Back in my catering days, I probably cooked off thousands of Corn Cloud Pancakes. Made from a base of flour and cornmeal enriched with cream cheese, egg yolks, corn and scallions, these savory pancakes are more substantial than traditional pancakes. I so love their versatility.
While working for Food Talk Caterers, I made these by the dozen and topped them with everything from salsa and guacamole to smoked trout, creme fraiche and tobiko.
We easily made hundreds during brunch service at Val 21. Corn Clouds are also a great way to enjoy any leftover corn for a one plate vegetarian dinner.
Corn Cloud Pancakes
Serves 6.
You can easily reduce the amounts by half to feed 3 to 4. Makes enough mini pancakes for 25 people as an hors d’oeuvres.
1 1/2 cups flour (gluten free flour can be used too)
1/2 cup cornmeal (using white is a nice alternative too)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 eggs separated
6 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 1/2 cup fresh corn, off a cooked cobb (you can also use frozen corn)
Hot pepper sauce like Choula or Tapatio
Clarified butter for frying or vegetable oil
Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Melt the butter. Separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with the cream cheese and buttermilk until smooth. Stir in the melted butter.
Add the scallions and corn to flour mixture. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix well. Now fold the egg whites in to the batter.
Place a nice sized scoop onto a preheated griddle that has been lightly greased with butter or oil. These pancakes will not bubble up so check them by slightly lifting the edges to see if they are golden on the under side, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Flip and cook for another 4 minutes. Top with salsa, sour cream and guacamole, or smoked salmon, whipped cream cheese and chives. Off hot sauce on the side. These would also be delicious served with cold avocado soup (recipe coming soon).
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