A Sirtfood Diet Pancake Recipe

Buckwheat pancakes with strawberries, dark chocolate sauce and crushed walnuts

MAKES AROUND 6–8 PANCAKES, DEPENDING ON THE SIZE

For the pancakes you will need:

350ml milk
150g buckwheat flour
1 large egg
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
For the chocolate sauce
100g dark chocolate (85 per cent cocoa solids)
85ml milk
1 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
To serve
400g strawberries, hulled and chopped
100g walnuts, chopped

To make the pancake batter, place all of the ingredients apart from the olive oil in a blender and blend until you have a smooth batter. It should not be too thick or too runny. (You can store any excess batter in an airtight container for up to 5 days in your fridge. Be sure to mix well before using again.)

To make the chocolate sauce, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl above a pan of simmering water. Once melted, mix in the milk, whisking thoroughly and then add the double cream and olive oil. You can keep the sauce warm by leaving the water in the pan simmering on a very low heat until your pancakes are ready.

To make the pancakes, heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan until it starts to smoke, then add the olive oil.

Pour some of the batter into the centre of the pan, then tip the excess batter around it until you have covered the whole surface, you may have to add a little more batter to achieve this. You will only need to cook the pancake for 1 minute or so on each side if your pan is hot enough.

Once you can see it going brown around the edges use a spatula to loosen the pancake around its edge, then flip it over. Try to flip in one action to avoid breaking it.

Cook for a further minute or so on the other side and transfer to a plate.

Place some strawberries in the centre and roll up the pancake. Continue until you have made as many pancakes as required.

Spoon over a generous amount of sauce and sprinkle over some chopped walnuts.

You may find that your first efforts are too fat or fall apart but once you find the consistency for your batter that works best for you and you get your technique perfected you’ll be making them like a professional. Practice makes perfect in this case.

Extract from The Sirtfood Diet by Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, published by Yellow Kite, £9.99