Pink Silk Pancakes: A Leftovers Story

Ever since I was a kid I have been drinking partial bottles of soft drinks and putting them back into the fridge, never to finish them because they get flat and I don't like them.  Well, I am at least happy to say I am finally starting to get better about that.

Mostly it is because I buy two liters now.  I can usually have one completely finished in 2 or 3 days and really it is usually not flat by then.  I don't know if putting it on ice makes it better or what, but I have found it to be perfectly drinkable.  I mostly just drink a glass at breakfast and dinner, sometimes with another glass in there somewhere throughout the day, but 3 glasses equates to 1 24 oz bottle.  So it seems to really help me cut back.  Big Red, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

I can't finish a big red zero 2 liter before it goes bad.  I tried, I was sick of it after a few glasses. But I have found that Big Red Zero takes a lot longer to taste yucky and flat, so I can put the 24 or however big bottles back in and drink it the next day.

Well, the last time I did that I forgot to ever drink it and then left for fall break.  So I came back to a very flat big red.  I had always wanted to try it in pancakes though, so it worked out great! Similarly, if you read my key lime cheesecake ice cream recipe from yesterday, you know I had cheesecake flavored pudding mix leftover from that.

If you have not read or made that recipe yet, get moving.  I tried it this morning and it is fantastic.

But now to the pancakes:

You need 1 cup of pancake mix, about 2/3 or a little over of a cup of Big Red Zero, and 2 heaping teaspoons of cheesecake pudding mix.  I also added about an 8th of a cup of sugar, but I don't think it was really all that necessary. I like Krusteaz pancake mix personally. And yes, I know I could make my own. I just don't.

Anyway I mixed all that up and cooked it on my griddle.  If you don't have an electric griddle you are bananas.  Bananas make really good pancakes too, if you have a griddle...

I say a little over 2/3 of a cup of big red because I just used my 1 c measuring cup and eyeballed it and just used the rest of my big red.  But if you have made pancakes before you know the texture of the batter you are going for, so there is really no need to worry.  I also like to add a little extra liquid if you are adding a little extra dry stuff, pudding mix and sugar in this case. 

I am not sure if it was the pudding mix, but I think it was, that made these pancakes so incredibly soft and silky.  They come out perfectly pink, perfect for Breast Cancer Awareness and princesses breakfasts.  If you want them to have a more pink taste, I suggest using fresh strawberries, raspberries, some jelly, or extract of one of those.  These have a good flavor as they are, but a little extra pizzazz won't hurt them by any means.  I would like to put berries in them the next time I make them.

You can also use some sort of juice instead of big red if you aren't in to the soda scene.  I just like to use whatever I have on hand.  I was considering my cherry blossom apple juice from meijer, but I really want to just drink that and this big red would have gone to waste.

Who needs red velvet when you can have pink silk?