Experiment and failure

So, lately I have been making cornmeal pancakes every so often. They're quick, easy, and as long as I have cornmeal, I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. A little while back, I decided to try making chocolate cornmeal pancakes, just for funsies.

The batter never looks terribly appetizing (It usually looks like yellow barf.), but it looked even worse when brown.

Even from the batter stage, things looked ominous.

Frying did not improve things.

It made them look like flattened dog-poo.

The final result was pretty disappointing from both a flavor and aesthetic standpoint. The pancakes didn't taste terribly chocolate-y, and they looked very, VERY unappetizing. If there is a next time (which I don't think there will be) I will try adding a lot more cocoa powder, but this experiment has dampened my enthusiasm for further un-researched forays into the culinary unknown.

Cornmeal pancakes!

Heidelberg is a tourist town, so the grocery stores near my place are all tiny, and do not carry a lot of kitchen and baking essentials, like, say, baking powder. This makes making regular pancakes tricky. Fortunately, I found a recipe online for cornmeal pancakes. I've scaled it down to about 

1/3 cup cornmeal, equal amount of boiling water, 1/3 that much milk, a little oil, a small squirt of vanilla extract, and some nuts.

On the right, batter, on the left, pancake in pan, and pancake on plate.

 The results are tasty, but I have a hard time getting them to fry nicely. I can't tell if it's a batter problem or just that I don't have great stove burners. When I put them down, they bubble immediately, but then stop bubbling as they cook and firm up, which is exactly the opposite of what the recipe calls for. Flipping them is always a little tricky, too.

Pancake with strawberry jam!

But, even though the recipe might not be perfect, they're fast and always turn out tasty.