Cake and Eat It: Banana pancakes

If New Year's Eve is the biggest night out of the year, then New Year's Day breakfast has to be the hardest working meal of the year. Not only does it set the standard for the year ahead, it has to soak up all the excesses of the night before as well - not an easy task.

A fry-up is the traditional solution to a hangover, but is there a worse day of the year to try and orchestrate a Full English than January 1st? A fried breakfast is a meal of many parts - bacon, sausages, black pudding, mushrooms, beans and eggs for me - and getting them all ready at the same time is a nightmare when you're feeling bright and full of bounce. It's nigh on impossible to put together when last night's celebratory drinks are using your brains for bongos.

My solution is pancakes. They are soothing and easy to eat, settling on a churning tummy like a spongy carb blanket. And they're also a doddle to cook - you just have to stand at the hob and remember to flip them every few minutes. I've never had a hangover so terrible I couldn't operate a spatula.

But if you want to make absolutely certain your New Year's breakfast is effort-free, you can make these American-style pancakes the day before and then warm them up in the oven when you're ready to eat. They won't be as fluffy as when they're straight out of the pan, but they'll still be delicious with sweet syrup and butter. If you can't manage New Year's Day without bacon, they also go surprisingly well with crisp rashers of streaky bacon.

Banana pancakes

20 minutes to prepare, 45–55 minutes to cook

Serves 4

Cook's note: Suitable for vegetarians

125g unsalted butter, plus extra to serve

300g plain flour, sifted

2 heaped tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

75g caster sugar

3 medium eggs

350ml whole milk

5–6 bananas, thinly sliced

Chopped walnuts, ground cinnamon and golden syrup, to serve

Melt the butter over a low heat. Pour out 30g of the clear, golden clarified butter (leaving behind the white milk solids that float on the surface) and set aside - this clarified butter is for frying the pancakes in.

Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the caster sugar.

Separate the eggs, reserving the whites in a clean, grease-free bowl. Beat the egg yolks into the melted butter with the milk. Gently whisk the butter mix into the dry ingredients until they're just combined. The mixture will still be a bit lumpy, but this is fine.

Whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until the whites are opaque and forming peaks - they don't need to be too stiff, just softly standing up. Fold half the egg whites into the pancake mixture to loosen it, then fold in the remaining batter. Don't over-mix it or try to totally blend the egg whites in. The batter should be a bit streaky.

Warm a frying pan or griddle over a medium heat and grease with a little of the clarified butter. Drop 4 tbsp of the batter into the pan to make a large pancake. Add a few slices of banana to the batter while the underside cooks; then, when the pancake is browned on the bottom, flip with a spatula and continue to cook until golden on both sides. Each pancake will take 3–4 minutes in total to cook. Slide onto a plate and keep warm in a low oven.

Repeat with the remaining pancake batter and two-thirds of the sliced bananas to make 12 pancakes. Layer 3 pancakes with the remaining sliced bananas and a scattering of chopped walnuts on 4 warm plates. Dot with butter, sprinkle with ground cinnamon and drizzle with golden syrup to serve.

The pancakes can be made a day ahead and then reheated in an oven at gas mark 4/180°C/fan oven 160°C for 10–15 minutes, or under a preheated grill, turning once, if you don't mind crisp edges.