DIY: Mushroom Pancake Art

Google "pancake art" & be prepared to be amazed. And mezmerized. No, seriously, time will mysteriously fly by as you gaze, like one entranced, at the soothing videos of these foodie artists doing their creative thing. I am so intrigued by this art form!

And, yesterday, on the first day of summer break, I thought I'd spend some extra time over the hot griddle to cook up some fun. I am a lover of all things fungi, so I thought I'd give a go at some mushroom flapjacks.

I have not done any research on this topic of "pancake art". I just grabbed my batter & went for it. 

I don't have any of those fancy squeeze bottles with multiple sized tips like the pancake art pros do. But I have a bowl & a spoon. And that'll do just fine for what we're cooking up today. You'll also need: a hot griddle, cooking spray, paper towels, cookie cutter(s), your favorite pancake batter, food coloring, a spatula, & maybe a book for photo reference (or other media for picture inspiration). 

First, heat up your griddle. And while it's warming up, mix up your batter. I divided my batter into two bowls. One bowl of batter I left as is. The other bowl I colored with blue food coloring. Make it as dark or as light as you want, & use as many colors as you want.

To make things super easy on myself, I used a metal cookie cutter. This is so much less intimidating. (And cooking spray is your best friend.) Before you set your metal cookie cutter onto your hot griddle, you are going to spray the inside of  the cookie cutter with non-stick cooking spray. Spraying a paper towel first, & then wiping it on the inside of the cookie cutter works well, as does spraying your {clean & freshly washed} finger & wiping it around the inside. Each time you use your cookie cutter, you'll want to wipe it clean & respray.

Next, you'll use the regular pancake batter &, with your spoon, sprinkle dots for the mushroom top + fill in the stem. 

Now you'll use the other color to fill in the top of the mushroom. 

Let that set until the underside has cooked. (The edges will start to appear dry. That's a good hint it's done.) Carefully --it will be hot!-- use a paper towel or pot holder to lift the cookie cutter off.

Flip your mushroom pancake over to finish cooking. And that's it!

After I played around with the cookie cutter for a while, I was ready to branch out on my own.

Now, your creations don't have to be perfect. Mine were definitely not. My girls ate the pancakes no matter what they looked like. The pretty ones taste the same as the ugly ones. 

I decided to use just one color of batter, & let the cooking times change the color of the batter for me: The batter that goes on first will cook longer, so remember that. Anything that you want to be "shaded" or set apart, or darker, will need to be drizzled on first.

So, firstly, I created a stem + the little underside fringes + the polka dots on top. I let those cook for several minutes. You'll start to see them turn brown on the edges. You'll want these things to be the darkest.

Then, I filled in the little area where the underside fringe was. I let that cook for a couple more minutes.

And, finally, I filled in the top of the mushroom with a curved shape. Cook that until it's not soupy anymore & flip it over.

The more I played, the better I got. I whipped up the pink ones yesterday, & gave a second attempt with the blue pancakes today.

The girls were pretty impressed. Pazely, 12, said, "Five stars!" I'm not sure if her scale was from 1 to 10? But I'm gonna pretend it was from 1 to 5.

So, have some fun, try something new, & get ready to make a happy, pancakey mess!

Some of you have asked if I'll be doing anything on the blog this summer...

Summer is the most amazing, freeing time to wander, explore & create. Summer invigorates me! It's when I find all these random, unstructured, unoccupied moments to get creative. Although I won't be involved with anything as detailed as my past Summer Fun Diary Series or even last year's Summer School, I will be sure to share with you any interesting tidbits I find myself getting involved in.

To keep the girls & I from falling into too much of a lazy rut this summer, I have printed out copies of these "Summer Rules" I spied on Thirty Handmade Days blog. I changed the list up a little to make room for daily "Devotions/Quiet Time with Jesus". I plan on following these same rules too ---the girls were giddy about that!

I'm hoping to do a lot of adventuring here in Alaska this summer, in my own little neighborhood. I hope to have lots of fun, try new things, experience as much as I can in this new world of mine.

To catch me in real-time, be sure to follow me on Instagram!

And for a peek into my journey in Alaska, follow my other blog Nikki from Nikiski.

♥