It's Pancake Week! (Strawberry Pancake Roll-ups)

Finally, it's Pancake Week again! I've missed it, haven't you? And I've been having a lot of fun since Christmas doing my research and development for these breakfast/dinner/anytime goodies. A few didn't make the cut (Zucchini-Currant Pancakes just weren't what we hoped they'd be.) But for the most part it's been delicious and successful. Every day this week you'll find a new awesome pancake recipe, many of which you can make that night out of a decently stocked kitchen. It's my Valentine's Day gift to you. Enjoy.We start the week off with a good Valentine's dinner: crepe-like pancakes with strawberry cream filling and strawberry puree on top. For dessert, just drizzle with hot fudge and whipped cream or ice cream as well. So many ways to love a pancake...

But to be honest, my kids didn't like these much. I think it just confused them, and the filling was not quite sweet enough for me to tell them the lies I normally would, like "It's yogurt" or "It's just pink whipped cream." Ed and I loved them, but I either needed to put a little more sugar in for the kids, or in general I need to serve them more things rolled up in crepes or tortillas to widen their horizons. Either way, it meant more for me that night!
Strawberry Pancake Roll-ups

1 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

6 T sugar, divided

2 T lemon juice

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup milk

Cooking oil or spray

1. Thinly slice 2 cups strawberries; set aside for serving. In a blender or food processor whirl remaining 1 quart strawberries until smooth. Press through a fine strainer into a bowl, extracting as much liquid as possible with a rubber spatula (I didn't feel like doing this so I didn't strain - just means more seeds but more strawberry goodness as well.) Whisk 1/4 cup sugar and the lemon juice into strawberry puree.

2. In the blender or food processor (no need to rinse), whirl cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree until blended and smooth. Transfer to bowl and refrigerate until serving.

3. In a bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt and remaining 2 T sugar. In another bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and milk just to blend. Whisk milk mixture into flour mixture just until evenly moistened.

4. Place a nonstick griddle or a 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat (350F); when hot, coat with oil or spray and adjust heat to maintain temperature (curse the electric stove!) Spoon batter in 1/2-cup portions onto griddle (if using skillet, swirl a bit to spread batter out to cover most of the pan) and cook until pancakes are browned on bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes; turn with wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. As pancakes are cooked, transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in a 200F oven. Coat pan with more oil and necessary to cook remaining pancakes.

5. Spread each pancake with about 2 T cream cheese mixture and roll up. Set two roll-ups on each plate, top evenly with sliced strawberries, and drizzle with a little strawberry puree; serve with remaining puree to add to taste. Makes 4 servings of 2 roll-ups each.

Recipe from Sunset, May 2002