When I was a child, I absolutely loved when my mother made fun shaped pancakes. Dogs, cats, money signs, pumpkins, and ghosts – she made anything I requested and it took a lot of talent having only a ladle to use. When I saw the Good Cook Facebook page advertising their Pancake Creator as the easy way to create fancy shaped pancakes, I was super excited. I wanted to make pancakes just like the pancakes in their Facebook album. So, I ran out right away to buy one.
Finding the Pancake Creator was more difficult than I thought. I figured because it was a new kitchen “gadget” being advertised in a big promotion, it would be easy to find. It wasn’t. I walked up and down the aisles at Walmart and only found one due to luck. Their Pancake Creators were laid down next to the drink containers, nowhere near the other kitchen gadgets. I wouldn’t have noticed them if I hadn’t come across one that had been misplaced. However, it’s not a surprise that’s where the stockers thought it should go. The Pancake Creator resembles a reusable water bottle. It screws apart in three sections – the bottom that holds the batter, a squeezable center, and a cap that holds two different sized nozzles, the larger of which is removable. It also comes with a larger cap that protects the nozzles in storage.
During the drive home, I brainstormed what I could make. Other people had made Disney characters, pigs, elephants, and humming birds – characters that’s looked fantastic. I have artistic talent, so I didn’t think I’d have a problem coming up with something. I just needed to think of something that would look good with a solid outline, which I imagined each pancake needed to hold it together.
At home, I heated up my cast iron pan, mixed up a batch of pancake batter (the boxed kind), and filled the Pancake Creator. Their instructions were to first use the small tip to draw an outline, let it cook for thirty seconds, and then fill using the larger nozzle. It sounded easy enough.
My first attempt was the XBOX logo for my roommate. It’s basically a circle with an outlined “X” skewed to make it look rounded. Not too difficult, I thought. I was wrong. It didn’t hold shape, but I let it go, because the first pancake never turns out right. My second attempt was a face of a dog. That turned out pretty good, except that the whiskers looked more like birthmarks than freckles. My third attempt was the XBOX logo, again. This one turned out better, because the pan was fully heated and primed. The outline cooked more thoroughly; however, it still lost some of its shape. My last attempt was a rose made of bunched scallops. This turned out really well…until I flipped it. The leaves fell off and took a few chunks from the petals with them. I was pretty frustrated by the time I ran out of batter. Next time, I think I’ll use Bisquick rather than pancake mix. Bisquick may have the thickness that I need to keep my pancakes together and in place.
Using the Pancake Creator wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I found you really have to be quick to get your design on the pan or the outline will burn before you can get the filled area cooked. It also got a little messy popping the large nozzle on and off between designs. But the Pancake Creator is easy to clean and costs less than ten dollars. Best of all, the pancakes, no matter how bad they look, are still edible; so, I have no reason not to work on my Pancake Creator Techniques. I recommend it to anyone who loves to make fun shaped pancakes. Just don’t expect it to be as easy as the advertisements make it look.