Red Velvet Pancakes

(Not a great picture….it was really late last night and I was super tired when I took it so I’ll take another for you!  It looks a bit dark but that’s from the cocoa in the mix)
Last night was the first In the Kitchen with Cyn Live Interactive Webtv show.  I was super nervous about doing it – there’s a LOT more set up and organization involved than with crafting shows!  In any case, I think it went well and I had a lot of fun doing it.
The playback link for last night's show
I presented several recipes on the show.  Since yesterday was Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day as my daughter always called it), I decided to do my new favourite pancake recipe.  Of course, I pretty much will go for anything that’s red velvet!
Ingredients:
Dry:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 T. cocoa
3 T. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Wet:
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 T. red food colouring
1/4 cup of butter, melted
Instructions:  Whisk together the dry ingredients and make a well in the center.  Stir the wet ingredients except for the melted butter together and pour into the well in the dry ingredients.  Mix together until nearly combined – you don’t want to overwork this batter.  Fold in the melted butter.  Use 1/4 cup of batter per pancake; cook as with other pancakes, flipping to the second side once it has begun to puff up and there are bubbles all across the surface.
Some great accompaniments to go with these pancakes:
Butter Pecan Maple Syrup
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. butter, melted
1 cup pecan halves, lightly toasted in the oven
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 T. vanilla
2 1/2 T. water
pinch salt
Instructions:  Add the pecans to the melted butter in a saucepan and cook for about 3-5 minutes until they are nicely toasted and golden brown.  Add the maple syrup – remove the pan from the heat to add the rest of the ingredients.  Put the pan back on the heat and continue cooking until it’s hot and bubbly and has thickened slightly.
Whipped Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
Whip together:  4 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 2 T. sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and if desired, some citrus zest.
Plop a little of the whipped cream cheese on top of a stack of pancakes and pour some of the syrup over.  YUM!