Ingredients

Pancakes

• 220 g plain flour
• 30 g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 300 ml buttermilknot a substitute for plain milk; the acid is the rise
• 40 g melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon swirl

• 45 g softened butter
• 60 g dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 180 g apple buttershop-bought is fine; look for apples first on the label

To serve

• 4 tbsp maple syrupto serve, with salted butter

Method

1. 01

   Make the cinnamon swirl

   Beat the softened butter with the dark brown sugar, cinnamon and the pinch of sea salt until smooth and pipeable. Spoon it into a small piping bag or a sandwich bag with one corner snipped off, and set it aside somewhere cool but not cold. It needs to stay soft enough to pipe.

   45 g softened butter · 60 g dark brown sugar · 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

   Keep the swirl butter softToo cold and it will not pipe, too warm and it runs. Cool room temperature.

2. 02

   Whisk the dry ingredients

   Whisk the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a large bowl.

   220 g plain flour · 30 g caster sugar · 2 tsp baking powder · 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda · 1/2 tsp salt

3. 03

   Mix the wet ingredients

   In a second bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla until smooth.

   2 eggs · 300 ml buttermilk · 40 g melted butter · 1 tsp vanilla

4. 04

   Fold and rest

   Pour the wet into the dry and fold only until the flour disappears. The batter should still be lumpy. Rest for 10 minutes; it will thicken noticeably, which is what holds the swirl in place.

5. 05

   Cook and swirl

   Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low for 2 minutes. Pour in about 60 ml of batter, wait 20 seconds for the surface to set slightly, then pipe a spiral of the cinnamon butter onto the wet surface, starting from the centre. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles break the surface and the edges look dry, then flip carefully and cook for 1-2 minutes more. The swirl side will be darker. That is caramelised sugar, not burning, but keep the heat at medium-low or it will scorch.

   Wait before you pipeTwenty seconds after pouring. On wet batter the swirl sinks and disappears.

6. 06

   Serve with warm apple butter

   Warm the apple butter gently in a small pan or in the microwave for 20 seconds so it spoons rather than sits in a cold lump. Stack the pancakes swirl side up, and serve with the apple butter, maple syrup and salted butter.

   180 g apple butter

   Wipe the pan between batchesThe sugar in the swirl catches and builds, and the later pancakes taste bitter.