Chocolate and Rye Pancakes Recipe

kellie anderson

8 years ago

These chocolate and rye pancakes are divine filled with creamy chilli, honey and fruit-studded ricotta and drizzled with a simple chocolate sauce. Dessert or a very decadent breakfast. The choice is yours.

When you have a hankering for something sweet and homemade not much beats a tall stack of maple syrup-kissed pancakes. Using store cupboard ingredients of flour, egg and milk, as well as a touch of oil and leavening agents, within a short time the whole family can follow their noses to the table and dive right in. Jars of jam, a shaker of caster sugar, bowls of sliced fruit and berries, some freshly cut lemon and a bottle of Canada’s finest will have everyone satisfied as they customise their personal plate of golden beauties.

Perfection.

But sometimes you want to go a bit fancier, a bit dessert: squirty cream and toffee sauce; or alcohol and flames.

And sometimes you just want to go a bit mad and cobble together a really bizarre sounding but exceedingly good plate of dark-as-dirt crepes, rolled around something sweet, smoky, creamy and spicy. If you are me, this is what you get.

I kind of knew this odd-but-good combination would work, but I wasn’t expecting to want to stab my husband in the hand with my fork as he ate all but my test one. All.

That’s grounds for divorce in some households, I’m sure.

I’ve made these vegan and crepe-like, but do feel free to try this idea with your favourite, fluffier, pancake recipe, replacing half of the flour with rye and not forgetting the heaped spoon of cocoa powder. Be a devil and add some chocolate chips if you want, especially if you can’t be bothered with the chocolate sauce (even though it is the easiest one I know of).

This recipe is for Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday. If you aren’t familiar with this day, where pancake are considered a fit and proper dinner, here is a short article from The Telegraph that explains the customs and history of Pancake Day.

What are you making on Pancake Day? Do you have them for dinner, breakfast or dessert? What’s your favourite oddball filling or topping?

Chocolate and Rye Pancakes with Dried Pineapple, Chilli & Honey-Ricotta

Servings: 4-6 pancakes
Difficulty: easy
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This sounds unusual – you may think I have finally lost my mind – but if you dare make these, I promise you will be glad you did. Fashionable rye flour is subtly nutty, and as smooth as wheat flour Rye and cocoa/chocolate are perfect partners, and the ricotta, smoked chipotle paste, honey and dried pineapple are simply gorgeous in this. Andrew pretty much ate every last scrap, and wiped the bowl clean with his fingers.

I also make this with chickpea flour, adding cocoa and the rest of the non-flour ingredients as listed. That version is a bit more of an acquired taste, but would be a perfect way of getting a high-protein, gluten-free and “real food” pancake without premixed flours.

Filling (for up to four pancakes)

175g ricotta (here’s a recipe for sweet vegan ricotta)

½ tsp smoked chilli paste* (more to taste, once you mix it all up)

1 tbsp best honey*

40g dried pineapple, chopped in smaller pieces – divided use

Easy Chocolate Sauce

50-75g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

2 tbsp almond milk (2 ½ tbsp if using 75g chocolate)

Pancakes

50g rye flour

50g light spelt flour – or all chickpea flour (100g)

1 rounded tbsp cocoa powder or cacao

1 tbsp date syrup or maple syrup or sugar

1/16 tsp of salt

100ml water

2 tsp organic rapeseed oil or coconut oil (the latter will alter the flavour of the pancakes) + oil for the pan

* if you have Gran Luchito’s smoked chilli honey, then use 1 rounded teaspoon of this to replace the chilli paste and the honey. It’s delicious stuff.

Method

1. Mix together the ricotta, smoked chilli paste, honey and 30g of the pineapple; set aside.

2. Heat the chocolate and milk over a bain-marie/bowl over a pan of just-simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch); stirring when the chocolate starts to melt. Keep warm.

3. Place the dry ingredients for the pancakes in a mixing bowl and dry-whisk together. Add half of the water and all of the oil and mix until smooth; whisk in the remaining water. If you can let this sit for 10 minutes, do.

4. Heat a lightly oiled sauté or griddle pan over a medium-high heat. Drop a fleck of batter into the pan. If it sizzles immediately, pour in enough batter to fill two-thirds of the bottom of the pan then swirl to distribute to the edge. Cook until bubbles form and the edges are nearly dry when you slide a spatula underneath. Flip and continue cooking until they are cooked through. It’s a bit hard to tell with dark pancakes, but about 2-3 minutes of each side should be right. Make up as many pancakes as you like – up to four large ones.

5. Lay the pancakes onto plate and evenly fill with the ricotta mixture; roll up and drizzle with chocolate sauce and dot with the remaining pineapple, or slice of fresh pineapple. Eat immediately. Enjoy.