Locked Tomb Pikelets

Published by Conspiracy Kitchen on November 5, 2022November 5, 2022

Close up detail of the pikelets, one decorated with a skull.

Today we’re hijacking this X-Files blog to write about another obsession: the Locked Tomb books by Tamsyn Muir. The Locked Tomb series is a completely bonkers sci-fi/fantasy/horror series featuring space-traveling necromancers. The most recent installment, Nona the Ninth, was just released, so it’s been Locked Tomb season here at Conspiracy Kitchen. We can’t recommend these books enough, and they aren’t that off topic from The X-Files: there are zombies, complex governmental plots, and a badass red-headed female protagonist. Plus, Mulder would be very interested in whatever was going on with John Gaius’s cryo cult in New Zealand. So, in honor of Nona the Ninth, we’re making some Locked Tomb Pikelets.

Jump to recipe

One of the things that makes these books so unlike anything I’ve ever read before is that they bring a whole new approach to the unreliable narrator. The world of Nona the Ninth is very much unlike our own, and it’s filtered through a narrator who doesn’t have a clear understanding of what is happening around her, and isn’t always especially interested, either. As a result, many commonplace things are described in ways that render them almost completely unfamiliar. As a reader you’re always trying to figure out what’s going on, but I mean that in the best possible sense. And this is where pikelets come in. Reading Nona, I was grasping for anything familiar when I encountered a paragraph where a character was clearly making pancakes:

“…[she] shook the jug with the powder and the reconstituted milk in it until they were all mixed together. Then she poured it expertly into perfect circles in the hot pan, each puffing up quickly in the heat, big bubbles swelling like magic in the pale brown batter” (p. 137).

My moment of triumphant understanding was crushed when I learned that they weren’t pancakes– she was making something called pikelets. As an American who has never before had the good fortune to encounter a pikelet, I wasn’t sure whether or not this was an invention of the world, so I turned to google. Turns out pikelets are a similar food to pancakes, eaten in New Zealand, Australia and Scotland. And, of course we had to investigate.

We adapted the recipe from RecipeTin Eats, which I stumbled upon while desperately googling “what is a pikelet”. Since these books are perfect for spooky season, we modified the recipe to add a bit of our American pumpkin spice obsession. So, while these are definitely not authentic New Zealand pikelets, they would be a delicious addition to a fall brunch.

What is the difference between a pikelet and a pancake?

Pikelets are much smaller than typical pancakes, but we’ve found that the primary difference between pikelets and pancakes is that pancakes will spread outward when cooked, and pikelets will puff up. So a pikelet is smaller in circumference, but also thicker and a little airier than a pancake. Because of their small size and lessened spreading, it’s easier to fit multiple pikelets in a skillet, so they cooked up much faster than a batch of pancakes.

Method

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the egg then stir in the milk, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. The pikelet batter will be a little thicker than pancake batter.

Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. [or use a griddle, if you have one. #IYKYK] Swirl the skillet so that the butter coats it, and then pour out or wipe off the butter with a paper towel. Scoop a little under 1/3 C of batter into the skillet for each pikelet. They don’t spread much, so you can easily fit a few in a pan. Cook the pikelets for about 1 – 2 minutes, until bubbles start to form and pop. Flip them and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes, until the pikelets are golden brown on both sides.

We like to put finished pikelets (and pancakes, when we make them) on a cooling rack so that they have some airflow and the steam won’t make them soggy on the bottom. If you’re cooking up a large batch, you can set the oven to its lowest temperature, put the elevated cooling rack on a baking sheet, and put it in the oven as you cook the rest of the pikelets (if you do this, make sure to only use an all-metal, oven safe cooling rack; plastic coated racks or racks with rubber feet shouldn’t go in the oven). Of course, just eating the pikelets hot off the skillet is also a valid choice.

*Use a cooling rack to keep your finished pikelets from getting soggy as you cook the rest.*

While American pancakes are often served with syrup, pikelets are served with jam, cream, or butter. This version was delicious topped with homemade whipped cream. We didn’t have any apple butter on hand when we made these, but we think it would complement the pumpkin spice flavor.