Gluten-Free Seasonal Berry Pancakes

MAKING THE BERRY COMPOTE

Place everything into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally so the bottom does not burn, until the compote has reached the thickness of syrup. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside the compote.

COMBINING THE DRY INGREDIENTS

Sift the tapioca flour, sorghum flour, oat flour, and teff flour into a small bowl. Add the xanthan gum, guar gum, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir and set aside.

COMBINING THE LIQUIDS

Put the milk, eggs, and vanilla into a small bowl. Whisk together. Add the melted butter and stir again.

FINISHING THE BATTER

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the liquids. Stir until combined.

FOLDING IN THE BERRIES

Scoop a few tablespoons of the berry compote into the pancake batter and stir. This should turn the batter red or purple, depending on the berry.

PATIENCE

Let the pancake batter stand for at least 1 hour before cooking the pancakes. (For best results, make the batter the night before you intend to eat them.)

COOKING THE PANCAKES

Set a saute pan over medium heat. When it is hot enough that you can feel the heat on your palm held a foot above it, add enough of your favorite grease – canola oil, butter, or nondairy spread – to coat the pan. (Bacon fat makes the crispest pancakes.) Dollop about 1/4 cup of the pancake batter into the pan, from the height of a few inches. Allow the pancake to cook. Don’t be overeager to turn it. When bubbles have formed and mostly popped on the surface of the pancake, turn it. The second side always takes half the time to cook as the first, so watch this carefully. Remove the pancake from the pan. Make the rest.

Have you ever noticed how each successive pancake cooks more quickly, so that the last ones burn easily? That’s because the burner is getting hotter with each passing moment. Here’s a trick: between each pancake, turn down the heat of the burner, just a touch. This way you won’t have to suffer any burnt pancakes.

SERVING THE PANCAKES

When you and yours are ready to eat, top the pancakes with some of the berry compote. Enjoy.

VARIATIONS

Go crazy with the fruit on these all year. Citrus fruits wouldn’t work, but try any other kind you like. Apples, pears, peaches, bananas, mangoes, papayas – you name it. If you can’t drink cow’s milk, you can use soy milk or rice milk here.

SUGGESTIONS

Buy a flat of berries, make a big batch of these pancakes, and freeze them. You’ll have summer all winter long.