Sleepy Hollow Slapjacks (Buckwheat Pancakes)
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Ichabod Crane’s Slapjacks The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
A stack of steaming slapjacks was just the thing to start the day in 19th-century America, so it’s little wonder Ichabod Crane daydreamed of these being served in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
By Any Other Name
Slapjacks are an old-fashioned name for pancakes. You will also find them called flapjacks, hotcakes, griddle cakes or buckwheat pancakes.
What are Slapjacks?
Traditionally made with buckwheat flour, these hearty pancakes were a common and filling breakfast, perfect for fueling a day of teaching or running from ghosts.
Quote
“…and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields, breathing the odor of the beehive, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered and garnished with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel.”
-The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving
Sleepy Hollow Slapjacks
Ingredients
- 4 cups buckwheat flour
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups whole cream milk
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- butter for frying
- honey or treacle optional
Instructions
- In a mixer, whip the eggs until pale, then add in the whole cream milk.
- Pour in the sugar, then gently stir in the flour until mixed together.
- In a frying pan (we used a cast iron pan), over medium heat, add a pat of butter.
- Once melted, spoon in 2 heaped tablespoons of batter.
- Cook until you are able to flip.
- Cook for another minute or two on the other side.
- Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter each time.
- Serve with honey or treacle to keep it authentic.
Notes
References
- Sinclair, C. G. International Dictionary of Food and Cooking. Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998.
- Rose, P. G. The Sensible Cook: Dutch Foodways in the Old and New World. Syracuse University Press, 1989.