much butter and they burn – it’s not just the pan temp. I often use paper towels to wipe away excess butter, and when the butter is too browned wiped it out and start over. Good luck xx
Aha, I never thought of that, I’ll try it – thank you! xo
I love piklets….. especially with homemade jam and cream!! Reminds me of being a young girl and I love sharing my pickles making skills Keith my ill girls. Sounds like yourself and your husband make mr timber cutters day. So nice to read of your generosity. Small acts of kindness mean so much and I can’t help but feel you make this old man feel very happy, valued and loved.
Please excuse the predictive text!!! The first part makes no sense
He gives us just as much value in return! Love him to bits. I’m also grateful for parents and grandparents who taught me the value of kindness and sharing. It makes the world I live in a much nicer place to be. Bless xoxo
Bert!!!! Don’t even think about it!! xoxo
Sunday morning breakfast is the memory this brings back for me. Also a member of the family who couldn’t say pikelets but said pieclips! What lovely memories you shared with Geoff, I never tire to listening to the stories of ages past. Thank you. xx
I used to love making pikelets with my Mum…standing on tippy toes waiting to see those bubbles appear before flipping them…oh that smell! Thanks for the sweet memories, the stories and that cute pic of Bert…happy sunday to you lovely…XX