Caramelise with banana

The new 15-25s Health Hub group, at Carrick YMCA, loved making these pancakes from scratch, and serving them warm with caramelised bananas, made them totally irresistible.

Here’s the recipe if you want to have a go yourself. Check out our website to book classes www.carrickymca.org and our Facebook page for pictures and recipes, carrickferguscookeryschool

Buttermilk pancakes

225g plain flour

2 tablespoons caster sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg beaten

300ml buttermilk (approximately)

1. Sieve the flour salt, baking soda into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Add the beaten egg and buttermilk, mix through to make a dropping consistency.

2. Heat a large lightly greased frying pan until very hot and drop in spoonfuls of the mixture, (size of spoon dependant on what size you want your pancake). When bubbles appear on the mixture, turn over and cook on the other side. When golden and cooked through, lift onto a plate and serve immediately.

Caramelised bananas

4 firm, slightly under ripe bananas, peeled and sliced diagonally

100g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod (optional)

50g butter

1. To caramelise the bananas: Place the sugar in a large frying pan and heat the sugar over a moderate heat for 1-2 minutes until it starts to caramelise around the edges of the pan. Stir the sugar with a wooden spoon until it has changed to a golden amber colour.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla seeds and 2 tbspns cold water, to stop it cooking any further.

2. Add the sliced bananas and return to the heat; cook for 1-2 minutes then turn over, the bananas should have taken on a golden caramel colour and the caramel sauce should be golden and bubbling.