Blueberry pancakes with crisp prosiutto and maple syrup - a Lorraine Pascale recipe

Firstly, I can't stress enough just delicious these are.  No, seriously.   If you have any self respect then you owe it to yourself to eat these at least once in your lifetime. I plan to fit in as many helpings as I can in the time I have left.  In fact this recipe should probably come with a health warning - "these pancakes can seriously improve your life".  I'll say no more.  Let's cook!

These are the ingredients:

• vegetable oil for frying
• Ix pack of procuitto
• 250g plain flour
• 15g baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 300ml sour cream
• 100ml warm water
• 200g of blueberries

Lorraine advises putting the oven on low - in anticipation of needing to keep some of the pancakes warm whilst cooking the some more - this is a good tip.  I lightly fried (in a frying pan) the procuitto in a little of the oil until it began to 'crisp' and then put it to one side.  It's a good idea to 'blot' it with kitchen roll to soak up the oil and maintain the 'crisp'.  I turned off the heat but kept the oil in the frying pan to use later for frying the pancakes.

Time to make the pancake mix. I combined the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl and then made a large hole in the centre.  After mixing together the sour cream and water in a measuring jug I then added this to the flour mixture - pouring into the hole in the centre and then gradually drew the flour mixture in.  I beat the mixture for a few minutes to get some air into it.  If lumps start apprearing, Lorraine advises us to beat the mixture like mad'.  The blueberries were then gently stirred in to the mixture.

I reheated the oil in the frying pan over a medium heat before spooning 3 large (seperate) blobs of the pancake miture into the frying pan. 

Once golden brown underneath, the pancakes were flipped over to cook the other side. When they are cooked they look nicely firm and set on the sides. Whilst cooking the next batch the cooked pancakes can be placed on a baking tray in the warm oven.

Once all the pancakes were cooked, I built a tower of pancakes with the crisp prosiutto placed inbetween each layer and then added a generous drizzle of maple syrup to the top and let it run down the layers of the tower.

Then of course comes the best bit...the eating!  Go on, get stuck in!!  We served our pancakes up on vintage mismatched china - the perfect 'fancy' anniversary brunch :)