Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes

Miya turns two next week and the birthday preparations are underway. This year she is old enough to have opinions about her party — she wants a cat cake (she loves the cat), she wants "pink rice" (the sakura onigiri), and she wants "Obaachan's bowl" on the table, meaning Fumiko's little ceramic bowl. Her party requests are a perfect distillation of her two-year-old identity: cat, Japanese food, and family heirlooms. She is exactly who she should be.

I made Japanese strawberry shortcake this week as a test for the birthday — the light, airy sponge cake layered with whipped cream and fresh strawberries that is Japan's most beloved Western-adapted dessert. It is softer than American cake, less sweet, the cream fresh and barely sweetened, the strawberries the star. Fumiko makes it for birthdays — she has made it for every birthday in the family for forty years, her one concession to Western baking, her acknowledgment that some traditions cross borders and deserve to be adopted. I called Fumiko to ask about the sponge cake. She gave me instructions that were three sentences long and expected me to extrapolate the rest. "Beat the eggs until they are like clouds. Fold the flour like you are folding laundry. Do not open the oven." That was it. Those were her instructions. I made the cake. It was good. Not Fumiko-good. But good.

I have been writing in the journal every night, and the journal has turned a corner — from daily observations into something larger, a narrative, the outline of the book I want to write. Fumiko's kitchen. Fumiko's recipes. My story of learning them, of translating them, of carrying them from Sacramento to Portland, from grandmother to granddaughter. The book does not have a title. It does not have a publisher. It has a shape, and the shape is clear, and the clarity is new and exciting and terrifying in the way that all beginnings are terrifying: the fear is not that it will fail but that it will require everything I have, and I am not sure I have everything, and the anxiety says I do not, but the writing says try.

Spring is full now — the cherry blossoms at peak, the tulips blooming, the farmers market waking up. The season of beginning. I am beginning. The cake is good. The writing is good. Miya is two. Everything is starting.

The strawberry shortcake test went well enough that I had strawberries left over, and a two-year-old who kept stealing them from the counter, and a Saturday morning that felt like it deserved something celebratory before the real birthday arrived. These buttermilk strawberry pancakes are what happened — lighter than American diner pancakes, the batter just barely sweet, the fresh berries folded in so each bite catches a little of that same bright, barely-there sweetness that makes Japanese strawberry shortcake so right. Fumiko would probably say nothing. But she would eat three of them.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 4 (about 12 pancakes)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, shaken
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and diced small (about 6–8 berries)
Extra sliced strawberries and pure maple syrup, for serving
Neutral oil or butter, for the pan

Instructions

Whisk dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
Mix wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until just combined — a few lumps are fine and expected. Do not overmix or the pancakes will turn tough. Fold in the diced strawberries.
Rest the batter. Let the batter sit undisturbed for 5 minutes while you heat the pan. This allows the leaveners to activate and the gluten to relax, giving you a lighter pancake.
Cook the pancakes. Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Lightly grease with a small amount of butter or neutral oil. Using a 1/4-cup measure, pour batter onto the pan, leaving room between each pancake. Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook another 1 to 2 minutes until the underside is golden. Adjust heat as needed between batches — the pan often runs hotter by the second round.
Keep warm and serve. Transfer finished pancakes to a plate in a low oven (200°F) to keep warm while you finish the remaining batter. Serve stacked with fresh sliced strawberries and maple syrup.

Nutrition (per serving, about 3 pancakes)

Buttermilk Strawberry Pancakes — Testing the Season Before the Birthday