Some years ago my first German boss invited us to his home in Niederbayern. We were treated to good home cooking with lots of fresh ingredients. It was around this time of year and the elders were in flower and we were treated to elderflower pancakes and coffee. It seemed like a simple but neat idea.
A year ago I tried the same and also tried making elderflower fritters; I found the pancakes easier. Yesterday, after church a friend of one of my boys asked if I could do them again.
Method
1. Gather a number of elderflowers cut so that each head remains connected to a little bit of the main stalk.
2. Inspect each flower head for insects and remove any you find. The pancakes should be vegetarian!
3. Make up your favourite pancake batter.
4. Heat up a pan with a little vegetable oil.
5. Dunk the flower heads one at a time so that they are immersed in the batter then place the heads flowerside down in the pan. If the elderflowers are still exposed you might need to add a bit more pancake batter.
6. The original ones were served fried on one side once the batter had set. My family prefers them done on both sides so I snip the stems with scissors and flip them.
7. Fry on the other side and serve with a little icing sugar.
8. Repeat until the flower heads are used up.
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2007-05-28 @ 15:01