Thyme, orange and sugar pancakes

This pancake recipe is the fluffy American type: not really my favourite, but still delicious if you're in the mood. These are the one you make to smother with maple syrup and shards of crispy bacon, if you ever need an early-morning bribe for someone. I prefer the thinner French crepes, with lemon and sugar of course...

The herbs add a different savoury element to the sweet pancakes and seem to lift them into a more elegant realm. Would be nice to do a similar idea with crepes and roll them up for a classy brunch or casual dessert.

• 2 cups plain flour


• 3 tsps baking powder


• pinch salt


• 2 beaten eggs


• 1 and a half cups milk


• one third cup of sugar


• knob melted butter

Sift together the flour, powder and salt. Whisk in the rest and fry in a non-stick frying pan, using extra butter to grease the pan. I like to use unsalted butter, but I doubt that they would do that in the US. I also let the batter sit for up to an hour before I fry the pancakes. This helps the mixture relax, so that the pancakes don't shrink when they are cooked.

Sprinkle the cooked pancakes with fresh thyme leaves, a few squeezes from a cut orange, and caster sugar to taste.