Buckwheat Pancakes with French Ice Cream
French ice creams are famously creamier than most, and the secret lies in their base: eggs, milk and sugar, gently brought together with care and patience. As the milk heats, the fat globules combine with the proteins in the eggs, which slowly coagulate without splitting when treated correctly. During this process, the warm liquid melts the sugar granules, allowing them to disperse evenly into the fat. The result is a rich, velvety sauce with incredible depth and smoothness.
This classic French custard base is known as Crème Anglaise, and it forms the foundation of many traditional ice creams. I decided to take this timeless recipe in a slightly different direction by serving it with buckwheat pancakes — which, by the way, are naturally gluten-free.
Buckwheat is a wonderful ingredient to work with. Despite its name, it is not related to wheat at all and contains no gluten. It is known to help lower blood sugar levels after meals, support weight loss, and reduce food cravings. These benefits come from a compound called resistant fibre, which slows digestion and helps keep you fuller for longer.
Buckwheat Pancakes with French Ice Cream
Crème Anglaise
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Freezing time: 3 hours
Yield: 300ml
Ingredients:
300 ml Milk
15ml Vanilla Essence / 1 Vanilla pod
2 Egg yolks
2 tablespoons castor sugar
Method:
1. Place the milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Strain the milk over the egg mixture, with a thin “trickle” while whisking continuously. Be careful not to place all the hot milk on the eggs at once or it might curdle (separate).
4. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook, stirring until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Do not let it boil as it will split. Strain into a clean bowl, lay clingfilm over the surface to prevent a skin forming and refrigerate until cool enough to use
The mixture may, when frozen, keep for 2 months. Follow the next steps below to make an ice cream.
6. Add to a shallow bowl, place in the freezer and stir every 30 minutes till firm. It may take 3 hours.
7. Alternetively, if you have a machine, churn the cold ice cream mixture as per your manufacturer’s instructions. Then place the bowl back in the freezer, freeze for another 2 hours till firm.
French-style Ice Cream
Buckwheat Pancakes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Proving time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Servings: 16 Pancakes
Ingredients:
320g (2 cups) Organic Buckwheat flour
1 tsp salt
1tsp sugar
200ml water
100ml milk
1 egg
7g dry instant yeast
20ml sunflower oil for frying
Method:
In a large bowl, add the flour, salt and sugar together.
In a jug, combine the water, milk, yeast and egg. Stir gently. Add the coloured powder to this mixture and stir until well blended.
Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the liquids in stirring with a whisk.
Whisk the mixture until thoroughly mixed through. For my pancake batch I added in more water allowing it to become runnier and thinner.
Cover the bowl with batter with a clean cloth and allow to stand for 20 minutes.
Prepare the pan by dripping in a few droplets of oil.
Use a soup ladle to scoop pancake batter onto very hot oiled shallow pan and cook each pancake for 1 minute on each side till done.