From the griddle, the ultimate comfort food

In a world of chaos you want peace in the moment. You want an elixir, a panacea, a remedy, a reminder. You want to bask in the easygoing air of a sleepy Sunday. You want comfort.

You want pancakes.

Crisp and light with shades of van Gogh's sunflowers in swirls of buttery yellow, amber, and ale, pancakes recall simple days and easy nights.

They are as restorative as sunshine, and a suitable antidote to rain. Pancakes promise solace, allay fear, and mitigate stress. They are the embodiment of brunch and the measure of a good diner.

Pancakes can be as American as corn fritters, johnnycakes, or flapjacks; as elegant as crepes or savory buckwheat galettes; or as ethnic as blintzes or latkes. Whether eaten at breakfast, brunch, or dinner, pancakes are cause for celebration.

Something akin to a pancake has been around from the Greek and Roman eras through the Middle Ages, says Ken Albala, a University of the Pacific historian and author of Pancake: A Global History, (Reaktion Books, London, 2008).

Shrove Tuesday (from the verb shrive, to confess) became pancake day as an opportunity to use up a family's store of eggs, milk, and butter before the start of Lent, Albala says.

"Around the globe, different people have decidedly different associations with pancakes," Albala writes, "The story of pancakes is as much about the people who make and consume them as the food itself."

Marsha Hogan of Elkins Park learned to make Danish filled pancakes called ebelskivers (sometimes spelled ebleskivers, but always pronounced a-bell-skivers) in her native Utah. Hogan, director of the Jenkintown branch of Settlement Music School, is from a family of Danish and Swedish immigrants. But she didn't discover ebelskivers at home.

"I learned about them from my landlord, a widow from whom I was renting a small basement apartment when I had my first job. . . .

"Sometimes she invited me upstairs for meals. She made rabbit stew and venison and then these things she called ebelskivers. I was surprised I hadn't heard of them before. And when I left to get married, she gave me her ebelskiver pan and the original recipe booklet as a wedding present."

Like waffles, ebelskivers can only be made in a particular pan. Hogan's is a cast-iron model made by Griswold, but newer Nordicware versions are available for less than $40.

To make ebelskivers, put a bit of batter into each of the pan's seven wells. Then add a dollop of filling (cooked apples, lemon curd, jam), and cover with more batter. When the sides seem crisp, flip them over with wooden chopsticks or knitting needles and let them cook on the other side.

"Making ebelskivers at home was always a celebration. My kids loved them and they were always after me to make them," Hogan says.

But for most of us, the simple, straightforward pancake of our childhood Sundays is what we long to re-create and perfect. For advice, we turned to pancake connoisseur Marshall Green, whose Cafe Estelle at 444 N. 4th Street is marking its second anniversary with a reputation for some of the best flapjacks in town.

When I tell him that at home, my first pancake is always a flop, he says that could be because I'm using a skillet instead of a griddle. Maybe my pan is too hot or too cold. (If using an electric griddle, he suggests setting the temp at 350 to 375 degrees. A teaspoonful of batter is a good test to see if the heat is right. Cook the pancakes until the batter starts to bubble and the edges start to dry, about three minutes. Then flip and cook for a minute or minute and a half, says Green.)

Green would not divulge the exact recipe for his pancakes - "Pancakes is half my business, I'm not giving that away," he says.

But he advises against scrimping on cost or calories. His pancakes contain heavy cream, full-fat buttermilk, and plenty of butter.

Use homemade, not store-bought batter, he says, and leave it lumpy. Separate the eggs, and whip the whites and add them last.

"For fillings, you can go sweet or savory," says Green, who makes a great corn and bacon pancake.

And there are certainly plenty of variations offered in new cookbooks this fall.

Serena Thompson and Teri Edwards, a.k.a. The Farm Chicks, feature Cardamom Griddle Cakes (see recipe) in their first cookbook, The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen (Hearst Books, 2009).

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's latest, Cooking With Friends (William Morrow, 2009), offers chocolate chip pancakes with orange-brandy sauce (see recipe).

At Bubby's restaurants in Tribeca and Brooklyn, chef/owner Ron Silver says requests for pancakes keep pace with other brunch specialties.

His Bubby's Brunch Cookbook (Ballantine Books, 2009) contains recipes for sour cream, buttermilk, banana walnut, orange ricotta, buckwheat, sourdough, and Swedish pancakes (the last made with a thin batter and served with lingonberries and herring), as well as German skillet-baked pancakes (baked in the oven and paired with sausage), classic johnnycakes made with cornmeal, five kinds of crepes, and his mom's cheese blintzes.

Whatever the filling, Green says, be sure to serve only pure maple syrup. He likes Grade A light.

"The lighter the color," he says, "the better the taste."

Basic Buttermilk Pancakes

Makes 12 (6 servings of 2 pancakes each)

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3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup cream

3 eggs, separated

1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

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1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, cream, egg yolks, and butter.

