Last Sunday, after we left the zoo, Matt wanted to stop at Whole Foods on our way home. He explained that his dad had told him about a product he’d seen on the news: pancakes in a can.
I have to say, the first image conjured in my mind was something like spam. I pictured popping the lid off and inside would be pancakes bathed in some kind of preservative so that you could keep them stored safely (?) in your pantry for years. But Matt went on to explain that it was actually pancake batter in a spray-type can, similar to whipped cream. And his dad had said that they were organic and available at stores like Whole Foods.
I waited in the car with the boys. Eventually Matt returned, head down, with no pancakes in a can. (Not empty-handed, though.)
“They didn’t have them?” I asked.
“No,” he replied sadly. “I looked and looked and looked and couldn’t find them.”
“Did you…. ask anyone if they knew where they were.”
“No. I started to worry that the whole thing was a joke and they would look at me like I was crazy. ‘Pancakes in a can? What do you take us for?’”
We weren’t ready to give up yet. Once we got home (and unpacked the other items that had been purchased in lieu of pancake batter you spray out of a can) it took less than a minute before Google tracked down…
Once we heard the catchy, campy jingle that played as soon as the home page loaded, we knew we were on to something, well, special. And we were even more convinced once we watched the quick video demo, which was infinitely more entertaining than the horrid kids movie we’d watched 10 minutes of (before even Leo insisted we should turn it off) the night before.
According to Batter Blaster’s website, it’s sold at the biggest Pittsburgh grocery chain, Giant Eagle. So, the next morning, Jonas and I headed off to the closest Giant Eagle. Alas, no Batter Blaster there. This Giant Eagle does not even sell organic milk, so I shouldn’t have been too surprised.
We still weren’t ready to give up. We drove over to the Market District Giant Eagle in Shadyside. Making our way through the enormous store, we headed back to the dairy department… and there it was! I snapped the photo below with my phone and sent it to Matt and Leo.
So, how does it work? Quite well. It’s easy enough to do that with close, careful supervision, 5-year-old Leo can spray his own pancake onto the pan. Of course, he loves this. It’s also a lot easier to create unusual shapes than with your traditional batter pouring.
Next two pancakes by Matt.
They are quite tasty. They’re very light and rather sweet, much like the pancakes you’d get at a diner.
Jonas enjoyed taking apart the peace sign.
My one gripe: Batter Blaster isn’t cheap. It was $5.99 for a can, and it didn’t seem to go very far. I suppose we did make some mammoth-sized pancakes, but I thought that we would get more out of it than we did.
Regardless, Matt went out on Friday night to be sure we’d have more for Saturday morning. The novelty may wear off, but we are having fun with what we are calling “cancakes” for now.
1 comment
Batter Blaster is AWESOME. It makes great WAFFLES too. 28 four-inch pancakes in a can.