Risen Buckwheat Cakes

My family loves brunch.  When at least two of us get together on a Saturday or Sunday, you can pretty much guarantee that something will be whipped together, fried in butter, slathered with maple syrup or jam, and eaten with bottomless cups of coffee.

This can present a problem for the size of my thighs.

Solution: risen buckwheat cakes!

We fry them on the griddle like pancakes, but they're made with yeast as well as baking soda, so we mix them up the evening before and let the batter rise overnight.

The molasses gives a hint of sweetness to balance the nutty buckwheat.

Because the buckwheat flour is so hearty, they're a heart-healthier option than our other favorite recipes; I think Jenny once calculated the Weight Watchers points on these, and got ten pancakes for one point.  NOT. BAD.

Last weekend, we had these with heaping bowls of blueberries, stacks of free range/organically raised chicken sausages, and of course, the requisite bottomless cups of coffee.

The recipe was passed down to my mom from my grandfather, possibly passed on to him from his mother, which means that A) it's golden for my whole foods diet and B) some of the directions in the recipe are a little quaint...

Risen Buckwheat Cakes:


Ingredients:
Water
1 packet yeast
1 TBS cornmeal
1 tsp salt
Approximately 2-3 cups buckwheat flour
Approximately 1 cup white flour
3 TBS dark molasses
1/2 tsp baking soda
Approximately 1/2 cup milk


The night before:
Heat one pint water until lukewarm (not hot).  And half cake yeast (we translate this as one dry packet) and stir until dissolved.  Stir in one tablespoon cornmeal and one teaspoon salt.  Then sift in enough buckwheat flour, mixing a little white flour as well, to make a medium-thick batter.  Let rise overnight in a fairly warm place.

The day of:
Add three tablespoons dark molasses and half a teaspoon baking soda.  Thin batter with milk.  Fry in batches on hot griddle.