Breakfast in Bed: Cardamom and Pineapple Pancakes

We met the lovely Giovanna Ryan recently (she's a super chef... and a MasterChef 2017 finalist!) to chit chat about bedtimes and breakfasts.

With Pancake Day just around the corner, we knew it was the perfect time to whip something up together.

Giovanna has created these delicious pancakes for us to share with you. Perfect for Pancake Day or for a Sunday breakfast treat.

We have a whole blog post where you can get to know a little more about Giovanna here.

But for now, get cooking this delicious pancake recipe that serves 4

• 225g plain flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of caster sugar
• 300ml milk
• 2 large eggs (beaten)
• 30g butter (melted and cooled slightly)
• 6 cardamom pods
• A knob of butter for frying

• 1 medium ripe pineapple
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 50g butter
• A handful of pistachios, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons of coconut or Greek yogurt

Place the milk in a saucepan. Squash each cardamom pod with the flat of a knife, being careful to keep any seeds that pop out.

Put the pods in the pan with the milk and bring to a gentle simmer for ten minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for a further ten minutes. Strain the pods out and reserve the milk.

Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder and make a well in the middle. Pour in the eggs and cardamom infused milk and whisk until combined. Add the melted butter and whisk again until you have a smooth batter. If you have a food processor, you can just pop everything in together and whizz until smooth.

Transfer to a jug and leave to rest for around 20 minutes while you make the caramelised pineapple.

Remove the top and bottom of the pineapple and peel. Cut into slices horizontally so that you have 8 rounds.

Take out the core with a pastry cutter and cut in half.

Put the brown sugar and butter in a wide, heavy bottomed saucepan and place over a medium heat for five minutes, until the sugar starts to dissolve. The sugar and butter will be a bit separated but don’t worry. Add the pineapple slices and cook for a further ten minutes, turning halfway, until soft and darkly coloured.

Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan or smooth griddle pan on the stove with a little butter.

Pour out rounds of the batter and cook for about a minute... then flip!

Butter the pan for each new pancake.

Serve with your delicious pineapple atop the pancakes, drizzle generously with sauce from the pan and scatter with chopped pistachios. Add a spoon of yogurt and enjoy!