Why yes, those are chocolate pancakes you see pictured below. A certain three-year-old daughter of mine is about to turn four, and she requested them for the birthday pre-party we had today. (Last year it was chocolate waffles.) We like to draw birthdays out as long as possible in our family.
While chocolate pancakes might be unconventional, they were topped with the most natural pancake topping I know for this time of year: a berry sauce. My parents grow blueberries, raspberries, and multiple varieties of blackberries that bear fruit throughout the summer. My kids’ hands and shirts have been stained with berry juice since the day we arrived, and every day there are fresh baskets of berries waiting after my dad makes his morning rounds. This berry sauce, one of my mom’s specialties, was inevitable.
And yes, of course you can also make summer berry sauce all winter using frozen berries. I usually make it with blackberries, but today’s version was raspberry. The only real requirement here is that you whisk the cornstarch into cold water until smooth; if you add the cornstarch after the sauce is warm, it will clump. Weird, huh? Other than that, feel free to play around, you really can’t go wrong. 
Summer Berry Sauce: In a medium saucepan, whisk 1 Tb. cornstarch with 1/3 c. water until smooth. Stir in 1/3 c. sugar, 2 c. berries (fresh or frozen), and 1-2 Tb. lemon juice (to taste). Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick and bubbly.
Emmy Cooks 
That sounds like a perfect Sunday breakfast (or birthday breakfast). Have ou posted the recipe for chocolate pancakes?
Yes, do we need to look through your archives? Breakfast or Dessert? ;)
No chocolate pancake recipes here, but I’m seeing that there’s a demand. :)
What a lovely way to start off a birthday.
Especially since it’s not for a few days! We know how to draw them out. And we occasionally observe half-birthdays as well. Any excuse to celebrate!
Yay! Thanks. We have guests coming, so chocolate pancakes with berry sauce sound like just the thing.
I’d say that this is a very impressive meal for company–especially if you’re hosting the preschool set. :)
Yum! I love chocolate and raspberries, so this sounds perfect! I’m off to pick raspberries today if this rain holds off…
I really find it hard to control myself at those u-pick places–let’s see, we need a few pounds to eat, a few pounds for pies, a few pounds to make this sauce over and over–and a few to infuse a delicious drink, of course! It gets pretty unreasonable.
The “u-pick” is actually my parents’ farm, and my mother always helps me pick. I enjoy getting a bit carried away with it. Cherries, on the other hand… last year we came home with 24 lbs from the u-pick!
Such a lovely thing to do with berries – perfect with vanilla ice cream in my opinion!
Agreed! Although I’d sweeten the sauce even more to serve on ice cream. :)
I keep coming across chocolate waffles and pancakes. Why am I so deprived? Have I been living under a rock? These look wonderful!
I imagine that it may be because your little one isn’t old enough to demand (or be delighted by) chocolate breakfast absurdities yet–enjoy it while you can! :)
what a wonderful complement to chocolate pancakes. This would be great with brownie waffles. have you ever done that? My kids used to love it when I made homemade brownie batter and cooked it in small batches in the waffle iron. It was the bomb. This sauce would be killer on that.
Wow, BROWNIE waffles sound like a big step up from the (probably whole wheat) chocolate birthday waffles I made last year. Great idea!!
Take me back to my youth…..PLEASE!
Looks good! Cornstarch? I never would have thought of that. Does it thicken it a lot? Or does it just make it glossy?
Speaking of corn starch, have you ever used it with your kids to make oobleck?
http://www.sciencebob.com/blog/?p=608
It’s so weird! No edible, but totally non-toxic and fun.
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