The Jam Man

Have you ever been to Herne Hill Farmers Market? No? You should. And here’s why - the Jam Man. Every three Sundays or so the jam man heads on down to Herne Hill and sets up his stall selling jams, marmalades and chutneys.

The jams he sells are amazing, I mean seriously good. Patch and I went a little overboard and bought 5 pots between us - he does only come every three weeks so we thought it wise to stock up! After a lot of deliberation and a lot of taste testing, we decided on Plum Jam, two Apricot and Lemon conserves, Raspberry and Apricot conserve, and Strawberry conserve.

Here they are in all their greatness:

And with Pancake Day just around the corner I knew exactly what to pair them with!

Here’s my recipe for perfect pancakes:

What you’ll need

• 110g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs (medium or large)
• 200ml milk (I prefer to use almond milk as I think it adds extra depth to the flavour)

What to do:

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and add the salt
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs
3. Begin to whisk the eggs and the flour until they form a thick paste (this is important to you don’t end up with too many lumps in your pancake batter)
4. Gradually add small quantities of milk and whisk until the batter is smooth
   *at this point it helps to let the batter rest, leave it as little or as long as you like but I would say a minimum of 10 minutes. I often mix the batter and then leave it in the fridge (covered) overnight so that it is ready for when I need it in the morning. Give the batter a quick mix if it separates a little.
5. Melt a knob of butter or a little oil in your frying pan, it needs to be a medium temperature so take care not to let your butter burn
6. Pour a ladle full of batter into the frying pan and then swirl the batter so that it coats the bottom of the pan in a thin layer
7. Once the batter is semi-cooked ontop and the surface is peppered with small bubbles (about 1-2 minutes depending on the thickness of your pancake) flip the pancake and let it cook on the other side for a further 2 minutes.

It should look golden-brown and delicious.

Serve with whatever toppings take your fancy – lemon and sugar, banana and nutella, ice cream, golden syrup. For me it was a no brainer – jam!

Happy Pancake day everybody
xx