For a taste of the true American breakfast, you can't do much better than the all-American pancake. For easy pancakes whenever you want, you can make up a big batch of pancake mix, then just add the liquids before cooking.

Even better, you can use this mixture to make American biscuits, which work wonderfully as a breakfast scone.

To make the big mix:

1. Put all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and then pull up your shirtsleeves. Adding the butter a little at a time, mix everything together, blending the mix with your fingers. Keep going until all the butter is blended, and the mix looks like clumpy breadcrumbs.

2. Put the mix into a tightly sealed container, in the fridge. It should keep for months, for pancakes whenever you want.

American pancakes (for 2 people):

1. Throw all the ingredients into a bowl, and mix them up enough to absorb all of the dry ingredients.

2. Smear a large frying pan with a thin coating of oil and place over medium heat. Pour in the batter for each pancake, so that each pool of batter is about 7cm wide. Let them cook until their tops are covered with bubbles.

3. Flip the pancakes, and let the other side brown lightly. Repeat until all the batter is used, drench with syrup, and eat.

American biscuits:

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl, adding enough water to make a dough that is soft but not sticky, then knead until the dough forms a lumpy ball. Break off little pieces for each biscuit.

2. Roll or pat to one centimetre thickness. Place biscuits on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 220°C for 12-15 minutes.

T.S.