>>... until the pancake batter is smooth
I've learned to never do this for American style pancakes w baking powder (gotta leave some lumps). I usually use yeast for lift, but if I haven’t planned ahead, then baking powder it is.
Also, maple syrup has been very much a North American thing up until maybe the 80s. I had a bud in France get beer up his nose when I told him about maple syrup back in the 70s. (BTW, the French have very good beer.) For reference, in the 70s, people in the US did not drink bottled water or consider mussles edible - and the French had a single Macdonald's in the country (which, yes, of course I visited - once).