Drop Scone Pancake Cake Cake Cake Cake Cake…

Below is a take on my Good Morning Drop Scones recipe, found in my book. I used to serve them with bacon, banana and maple syrup, though now they have had a makeover and have been transformed into an epic Pancake Cake! This sexy badger is full of naughty vegan yumminess, as well as a surprise ingredient in the chocolate buttercream – any ideas what it could be? Read on to find out!

This Pancake Cake is a fun and easy treat to make, and can be super fun when making with kids. Experiment with the fillings, get silly with it. Oh, and remember, as it is made up of a stack of drop scones ( a stodgy pancake), this is technically breakfast food – haha, winning at life!

Ingredients

Drop Scones

3 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 9 tbsp water

250g self raising flour

50g golden caster sugar

Pinch of salt

220ml almond/soya milk

Dairy-free margarine, for frying

Chocolate Avocado Buttercream

80g/ half of a largeish avocado

100g dairy-free marjarine

65g vegetable fat (Trex is easy to find in all supermarkets)

80g Food Thoughts cocoa powder

200g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional toppings

1 banana, sliced

Chopped pecan nuts

Chopped Food Thoughts Cacao nibs

Bailey’s Coconut Cream (see below for recipe)

Salted Caramel Sauce (see below for recipe)

Method

Before anything, mix your flax seed and water, as this needs to sit for about 10 minutes before being used – doing this gives the flax seed time to absorb the water and therefore creates a thick, egg-like texture (that’s what it’s replacing after all!). Set this aside and grab a large bowl.

Pop in the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl and give it a quick mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula. Next, add your milk and ground flax seed (after sitting for 10 minutes) into the bowl and fold it all in together – no need to be careful doing this, just make sure everything is well incorporated.

Next, once your bowl off batter looks like a think batter – it should be gloopy and not too runny – grab a medium-large frying pan and a tub of dairy-free marj. I normally use Vitalite or Flora’s dairy-free options, as they be easily found in the supermarket (I currently shop in Tesco if you’re curious), and are exactly the same price, if not cheaper than some, as the dairy options. Heat up your pan on a medium to high heat and plop a blob of marj into the pan, swirling it around as it melts so it covers the base of the pan. Once it’s melted, use a large serving spoon to dollop out a large scoop of batter onto the middle of the pan and spread it out with the back of the spoon until it measures approximately 15-18cm in diameter. Now don’t go finding a tape measure and taking your time doing this, as the batter sets super fast! Give it a few minutes on one side – small bubbles will start to form – then flip it over until it’s golden on both sides. Set aside on a cooling rack, as you want them so be as cool as possible when assembling the cake.

Repeat the above (from adding some marj to the pan) another 4 times, so you have 5 drop scones in total.

Next, to make the buttercream. Start by blending your avocado, marj and vegetable fat in a blender until it’s smooth and creamy; it turns a gorgeous pistachio colour. Pop this into a medium sized mixing bowl and add in your Food Thoughts cocoa powder, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Grab a spautla and start to incorporate it all together. “But it looks ike it will never come together!” you cry – aha my friend, oh but it will. After only a minute or so of incorporating, the buttercream will magically form into a wonderful creamy, chocolatey bowl of yumminess. Go on, have a sneaky “taste test.”

 

So, now to assemble your Pancake Cake. Below is my basic assembly, though you can get adventurous and try your own fillings. I also normally add my Baileys Coconut Cream and my Salted Caramel Sauce, adding them into the layers with the chocolate and banana. Both recipes can be found after this next bit…

Assembling your Pancake Cake:

Place a drop scone on a plate and dollop a large blob of chocolate buttercream on top, and spread it about so there is a couple of centimetres left around the edge. Pop some slices of chopped banana on top of the buttercream, and place another drop scone on top. Repeat until you have popped the last drop scone on the top of the stack, and use any leftover buttercream to cover the top (and even the sides if you fancy). Finish off my decorating with some chopped pecan nuts and Food Thoughts Cacao nibs, or anything else that takes your fancy! For Instagram-worthy photos of your Pancake Cake, pop it in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight), as this helps the buttercream to harden slightly. Then, when you cut into it, you can see all of the layers beautifully!

Baileys Coconut Cream

Ingredients

1 tin chilled coconut milk

20g icing sugar

1 tbsp vegan Baileys (found in most main supermarkets)

Method

First, make sure the coconut milk is cold before making the cream, otherwise it just won’t whip into a cream. You need the full fat milk in the tin to be a creamy lump, separated from the liquid. Drain the liquid from the tin and pop the lump of coconut milk into a bowl, with the other ingredients. Whisk up with an electrical whisk (make sure you don’t overwhisk it!) which should only take a couple of minutes to incorporate everything and to allow the cream to thicken slightly. Pop in the fridge until you’re ready to use in your Pancake Cake!

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

1 tin coconut milk

120g light brown soft sugar

40g golden caster sugar

100g dairy-free marjarine

A super large pinch of salt

Method

Drain the liquid out of the coconut milk and discard (or keep and use in smoothies- yummo!). Pop both sugars in a saucepan and allow to heat up on a medium heat for a couple of minutes, then add the coconut milk, stirring gently. Allow the liquid to boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, adding in the salt and marj in the last 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to sit for 10 minutes, then pop in a container or jar whilst it is still warm. Use immediately on your Pancake Cake, or use to drizzle over various other sweet treats (and no, I would NEVER eat it out of the jar with a spoon for breakfast, ahem).

Looks like Ryan Gosling doesn’t want any. Whatevs Gozzers, you don’t know what you’re missing…

Peace out,

G xxx