Apple Pancakes

This Apple Pancake recipe is one that I tinkered with one day after clocking some small apples in the fruit bowl. I wanted fat, thick pancakes and I recalled making Norwegian pancakes which were gorgeous with little explosions of sour cream in every bite. I decided to make some apple and sour cream pancakes with a hint of cinnamon. The taste? Well it's a bit donut-ty (yes really, try it!), it's soft and pillowy and it's better than any pancake you may have eaten. Mr NQN scoffed these down greedily eating more than his alloted share and looked around for more. These are also great for a dessert if you wanted to serve them with ice cream or flambee them (just be careful of your eyebrows!). After all a Sunday isn't a Sunday if you have to spend it in the Emergency Ward.

Weekends. They're supposed to be wonderful times where you can relax and recharge your weary selves. For me, weekends are slowly being reduced to one single day, Sunday, where I can actually relax. Saturdays are days where I fight against the tide and try and secure groceries while the rest of Sydney seems to do the same. Queues are long - when you buy produce from many different places this happens and along with the shopping there are so many chores to be done. It feels like a second job at times (and after a public holiday I still wonder how we managed to get ourselves into this horrible 5 day work week situation?).

Slothful is how I usually like my Sundays. My schedule often puts paid to that lovely ritual and I'm finding now more than ever that I have to insist on making my Sunday morning ritual. I think that while fruit and yogurt is all very lovely for a weekday breakfast, pancakes just say "Hello Sunday!" better than any other breakfastfood. You know that unless you are Hugh Hefner you have no chance of eating pancakes on weekdays.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you eat a different breakfast on the weekend than you do on a weekday?

Apple & Sour Cream Pancakes

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

• 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs milk

• 1/2 cup/125ml/4flozs light sour cream

• 1.5 cups/225g/8ozs self raising flour

• 1 egg

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• butter and oil for frying

• 2 smallish apples, peeled and cored and sliced thinly (about 1/2 cm thin)

• Maple syrup to serve

Step 1 - In a jug mix milk and eggs until combined. Then add sour cream but do not stir too much keeping the sour cream lumps. In medium bowl add flour, salt and cinnamon and mix well . Pour the milk, egg and sour cream mixture into the flour in 2 or 3 batches until combined and mix with a fork. Pour back into the jug for easy pouring.

Step 2 - Preheat a frypan on medium low-heat and melt equal parts of butter and oil. The butter is for the flavour, the oil is so the butter doesn't burn but if you keep it at a low medium heat using just butter should be fine. Place a ring of apple on the pan and then pour a circle of batter around it. Somehow, it always becomes a rough circle shape. When bubbles appear on the surface carefully flip them over and serve drizzled with maple syrup.