Pancakes With Cherry Compote - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup cherry juice or nectar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb cherries, pitted
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp brandy
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 None egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
None None Powdered sugar, to garnish
None None Lemon balm sprigs, to garnish

Preparation

Heat the cherry juice in a pan with the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the cherries and simmer for about 5 mins. Blend the cornstarch and brandy to a smooth paste, stir into the cherry compote and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 min or until thickened. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool, stirring occasionally.
To make the pancakes, sift the flour into a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and make a well in the center. Beat together the egg and milk and gradually whisk into the flour to form a smooth batter. Leave to rest for 30 mins. If the batter has thickened add a little more milk or water - it should be the consistency of cream.
Heat a little of the butter in a shallow frying pan until foaming, then pour in a ladleful of the batter. Swirl the pan to coat the base evenly and cook for 1-2 mins until golden on the underside. Flip the pancake over and cook for another minute. Transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper and keep warm. Repeat to make 8 pancakes in total, adding more butter to the pan as needed. Interleave the cooked pancakes with squares of parchment paper.
Fold each pancake into quarters and arrange 2 on each plate. Spoon over the some of the cherry compote and serve dusted with powdered sugar and garnished with a lemon balm sprig.