Carrot pancakes

Ever since I saw this recipe by Deb from Smitten Kitchen, which is by the way was originally created by Joy the Baker (two food bloggers I like a lot!), I could not get it off my mind. I love carrot cake and I was of course curious to try carrot pancakes. I made them for brunch last Saturday (I do not dare to say breakfast. I mean, can you call a meal eaten at 13.30 a breakfast, even if you just got up and it is your first meal of the day and it’s pancakes?), I am quite happy with the result. I will perhaps not use nutmeg next time – somehow it does not work for me here. I also adapted the topping to my taste by adding a hint of citrus into it.

Carrot pancakes with cream cheese topping (original recipe is here)

Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons raisins

1 large egg

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups finely grated carrots (I used slightly less than 500 g)

3 tablespoons butter, for griddle

Preparation method:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and, if using, nuts and raisins.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in carrots.
3. Stir carrot mixture into dry ingredients, stirring until just incorporated. Let rest for five minutes.
4. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into the hot pan per pancake, and fry, flipping once, until pancakes are golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer finished pancakes to a serving dish or tray in the preheated to 100°C oven, to keep warm while you repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Cream cheese topping

4 ounces/110 g cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons of fresh orange juice

½ teaspoon orange zest

Dash of ground cinnamon

Preparation method:

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy and lump-free. Whisk in powdered sugar, two tablespoons milk, vanilla and cinnamon. To get a thinner topping, add the remaining tablespoon of milk and 3 tablespoons of orange juice plus some orange zest to enhance the orange flavour.