I was eating a rhubarb, white-chocolate and tarragon muffin this morning. Yum! But it was almost as expensive as a block of cheddar. And it was too complicated for my senses. Morning coffee time is less-is-more time, not 3 weird ingredients and a bill the size of Lake Te Anau. Which is what made me think of and then drool for pikelets and now I have pikelets stuck in my head, sort of.
Pikelets are the very definition of gustatory less-is-more. They have almost no taste at all and therefore their taste is the butter they’re cooked in/on and the jam and cream that tops them. Raspberry jam pikelets are different to strawberry jam pikelets and feijoa jam makes a pikelet almost posh-fancy. And unlike scones we don’t need to worry about offending anyone by putting jam first and then the cream because either way round is fine according to eN-Zed’s Pikelet Bill of Rights and Wrongs. Because if vegemite and a slice of cheese is OK on a pikelet, pretty much anything is and according to Bill Wright, I’m allowed to express my opinion without being arrested or tortured or being deprived of my life.
In fact, if you don’t have any jam or whipped cream, you can smear some soft butter on your pikelet and then dip it into the sugar bowl. You can even smear some peanut butter and then swirl some honey into that. And that’s the closest thing to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pikelet you’ll ever get.
You make pikelets like this: beat an egg or two or three then add a cup or a bit more or less of milk, some SR flour with a bit more baking powder because the flour people seem to be shrinkflationing the stuff. Add a pinch of salt because everything should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially in an election year. The mixture should be as un-runny as a caramel thickshake. Put half a dozen or so smallish spoonfuls into a hot, buttered frypan and wait a wee while, until their upper surface bubbles and the bubbles burst. Turn them over and wait a wee while more. When their bottom is cooked and golden-ish brown, take them out, smear some more butter on the pan and do another batch. Eat two or three of that first batch, smeared with butter that’ll melt really quickly, just to be sure they’re good. Let the whole pile cool down before adding the jam and whipped cream or the vegemite and cheddar or the peanut butter and honey.
Why don’t cafes have pikelets? Is it because they sound too plain? Or because they can’t charge $15 for one?
Oooh, I nearly forgot… the best topping for a pikelet? Caramel made from condensed milk. 🙂
eN-Zed 