As always, a first glance at the title of this post and indeed, the name of this finger food recipe may have most of you turning your nose up in disgust and suspicion! However I kid you not when I say these are delicious and very nutritious, not to mention pretty little finger foods. I wanted to introduce more naturally occurring Omega-3 into the weaning recipes on this site as I am a firm believer of making sure our children get plenty of it.

This baby finger food is a good source of

• Vitamin B1
• Omega 3
• Phosphatidylserine
• Protein
• Fibre
• Potassium
• Vitamin C
• Iron
• Magnesium

Ingredients

• 1 x Beetroot
• 200g x Smoked mackerel Fillets
• 3/4 cup of Plain Flour
• 3/4 cup of Wholemeal Flour
• 1 x Teaspoon of Brown Sugar
• 1 and 1/4 cups of Whole Milk
• 3 x Teaspoons of Baking Powder
• A little Butter for frying
• 1 x Tablespoon of Chopped Parsley

You will need

• 1 x Large Mixing Bowl
• 1 x Frying Pan
• 1 x Hand Whisk
• 1 x Cheese Grater

Method

1. Take your mixing bowl and add all the dry ingredients. You can choose to seive your flour but I prefer to take a hand whisk and gently whisk the flour instead. It’s easier and just as effective. Do this with your dry ingredients.

2. Make a well in the centre and add all your wet ingredients. Using the whisk, whisk the liquid and slowly incorporate the flour around the edges. If the mixture turns a little stiff, use a wooden spoon instead of the whisk. Keep doing this until everything is mixed thoroughly, but try not to overdo it. Overmixing batter will produce too much gluten and your pancakes will not be as light and fluffy.

3. Grate the beetroot into the mixture but do not stir yet.

4. Take your mackerel and remove the skin. On a chopping board, flake the flesh with your fingers checking extremely carefully for any long bones. Place the fish flesh into the batter mix.

5. Add your chooped parsley. Stir gently but not too much as to turn the mixture pink. Just enough to get everthing incorporated.

6. Take your frying pan and, melt a knob of butter over a medium heat.

7. Using a cup, take about 1/4 cup worth of the batter and, once the butter is bubbling, pour gently into the center of the pan. Don’t touch and watch carefully. As the pancake dries on top and little bubbles appear after about two minutes, it’s time to turn it over. Do this with a spatula.

8. You can cut you pancakes into fingers or quarters and give to your baby when cooled a little.

9. You can server these with a yoghurt or maybe Creme Fraiche with a little horseradish.

You can freeze these cooked pancakes. To reheat, take out of the freezer for an hour and then microwave for 30 seconds.

If you do use a microwave to heat these remember to set aside afterwards for about 30 seconds and test against your top lip to detect hotspots!