3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or cast-iron frying pan over medium heat. When a drop of water beads up and sizzles on the griddle, it is hot enough.

4. Combine the two bowls of ingredients and stir just until blended, but lumps remain.

5. Whip the egg whites to a medium peak and fold them in gently.

6. Using a 2-ounce ladle, pour batter onto griddle. The size of the griddle and your preferences will determine how many you can make at one time.

7. Cook on the first side until bubbles appear in the center of the pancake (approximately three minutes, but feels like forever). Flip the pancake. Put a dab (1/4 teaspoon at most) of butter in the griddle. Cook for about one more minute.

8. Place finished pancakes on parchment-lined cookie sheet in the oven until ready to serve. Do not stack.

9. Serve with pure maple syrup.

Per serving: 474 calories, 14 grams protein, 61 grams carbohydrates, 13 grams sugar, 19 grams fat, 152 milligrams cholesterol, 900 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber. {12568219123895}

Danish Ebelskivers

Makes 28 (3 pieces per serving)

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2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

6 eggs, separated

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons oil

3 1/2 teaspoons applesauce, or apples, cooked and diced

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1. Combine buttermilk, flour, egg yolks, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry, and fold into batter.

3. Pour approximately 1/2 teaspoon oil into each round of an ebelskiver skillet. Heat and fill rounds 3/4 full with batter. Add 1/2 teaspoon applesauce to each, and then a bit more batter to barely cover the applesauce.

4. Turn when bubbles appear on top of each cake.

5. Serve dusted with confectioners' sugar, adding butter and maple syrup or jam. Plan on 3 ebelskivers per serving. Note: Jam or lemon curd may be used instead of applesauce.

Per serving: 182 calories, 9 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams sugar, 4 grams fat, 138 milligrams cholesterol, 386 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber. {12568220306525}

Chocolate Chip Pancakes With Orange-Brandy Sauce

Makes 5 to 6 servings

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For the pancakes:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of fine sea salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 extra-large eggs, separated

1/4 cup cold water

Butter for frying

1/2 heaped cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the orange-brandy sauce:

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup light cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon brandy, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau

2 tablespoons orange juice

Orange sections for garnish (optional)

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1. To make the pancake batter, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg yolks, and water together, then pour into the well. Gradually incorporate the flour into the liquid ingredients to make a smooth batter. Beat the egg whites to firm peaks, then fold into the batter.

2. Cook the pancakes in batches of two or three. First, heat a large, nonstick frying pan with a small piece of butter. Pour a small ladleful of batter into the pan for each pancake, then drop a few chocolate chips over the top of each. Fry until golden brown underneath, about 1 minute, then flip over and cook the other side for 45 to 60 seconds. The pancakes should puff up as they cook. Keep them warm in a low oven while you cook the rest, adding more butter to the pan as needed.

3. For the sauce, combine the chocolate, cream, and sugar in a small saucepan. Set the pan over low heat and stir until the chocolate and sugar have melted and the sauce is smooth. Stir in the brandy and orange juice, then pour into a warm pitcher.

4. Pile the pancakes on warm plates and drizzle the sauce over them. Garnish with orange sections, if you wish.

Notes: For even more luxury, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to each serving of warm pancakes and brandy sauce. Or, for a special breakfast treat on a child's birthday, serve the pancakes with maple syrup instead of brandy sauce.

Per serving (based on 6): 336 calories, 6 grams protein, 38 grams carbohydrates, 23 grams sugar, 17 grams fat, 93 milligrams cholesterol, 154 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber.

Cardamom Griddlecakes  With Maple Cardamom Cream

Makes 4 three-griddlecake servings

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For the Griddlecakes:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus additional for cooking

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

For the Maple Cardamom Cream:

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

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1. Prepare the maple cardamom cream by combining the maple syrup, heavy cream, and ground cadamom in a small saucepan and placing over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through - about 7 minutes. Keep warm over very low heat until ready to serve. Makes approximately 2/3 cup.

2. Heat the oven to 250 degrees. To prepare the batter, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom, and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk the butter, buttermilk, and egg in a medium-size bowl until the egg is throughly combined. Add to the dry ingredients in the large bowl, stirring just until all ingredients are combined (the batter may still be lumpy).

3. Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Spread a thin coating of butter over the griddle and let melt. Working in batches, drop batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto the griddle, spacing a few inches apart to allow for spreading. Cook the griddlecakes until brown on the bottom and bubbles form on the top - about 3 minutes. Turn each griddlecake over and continue to cook until both sides are golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to griddle as needed. Serve warm with maple cardamom cream.

Per serving: 464 calories, 9 grams protein, 69 grams carbohydrates, 34 grams sugar, 17 grams fat, 58 milligrams cholesterol, 385 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.

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