Hands-down best pancake recipe ever! They always turn out super fluffy and thick. I've added fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc. and they always turn out perfectly!! Today I made them with apple cinnamon topping. Perfect cold weather food! As a side note: I used lemon juice instead of the vinegar. You just need an acid to sour the milk. Alternately, you could use buttermilk if you have that on hand. Definitely don't skip this step because the acid from there helps react with the baking soda. Without both present they won't be as good as can be! I also use whole milk. I don't skimp on fat when baking. :)

Reviewed On: Feb. 4, 2011

This is a great base recipe, but it needs a couple changes in order to make it perfect. First of all, DO NOT use chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain ingredients that can cause items to be soft-set. Instead, I substituted 6 oz. semi sweet chocolate and then the 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate already called for in the recipe. I suggest using whole milk simply because it will yield the best results, but I'm sure you could sub. lower fat milk and it turn out just fine. I also used a chocolate graham cracker crust instead of the normal pie crust. Once your milk/chocolate mixture gets warm, temper it into your eggs. This essentially means to whisk constantly to ensure the eggs don't curdle. Add that mixture back to the pot, and whisk constantly until it boils. You want it to boil for a good minute and make sure you whisk during that minute. Pour into a pie shell, cover with plastic wrap and chill. For those who complained about it being lumpy, it could be you didn't temper the eggs correctly and you're tasting pieces of egg. If it's grainy, you likely didn't cook it long enough and you're still tasting the cornstarch. I'm sure using a store-brand chocolate chip can also yield lumpy results because they just don't melt the way toll house does.

Reviewed On: Nov. 24, 2010

This cake is AWESOME! I followed some of the reviewers suggestions to change the spices a bit. I did the following: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Instead of 2 cups white sugar, I did 1 1/3 cup white sugar and 2/3 cup brown sugar.I also let the pears sit for about 1 1/2 hours and all the juices came out which made for an extremely moist cake! I also finished the cake off with a powdered sugar glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar and couple Tablespoons milk, until you have a good consistency. I put it in a bottle and drizzled on top. You can also get messy (fun for kids!) and dip your fingers in and drizzle it over the top. Superb cake and now a favorite for the holidays!

Reviewed On: Oct. 13, 2010