Burmese Poppy Seed Pan Cake ! ...  My favorite

Every time we go out for brunch on weekend mornings, I get reminded of having Burmese Pancake in our childhood days. Here in America, I love to enjoy pancake once in a while because of the fruity syrup that is sweet and refreshing. By comparison, the Burmese pancake is already sweetened with the caramel-like flavor because of its sweeten batter with brown sugar syrup.

One memory that is always with me that my Grand Aunt. She liked that pancake and she always treats me when I was young. Thinking of her inspire me to make that Burmese food because it relates to my sweet memories. My Grand Aunt slept with me since I was young until primary school age as our home did not have a lot of bedrooms. She always snored and it scared me when I was young. But after getting used to her snoring, it became like a lullaby for bedtime. Don't laugh at me. I mean it really....! Sometimes, if I don't hear her snoring, I felt like something was missing.

Oh! what am I saying. Yes... I am talking about the pancake. It will be boring if I only talk about food. You may find anywhere else. Let get back to that pancake. Our Burmese traditional pancake is made with rice flour, as rice is our staple diet and is the most useful main ingredient in Burmese traditional sweets. Incidentally, Burma was the biggest rice exporting country in the world half a decade ago.

 The unique flavor of this pancake is the palm sugar( similar to Brown Sugar), which is combined with coconut chips, peanut and poppy seeds. This traditional authentic dessert is available at some of the big tea shops in Yangon ( Rangoon), to enjoy as brunch or as an afternoon snack with coffee.

Burmese Poppyseed Pan Cake ( 3-4 serving)

Ingredients

1 cup      Pancake Mix
1 cup      Rice flour
2 cup      Brown Sugar
2 counts  Egg
1 tsp       Baking Soda
1 tsp       Salt
2 Tbsp     Toasted Poppy Seeds
2 Tbsp     Toasted Sliced Almond or Peanut
1/4 cup    Grated Fresh Coconut
1/4 cup    melted butter

Instructions

1. In the saucepan, add brown sugar, salt and 1 cup of water then let it boil on the stove with medium heat. Cool it down after getting the brown sugar syrup.

2.  In the mixing bowl, add the egg and scramble thoroughly.

3.  Then add pancake mix, rice flour, baking soda and cooled brown sugar syrup. Add 1 cup of water or coconut milk to make the pancake batter consistency. ( optional to use coconut milk)

4. In the baking tray, brush the pan with melted butter before adding the batter mix.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

6. Pour the batter mix into the tray. And bake it in the oven for 30-45 minutes.

7. After 30 minutes, you may notice the cake is puffy and the top layer is getting firm.

8. Take out the tray at that time and brush thoroughly to the melted butter on the top of the cake. Then sprinkle the poppy seeds and toasted almond nuts on that cake and bake again for 15 more minutes.

9. When the cake color is the golden brown turn off the oven and take that tray out of the oven and cool it down.

10. When it cooled enough to cut. Cut into prefer pieces into the individual serving plate. Sprinkle all 1 tbsp of grated coconut on each of the plates.

( Note: We may also make that pancake on the stove top with the skillet individually too.)
           The authentic Burmese cake is made with rice flour. But it is easier to make with pancake mix as we could get it from any grocers. )