I was inspired to make these pancakes because of an Instagram post(and because I had to use up some eggs and some roasted white chocolate-sesame crunch before I left for my trip to Taiwan/Japan). The idea of these large, fluffy whole-pan pancakes, similar to the ones you can make in a rice cooker, just sounded super appealing to me. I wanted to make mine with a cute bear design, since the reel I saw on Instagram did that as well. But I did a few variations to the pancakes I saw on there. The first was that I made my pancakes with some roasted white chocolate and sesame seeds, just to add texture and flavor to them. The second was I used black rock sugar to make kuromitsu(black sugar syrup), and drizzled that on my pancakes in place of maple syrup. Lastly, I felt silly, and piped on a whipped cream mustache onto my bear design. Something about the pedo bear-handlebar mustache really made me laugh. The original intention was so cut out a slice of butter with a handlebar mustache cookier cutter, but I was too lazy, had a piping bag of whipped cream in my fridge, and figured, this would be easier than trying to a. procure a handlebar mustache cookier cutter that is small enough to cut a slice of butter, and b. figure out what else I could do with said handlebar mustache cookie cutter. I’m trying to limit my impulse buys here.

So other things worth noting in this recipe. You don’t have to use the roasted white chocolate-sesame seed situation in these pancakes. I literally only did that because I had to use up that component before I left town! Like I mentioned, I made my own kuromitsu(Japanese black sugar syrup), but you can always just buy it at a store, or even substitute it with maple syrup if you are a maple syrup-traditionalist. Making kuromitsu is straightforward, since you just melt down the rock sugar into water. Cooking these pancakes requires a lot of patience. The key to making these pancakes is going low and slow. Trying to cook them at too high of a heat will just burn them. You have to cook them for about 25 minutes on medium-low to low heat, just to ensure that they’re cooked all the way through, since they are super thick. I recommend using two nonstick pans, one per pancake, if you are attempting to do more than just one pancake at a time. I learned a lot about how to make these through trial, error, and a lot of waiting around and hoping the freaking pancakes cooked with the designs intact. My first attempt, I made the mistake of cooking the frame of the bear’s head first, then the eyes. The issue with this is that when the batter is fully cooked, it does not adhere to the nonstick pan as much, so when you pour more batter over that, you run the risk of the raw batter pulling up from underneath the cooked batter, resulting in your design being messed up. It took about four totals attempts for me to realize it was smarter to cook batter shaped into the snout/mouth first, then the eyes, and finally the head frame. This way, all of that will be able to cook evenly with the surrounding batter. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it on the first try! The good thing, regardless of how the design comes out, is that you will have a nice, fluffy pancake to nosh on while you go onto your next attempt!

Makes 1 large pancake:
For the pancake batter:
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vinegar
1 egg, separated
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp melted butter or canola oil, plus more for your pan
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup roasted white chocolate*
2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds*
1 tsp activated charcoal powder

In a cup, mix together the milk and vinegar. In a bowl, whip the egg white with sugar to soft peaks. In another bowl, mix together the milk-vinegar, egg yolk, butter/canola oil, and vanilla. Then sift into the egg yolk mixture the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Mix that with the egg whites(and roasted white chocolate and sesame seeds) to form your batter. Take about 2 tbsp of the batter and mix in the charcoal powder. Transfer the charcoal batter into a small squeeze bottle. Line a nonstick 5-inch pan with a very thin layer or melted butter or oil, and put on low heat. Using the squeeze bottle, draw on a three larger hoops, one being larger than the others(think a hidden Mickey symbol), and then three dots, to represent the eyes and nose, and then the mouth. Allow that batter to cook on low heat for 5 minutes first. Then pour in the rest of your batter. Cover the pan, and cook on low heat for 20 minutes. Flip the pancake over carefully, and cook on the other side, still on low heat, for another 5 minutes.

For the kuromitsu:
4oz black rock sugar
3oz water, in two parts
a pinch of salt

In a pot, melt down the sugar, one part of water, and the salt on low heat until combined. Take off heat and stir in the remaining water. Pour into an airtight container, and seal. Refrigerate until time to plate.

For the cream:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp confectioner’s sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip everything to stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag with either a round or a star tip. Refrigerate until time to plate.

To plate:
Start with the pancake, one part plate, and then pipe on the cream. Serve the syrup on the side, only pouring it on when ready to eat.