The Recipe

Ingredients:

• For The Pancakes
• 125g Self raising flour
• 100g Caster sugar
• 250ml Milk
• 75g Raisins
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

• For The Syrup
• 250g Caster or granulated white sugar
• 50g Dark brown sugar
• 300ml Water
• A generous dash of your favourite liqueur or spirit

Method:

Begin by putting the water and sugar (but not the liqueur) in a pan and placing over a gentle heat.

Leave to warm through and dissolve, stirring occasionally, while you make the pancakes.

Put all of the other ingredients in a large bowl and stir them together with a fork. Don't worry if there are a few small lumps - they'lll cook out.

If you don't like raisins, they can be replaced with grated apple or pear, or simply left out altogether.

Brush a pan with oil and put on a low to medium heat (these are to be quite thick pancakes, and must be cooked through gently).

Spoon or ladle the batter into the pan in small amounts.

I used poachette rings to make sure my pancakes came out perfectly circular, but they'll be just as nice if they are natural and irregular - just as long as they'll fit in the jar.

When the surface of the pancakes starts to show open bubbles, lift off the rings (mind your fingers - they'll be hot).

When the pancakes are firm enough (test by jiggling the pan to see if they're no longer liquid), flip them over and cook briefly on the other side.

Allow the pancakes to cool on a wire rack until you've cooked them all.

They'll dry out a bit, which is good, as they will absorb the syrup better this way.

Pack the pancakes into a jar, add the liqueur to the syrup, then pour it over the pancakes.

If there is any syrup left over, set it aside to top up the jar after the pancakes have soaked up some of the first lot.

The pancakes will keep in a cool place for a couple of days, or in the fridge for a couple of weeks - serve them with ice cream or fresh fruit (or both).

Variations

I used some of my bullace brandy to flavour the syrup for these pancakes, but other liqueurs or spirits can be used, and this will make quite a difference to the end result.

The raisins can be replaced with other dried or fresh fruits, or left out altogether.

The finely grated zest of a lemon could be added to the pancake batter, and the juice to the syrup.