How to make Taiyaki cakes

Taiyaki cakes are fish shaped pancakes, usually filled with sweet bean paste, that are popular as a street food in Korea and Japan. I bought a Taikyaki pan for Bestival, thinking the shape would go with the shipboard theme, but unfortunately it arrived too late from Korea.
I’m not a huge fan of sweet bean paste, and it occurred to me that creme de marrons is not dissimilar in texture and taste, is more palatable for European palates, and could be a replacement.
I tried it this morning and it worked very well. So well that I’ve left a plate in the hallway for the residents of the other flats in my house. I don’t have the teen as a guinea pig anymore, I can’t eat them all so it’s nice to share isn’t it?
They can be heated up wrapped in tin foil in the oven or briefly in the microwave, if you don’t want to eat them straight away.
Taiyaki Cakes

Makes 6

Ingredients:
60ml warmed whole milk
2 eggs
50g sugar
100g of wheat flour
1/2 tspn (2g) of baking powder,
3/4 tspn (3.5g) salt
Small tin of creme de marron (this will be enough for double or even triple this recipe)
A small amount of unsalted butter

Pour the warm milk into a bowl
Add the eggs, mix together
Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk.
Grease the pan with the butter
Stand the pan on the gas stove or Aga hot plate, making sure the deeper side is on the bottom, the shallower side is on the top.
Pour the batter into the deep side of the pan, covering the entire fish
Add the creme de marron. I put a dollop in the middle and then a little more for the tail.
Add some more batter on top to cover the paste.
Leave for a minute then turn the pan over, clamping together both sides firmly.
Using a sharp knife, cutting away any excess batter, retaining the shape of the fish, edge the fish out of the pan onto a plate.

Eat! Maybe with some green tea?