Campfire Griddle Slovenian Buckwheat Pancakes with Farmers-Market Plums and Honey

Build your fire early and let it burn down to an even bed of glowing coals — buckwheat scorches fast over open flame, so you want steady radiant heat, not licking fire.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup (120 g) buckwheat flour
• 3/4 cup (95 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk, or milk soured with 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the griddle
• 8 ripe purple plums, halved and pitted
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) honey, preferably wildflower or chestnut
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) sour cream or thick Greek yogurt, for serving

Instructions

1. Build your fire early and let it burn down to an even bed of glowing coals — buckwheat scorches fast over open flame, so you want steady radiant heat, not licking fire.
2. Whisk the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
3. In a second bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter until smooth.
4. Pour the wet into the dry and stir just until combined — a few lumps are fine. Let the batter rest 10 minutes while the griddle heats; buckwheat needs that time to hydrate or the pancakes turn gritty.
5. Set a cast-iron griddle or large skillet over the coals and butter it lightly. Lay the plum halves cut side down around the edge of the griddle and let them caramelize for 4 to 5 minutes while you cook the first batch.
6. Ladle scant 1/4-cup rounds of batter onto the hot griddle. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles break across the surface and the edges look dry, then flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes more.
7. Move finished pancakes to the cooler edge of the griddle to stay warm, re-butter, and repeat with the remaining batter.
8. Warm the honey with the cinnamon in a small pan at the fire's edge until just loose and fragrant.
9. Stack the pancakes onto plates, pile the blistered plums on top, spoon over the cinnamon honey, and finish each with a dollop of sour cream.
10. Buckwheat — ajda — is woven through Slovenian cooking, from ajdovi zganci porridge to the buckwheat crusts of the Alpine valleys, and it earns its place: the flour is nutty, faintly earthy, and far more interesting than plain wheat against sweet stone fruit. August is when Slovenian plum trees hang heavy, just weeks before the harvest is turned into slivovka, and cooking them cut-side-down on cast iron concentrates their sugars into something close to jam. Made over a campfire on a summer morning, this is the kind of breakfast that justifies waking up cold.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 520 kcal
• Protein: 13g
• Fat: 20g
• Carbohydrates: 74g
• Fiber: 6g
• Sugar: 34g
• Sodium: 540mg