Buckwheat Pumpkin Slapjacks with Treacle

A recipe inspired by

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

BY

WASHINGTON IRVING

1820

---

Among the autumnal foods mentioned in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow — the crisp and crumbling cruller, preserved plums, and the doughty doughnut — is a longing for warm, hearty buckwheat “slapjacks” or pancakes, with honey or English treacle.

As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of apples; some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees; some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market; others heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty-pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields breathing the odor of the beehive, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered, and garnished with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel.

This recipe, based on the cakes mentioned in the story, are made with buckwheat, pumpkin puree, and warm spices. Topped with butter, treacle, and salty pepitas.

Buckwheat-Pumpkin Slapjacks with Treacle

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup of salted pepitas

• 1 cup of buckwheat flour

• 1 cup of pumpkin puree

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup of milk

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons of treacle

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a large pan over medium-low heat.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients — flour, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice — in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, milk, oil, treacle, vanilla extract, and lemon juice.

4. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

5. Add 1/4 of batter to the pan for each slapjack, but don’t crowd the pan. You’ll work in batches.

6. Griddle on one side for about 3 minutes, bubbles will not form on top as for regular pancakes. Flip and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes.

7. Remove from the pan and keep warm as you continue to make flapjacks.

8. Plate, add butter, drizzle with treacle, and sprinkle with pepitas.

Makes 9-12 pancakes.

---

Additional Reading