American Style Banana Pancakes

The weekend certainly calls for a breakfast that's that little bit special. I don't know about you, but come Saturday, I've had a serious bellyful of porridge. I usually turn to eggs or fresh fruit smoothies but this weekend I decided to go all out and make American style banana pancakes. They're super easy to make - you can even prepare them the evening before and leave the mix chilling in the fridge overnight. For me there's nothing better than sitting around enjoying a delicious breakfast together on a lazy Sunday morning.

Ingredients 

260ml Milk
2 Large Eggs
4 tbsp Butter (melted)
270g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
4 tbsp Caster Sugar
2 bananas (sliced)

TO SERVE...
Fresh Berry Compote
Pecan Nuts
Natural Greek Yogurt
Maple Syrup

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Method

1) Using your electric mixer, whisk the eggs, melted butter and milk until combined. 
2) Sieve the baking powder into the mixing bowl, add the flour and the sugar and whisk again until combined. Allow the mixture to sit for at least 15 minutes before making the pancakes.
3) To cook the pancakes, heat your pan with half a teaspoon of butter and coconut oil. Put three ladelfuls of the mix into the pan to form three separate pancakes and place the sliced banana on top like so...

Once ready, flip to ensure that both sides are cooked

 - they should be golden brown in colour.

Enjoy as you wish. I like to serve a portion of three pancakes with a dollop of natural greek yogurt, a spoon of mixed berry compote, crushed pecan nuts and a drizzle of maple syrup on top - yum!

TO MAKE THE MIXED BERRY COMPOTE, FOLLOW MY SIMPLE RECIPE 

BY CLICKING ON THE LINK ABOVE.

Quick and Easy Eton Mess

Eton mess is one of my all time favourite desserts. It's one of the absolute easiest to throw together and it always looks incredible! You can either make your own meringues or if you want to cheat a little, buy a pack in the supermarket. I had a couple of crushed meringues left over from an order this weekend and didn't want them to go to waste so I bought a few frozen berries and went for it.

To make your own meringues...

YOU WILL NEED...

3 Egg Whites 

150g Caster Sugar 

1 tsp Lemon Juice 

METHOD... 

1) Preheat your oven to 100C/ 225F/ gas mark .25, and line a flat baking tray with grease proof paper

2) Put the lemon juice into your mixing bowl and, using a piece of kitchen towl wipe the inside of the bowl

3) Empty your egg whites into the bowl and whisk on high speed until the mixture becomes white in colour and forms a peak when the whisk is lifted

4) Next add half the caster sugar and again beat on high speed until combined and the moisture forms a peak when the beater is lifted. Add the remaining sugar and beat once again on high speed. You should be able to hold the bowl upside down without any of the mix budging. 

5) Pipe the mix into your baking tray and place in the oven for 1 hour 30 mins. When ready, leave to cool fully on the tray and then store in an airtight container for up to a week. 

For The Berry Compote...

YOU WILL NEED... 

A bag of frozen Summer berries

3 tbsp of Brown Sugar 

Juice of half  a lime

METHOD... 

1) Simply empty the bag of frozen berries into a pot with the sugar and lime juice

2) Stir and allow the mixture to come go the boil and then to simmer for 4-5 minutes. 

3) Allow the mixture to cool fully before storing in an airtight container. The compote can last for up to a week in the fridge. 

To Assemble... 

YOU WILL NEED... 

100ml Fresh Cream (whipped) 

Handful of fresh berries 

The compote you made earlier 

The meringues you made earlier (or the pack you bought in the shop!)

Simply layer each of the ingredients in a glass and top with fresh berries - enjoy!