Red velvet pancakes

Ingredients

·         180g self raising flour

·         2 tbsp cocoa powder

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         1 tbsp golden caster sugar

·         ½ tsp vanilla extract

·         200ml milk

·         3 eggs

·         25g butter, melted plus extra for frying

·         red gel food colouring

For the toppings

·         100g cream cheese

·         4 tbsp maple syrup

·         100g chocolate chips

·         icing sugar, for dusting

·         handful blueberries (optional)

Method

1.    Mix all of the pancake ingredients (except the food colouring) together in a large bowl, whisk thoroughly until smooth. Now add a small amount of red food colouring and mix again. Add more colouring until the batter is a rich reddish brown.

2.    Put a small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook until melted and foaming. Pour 2 tbsp of the mixture into the pan and use the back of the spoon to shape it into a 8-9cm round disc. Depending on the size of your pan you may be able to get 2 or 3 pancakes to cook at the same time. Cook for 2-3 mins on the first side, then flip over and cook for another 1 min on the other.

3.    Heat oven to its lowest setting and stack up the cooked pancakes on a baking tray to keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest. In a small bowl mix together the cream cheese and maple syrup then set aside until needed. To serve, stack the pancakes with the cream cheese mixture and chocolate chips in between them then finish with a final dollop of the cream cheese, a dusting of icing sugar and a few fresh blueberries if you like.

.