The Fluffy Pancakes So Easy, This Chef Made Them In A Tiny Kitchen

On Good Chef, Bad Kitchen, professionals take on the ultimate challenge: Cooking in a bare, under-utilized kitchen. In this episode, chef Emily Yuen of New York City's Bessou shows us her easy recipe for Instagrammable soufflé pancakes.

Not since avocado toast has the brunch scene witnessed a phenomenon like Japanese soufflé pancakes. The fluffier, cake-ier cousin of the classic breakfast staple has become ubiquitous in overhead brunch shots, with its jiggly towers, piles of toppings, and perfect pours of syrups. But would anyone actually have this for breakfast if they weren't dining out?

Turns out, these pancakes are totally doable at home, especially if you try the caramel, banana-topped version at New York City's Bessou. Chef Emily Yuen dropped by a random New Jersey apartment kitchen to demonstrate how to make her cult pancakes, and she lays out the tricks of the trade. First, beat egg whites to stiff peaks before folding them into the rest of the batter. Then, drop the batter into a hot pan and immediately move the pan into an oven.

The catch: Yuen had to find a way to get those egg whites fluffy without a whisk. Watch her misadventures above, and then get the recipe below. Our advice? Get yourself an electric mixer, because whipping egg whites to stiff peaks by hand is no joke.

For the caramel sauce:
Ingredients
7 tbsps sugar
2.5 tbsps butter
3 tbsps cream
1 tbsp rum
1 banana

Instructions
1. Heat a medium saucepan and add sugar. Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir the sugar. When it starts to brown around the edges of the pan, keep stirring and cooking the sugar until it's smooth and turns a dark amber colour. Be careful not to burn the sugar (or yourself).

2. Turn off the heat and add the butter, cream, and rum, stirring slowly until evenly incorporated.

3. Peel and slice the banana, stir into the sauce, and set aside.

For the pancakes:
Ingredients
6 tablespoons cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
2.5 tablespoons water
Vegetable oil

Instructions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together.

2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. In one bowl, mix together the egg yolks and the water.

3. Add the egg and water mixture to the dry ingredients to create a batter.

4. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter carefully, mixing in 1/3 of the whites first to loosen the batter.

5. Heat a oven-safe nonstick pan over the stove on high heat. Add a generous amount of vegetable oil to the pan, filling up 1/8 of the pan. Once the oil is very hot, add a drop of batter into the pan — if it bubbles, add the rest of the batter to the pan.

6. Immediately put the pan into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. Flip, then bake for another 5 to 7, until the pancake springs back to your touch and a toothpick comes out clean. Repeat the recipe to make as many pancakes for your stack as you desire.

7. Serve with banana caramel sauce, ice cream, and toasted sesame seeds.