How to Make a Pancake Board

“Boards” have been dominating my social media feed lately. They are riffs off the classic charcuterie boards, with a slew of different themes, and I’m loving it! It’s basically a miniature dessert bar and everyone knows how obsessed I am with those! I’ve seen dessert boards, french fry boards, waffle boards – clearly there’s really no bad kind of board! With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, I thought a rainbow pancake board would be fun!

My Theme: Pancakes…

I like the idea of pancakes being the main star because they aren’t sweet and don’t have a strong flavor, which opens up a wide variety of topping options. They’re also easy to make small. When you’re planning a board, you don’t want huge chunks of food. Think “mini buffet” and get the food to match! I used my medium stainless steel scoop to make the pancakes, and it was a perfect size!

I used my mom’s buttermilk pancake recipe, mixing as gently as possible, before separating into bowls to color. If you’re wondering why there’s only six bowls when there’s seven colors of the rainbow, let’s just say my calculator failed me 😉 We’ll just leave it at that. Plus, purple and indigo are similar enough, right?

Pancake Tips…

With colored pancake batter, you’ll want to keep your griddle or pan on low heat. They will take a few minutes longer to cook, but you won’t get as much browning, keeping your dyed colors brighter. Some browning is inevitable, but low and slow will give you more control over it.

If you don’t want to mess with coloring separate batters to match a theme, you could use cookie cutters and cut out shapes once they are cooked! You could also pour all your batter onto a lined sheet pan, bake, and then let the kids (or yourself) go nuts cutting out shapes! Either way you go, remember that pancakes can be made in advance, and warmed up for serving!

The Equipment…

Before you start, decide on your presentation. Large wooden cutting boards work great, or you can use an over-sized flat tray or platter! If you don’t have anything like that, you can use the table itself! Use themed napkins or other paper goods, and make your “board” the centerpiece of the table! Use a variety of shapes, colors, textures, and even heights of dishes to hold the toppings for maximum visual appeal. The same cookie cutters you used to cut out shapes transform into shaped dishes on the board!

Topping guide…

Let your imagination run wild when you’re designing your topping options. Think about creating a variety of colors, textures, and flavors. What are some favorite toppings? Is there a theme or color scheme? Is it a holiday or special occasion? There’s endless topping options and combination (and I want to try them ALL!). Here’s a master list of ideas – specific flavors and colors are completely customizable!

My St. Patrick’s Day Pancake Board…

For mine, I used some of my family’s favorites, some things to clean out my pantry, and a few seasonal things from the store. In the top left mini cast iron pan is Lucky Charms cereal, the St. Patrick’s special edition. Next to it is lime curd that I added a drop of green food coloring into, to make it more vibrant. To the right of that is a shamrock cookie cutter filled with chocolate chips. Underneath the cereal is a bowl of nutella.

On the bottom right side of the rainbow pancakes was my kid’s favorite topping – St. Patrick’s sprinkles. I made this by combining gold jimmies and balls I had, with some green shamrocks I purchased from the grocery store bakery! (I had no idea that was a thing until I asked!) To the right is a bowl of whipped cream, a stack of bacon… because bacon, and another mini skillet with sliced strawberries. And of course, a small pitcher of syrup. If you’re wondering where the butter is, I always heat my butter and syrup together!

This probably definitely wasn’t the healthiest dinner, but sometimes you have to let loose and enjoy fun food! The kids had a blast building their own pancakes with all the toppings (but mostly just sprinkles), and it was fun to see their creativity at work! Its safe to say, boards are definitely not only for stinky cheese anymore! What kind of board should I create next? Drop a comment below if you have an idea to share!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

St. Patricks Day Lime Curd

A tart and sweet dessert topping that can be made plain or colored vibrant green for St. Patricks Day

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time19 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 139kcal

Author: Rachel

Ingredients

• 4 g lime zest
• 60 g lime juice fresh
• 79 g sugar
• 66 g egg yolk
• 42 g butter

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients into a heat safe metal or glass bowl.
• Bring pot with 1" of water to a simmer, set bowl of ingredients on top of water. Bowl should not be touching water.
• Whisk continuously until its thickened, coats a spoon, and reaches 160*.
• Remove from heat and strain through fine mesh strainer.
• Cover with plastic wrap touching the top of the curd, and refrigerate.

Notes

Stores in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Sugar may need to be adjusted up or down, according to the flavor of your limes. 

Nutrition

Serving: 41g | Sodium: 56mg | Calcium: 16mg | Vitamin C: 3mg | Vitamin A: 334IU | Sugar: 13g | Potassium: 24mg | Cholesterol: 134mg | Calories: 139kcal | Saturated Fat: 5g | Fat: 9g | Protein: 2g | Carbohydrates: 14g | Iron: 1mg