Pancakes with strawberry jam à la mum

Nearly for long as I can remember, pancakes have always been a special treat for breakfasts. When I used to stay at the countryside house, my great aunt used to make them for us on Sunday mornings or whenever my grandmother babysat us I always could count on having fresh and warm pancakes in the morning. Now I've grown up and it seems that I've been in charge of making pancakes for years. Whenever I go to Estonia I know, even without someone telling me, that I have to make pancakes at least for one morning whilst I'm there. Fortunately, I can consider myself to be very lucky as my other half is also amazing when it comes to cooking - and making pancakes for that matter - so when we're together it's usually him who treats me to pancakes and all I have to do is eat them. Today was an exception, as I really-really wanted to surprise him and therefore made the pancakes that he makes for me, but with added surprise - the strawberry jam that my mum always makes.

Usually every summer, when we have local strawberries, my mum makes the most simple and hassle free jam out of them - she just purees them with some added sugar. The only problem with this jam is that it won't stay good for a long time, but because it's so good and so universal (use it to top up your ice-cream or have it on toast) I've never viewed that as a problem. Also, it can be frozen and then defrosted if you want to save up some for those cold winter mornings when you want to remind yourself of the sweet summertime.

Going back to pancakes, I am really of the opinion that whoever invented them was an absolute genius.  You can have them in so many different varieties and to be honest, every person I know makes different kind of pancakes - thick, thin, small, big, with buttermilk, with berries ... the list is pretty much endless. And on top of that, one could have pancakes for every meal of the day - breakfast, lunch, even dinner or for dessert. I remember when I used to order pancakes with ice-cream and jam whenever we ate out. What makes them even more universal is the fact that you can eat pancakes with anything you wish - indulging in pancakes with sour cream and caviar, reminding yourself of your childhood by having them with home made jam or sugar or just simply melting some cheese and adding some ham for a more filling pancake. Long story short, pancakes are absolutely amazing and you can have my word that this won't be the last pancake recipe to appear on my blog.

PS! It makes the most amazing romantic surprise for that special someone!

Ingredients
(Makes 8 20cm pancakes)
- 110g plain flour
- salt
- 2 eggs
- 200ml milk
- 75ml water
- 50g butter, melted
- 250g strawberries
- Icing sugar, to serve

Directions
Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well into the flour mixture and break the eggs into it. Whisk the eggs and flour until all the flour has been incorporated. Pour the water and milk into a jug and slowly add it to the flour and egg mixture, whisking whilst you're pouring it in. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and does not have any lumps in it.

Melt the butter in a pan and whisk 2 tablespoons of it into the batter. Set the rest aside and use it to oil the pan.

Put the pan on the hob and heat it up, then turn down the heat to medium and bake the pancakes.

To prepare the strawberry jam, wash the strawberries and remove the green leaves. Set aside 4 nice strawberries and put the rest into a bowl or a jug and crush with a handheld mixer until smooth. Add 1,5 tablespoons (or more if you prefer sweeter jam) of icing sugar into the strawberry puree and mix well. Chop of the remaining 4 strawberries.

To serve, fold the pancakes into sectors and place on a plate, put the chopped strawberries next to it, pour over some strawberry jam and finally sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve immediately.

Pancake recipe by Delia Smith from BBC Food