There are certain things that I do that make me feel more mama-like than anything else. Things like braiding my daughters hair, sending the kids outside to splash in the muddy puddles from the rain then running them a warm bubble bath, leaving no stone unturned when packing all-the-things for a day away from home and tetrusing them into the car boot perfectly ... but it’s making a pile of pikelets for the kiddies after school pick up that makes me feel most mama-like. Standing at the bench waiting for the bubbles to surface in the batter while the big two bounce around my legs asking when they’ll be ready is one of my favourite things. Ever.
Tradition and ceremony is important to me in how I parent - in general really - so I serve the pikelets on a crystal plate I was given on my thirtieth birthday, every time. The kids call it the pikelet plate now. And because I’m a sentimental fool too, every time I make a double batch - which is more often than not now - it makes me think of my friend who was raised double-batching everything. Pikelet making gives me the warm fuzzies.
The kids only eat them with honey, they’re currently as obsessed with a chewy red gum as I am. I sneak them hot out of my pan with a spread of butter standing at the kitchen bench. The babies eat them plain or with raspberry jam or butter sometimes. I have to put 4 aside for their dad before the kids scoff them all up in one sitting - he eats them after we’re all in bed with a smorgasbord of toppings.
My recipe isn’t reinventing the wheel, just remember 1:1:1
1 cup of self raising flour : 1 cup of milk : 1 egg, multiply as needed.
Doubled is working well for us now though I know I’ll be tripling it in no time. Sometimes I’ll add a spoonful of castor sugar, or a splash of vanilla - neither of which seem to change the flavour much but I enjoy the extra flair. Mix together with a spoon, then whisk out the lumps. Adjust milk for batter consistency. Spoon small quantities into a medium heat, buttered pan, let bubbles come to the surface then flip. Immediately & lightly press the cooked side with the flat of your flipper to squish out the sides a little. I don’t know how I stumbled upon this, but I have and what it does to the thickness of the pikelet is perfecto. Do it, you’ll be so impressed with yourself.
Enjoy warm out of the pan, or practice patience and sit at the kitchen table together for afternoon tea, or squirrel a few away for tomorrow’s lunchboxes.