Pancakes With Maple Brown Butter Apples And Sesame Praline

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 200 g plain flour
• 50 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp sugar snap peas
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 385 ml milk
• 50 g caster sugar
• 40 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 150 g maple syrup
• 160 g butter, 60g melted)
• vegetable oil
• 50 g golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60 g sesame seed, not toasted)
• 4 apples, cored, and thinly sliced)
• 2 tbsp apple
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 /2 tsp baking soda

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan and line a large baking tray with parchment.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the caster sugar, golden syrup and 25g butter. Set over medium heat and stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, around 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Stir in the sesame seeds and flaked sea salt until every seed is glossy and coated, then tip onto the lined tray and spread loosely with the back of a spoon — it will even out as it bakes.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway, until deep golden and smelling toasty. Cool on a wire rack until set hard and brittle.
5. Snap the praline into chunks. Set a generous handful aside for serving and drop the rest into a food processor with the vanilla extract. Blitz for 5 to 7 minutes, scraping down the sides, until it loosens into a smooth, glossy paste.
6. Tip the paste into a bowl and mash in the softened 75g butter with a fork until silky and spoonable. Set aside at room temperature.
7. For the apples, melt the remaining 60g butter in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat. Let it foam and turn nut-brown, around 2 minutes — watch for a hazelnut aroma.
8. Add the sliced apples, cinnamon and caster sugar. Toss in the foaming butter for 3 to 4 minutes until the edges soften and start to caramelise.
9. Pour in the maple syrup, apple juice and flaked salt. Bubble hard for another 2 to 3 minutes until the syrup thickens and clings to the apples in a glossy sauce. Keep warm.
10. For the batter, whisk the plain flour, self-raising flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. In a jug, beat the eggs with the milk and melted butter.
11. Pour the wet into the dry and whisk just until smooth — a few small lumps are fine. Rest for 5 minutes while the pan heats.
12. Set a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and rub with a little vegetable oil. Ladle in rounds of batter and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbles rise and pop on the surface and the edges look set. Flip and cook for another minute until golden and springy. Repeat with the remaining batter, stacking on a warm plate.
13. To plate, stack the pancakes, spread a generous spoonful of the sesame praline paste between each layer so it melts into the warmth, then crown with the maple brown butter apples and their syrupy juices. Shower with the reserved praline shards and a final drizzle of warm maple.