New twist for pancake day - top chef shares his Kumquat recipe!

Monday 08 February 2016

He’s cooked for the Queen and now the Head chef at one of our top hotels has tossed together a recipe to give your Shrove Tuesday a bit of a regal tang.

L’Horizon Hotel’s Andrew Soddy is sharing his citrusy sensation to get your mouths’ watering on pancake day.

He's come up with this recipe for warm Grand Marnier pancakes with syruped kumquats and you won't be going hungry with this one as it makes between 30 and 40 pancakes.

For the batter you'll need:

450 gm plain flour                                                          

Pinch of salt 4 eggs

1.2 litres milk                                                                 

100 gm unsalted butter, melted                                    

Vegetable oil for frying

Method:  

• Sift together the flour and salt together

• Beat the egg into the milk and whisk in the flour/salt mixture

• Add the melted butter

• The mix is now ready

• Pre-heat a pancake pan and trickle some vegetable oil into the pan, making sure the oil has very lightly covered the pan.

• Add a thin layer of pancake mix to the pan.  Cook for 15-20 seconds until golden, then flip over and cook for a further 10-15 seconds on the other side.

• The pancake is now ready.  Repeat the same process with the remaining batter. 

Here’s what you’ll need to give it a fruity twist:

Syruped Kumquats

1kilo Kumquats washed, tops removed and cut into ½ widthways

500g preserving sugar

1litre orange juice

400ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

250ml Grand Marnier

Method:

• Wash the kumquats and remove the stalk.  Cut in half widthways and remove all the seeds

• Put all other ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil

• Add the kumquats and bring to a simmer.  Cook gently for approx 30-40 minutes until the kumquats become soft and tender.

• Once cooked, the fruit may taste a little bitter.  Add icing sugar to sweeten

Andrew says if you want the perfect pancakes don't overmix the batter because it will overdevelop the gluten and your pancake will end up rubbery. He says you should also resist the urge to flip the pancake while the first side is cooking  - it will break the seal between the pancake and the pan and stop your pancake from cooking evenly.   

The award-winning chef worked his way up to Sous Chef at the Dorchester Hotel in London’s Park Lane, cooking for the Queen and Royal Family at state functions.

He’s also worked at sea for Marco Pierre White on P&O’s Cruises.

His Grand Marnier pancakes with syruped kumquats will be on his Table d'Hotel menu at L'Horizon Hotel tomorrow night.