Recipe

American breakfast Cuban style: pancakes with mango and passion fruit

Name: American breakfast Cuban style: pancakes with mango and passion fruit
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 200 g common wheat flour (approx. 1 ⅔ cups, not packed); 250 ml milk (1 cup); 1 large egg; 2 tablespoons sugar (25 g); 2 teaspoons baking powder (chemical leavening, not just baking soda); 30 g melted butter; 1 teaspoon butter or neutral oil to grease the pan; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional); 1 pinch of salt; 2 ripe but firm mangoes; 250 g fresh passion fruit pulp with seeds (6 to 8 fruits, depending on size); 150 g sugar; Quick alternative: 180 to 220 g ready-made passion fruit jam (in that case, omit the pulp and sugar)

Cuban wheat flour arepas, fluffy like pancakes, with fresh mango cubes and thick homemade passion fruit jam.

CiberCubaNovember 6, 2026

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Preparation15 min
Cooking45 min
Total time1 h
Servings4 servings (8 to 12 medium pancakes)
DifficultyEasy

An American breakfast with Cuban and Caribbean flavor. In Cuba, breakfast arepas are wheat flour pancakes very similar to American pancakes. They have nothing to do with Venezuelan or Colombian corn arepas.

Here they are served hot, in a small tower, with fresh mango cut into cubes and a generous spoonful of sweet-and-sour, thick passion fruit jam, with some seeds visible. It is a sweet dish, perfect for breakfast or a Sunday brunch, with nothing salty on the side.

Method

Passion fruit jam

If making the jam at home, open the passion fruits and scoop out 250 g of pulp. Reserve about one-third with its seeds. Strain the other two-thirds through a fine sieve, without crushing the seeds, and combine the strained juice with the reserved part. This way you have some seeds, but not too many.
Place the pulp with the 150 g sugar in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then let it simmer gently for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring, until you have a shiny, concentrated jam that drips slowly from the spoon. It should not be like a watery sauce. Remove from heat and let cool: as it cools, it thickens further. If using ready-made jam, skip this step and the previous one.
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Batter and cooking

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, beat the egg with the milk, vanilla, and melted butter, now lukewarm.
Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir gently until incorporated. Do not overbeat: a few small lumps are normal. Let the batter rest 5 minutes. It should be thick but pourable; if it is too dense, add a tablespoon of milk.
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Heat a non-stick pan over medium-low heat and grease it lightly. Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake (or ¼ cup if you want them larger). Cook for 1½ to 2½ minutes, until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges are firm. Flip and cook 1 or 2 minutes more, until golden and cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the batter, without flattening the pancakes.
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Assembly

Just before serving, peel the mangoes and cut the pulp into medium cubes, so they stay fresh and firm.
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Stack 2 or 3 hot arepas on each plate, one on top of another. Distribute the mango cubes over and around them. Top with 1 or 2 tablespoons of passion fruit jam per serving and let it drip a bit down the sides. Serve immediately.
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Tips and variations

The mango, always fresh: cut it into visible chunks. No puree or cooked mango.

The jam must be thick: it is a spreadable reduction with a few seeds. Do not replace it with a liquid syrup.

They are not corn arepas: these Cuban arepas are sweet and made from wheat flour. Do not confuse them with the Venezuelan or Colombian ones.

Save time: prepare the jam the day before and store it in the fridge, in a clean covered container. Use it within 3 or 4 days at most, as it is not a sterilized preserve.

Watch out for sugar: do not sweeten the batter too much, as the fruit and the jam already provide their sweetness.

If you like the classic version, also try our arepas with honey, the traditional Cuban recipe. And in the passion fruit dessert with white cheese you will find another method to make homemade passion fruit jam.