If you’re American, they’re what you eat for breakfast and while the French crave crêpes, nothing but pannenkoeken will do in the Netherlands. To most of us in the UK, though, the pancake is so flipping great, it has its own day once a year when young and old alike indulge.
Yes, we know Pancake Day is Shrove Tuesday and traditionally the pancakes used up the eggs before Lent, but that’s fairly boring. Much more exciting is that on Tuesday, even the most humourless among us will let down their guard, lob their food towards the ceiling and then eat a year’s worth of sugar and stodge in one sitting.
There’s nothing wrong with the traditional topping of lemon and sugar, but the recipes here will give you some ideas if you fancy being a little more flippant with your pancakes.
And if you want some food for thought as you mix, the first recipe for pancakes appeared in an English cookbook in the 15th Century. The first recorded pancake race was in Olney, Buckinghamshire, in 1445 and the housewives and young women of the parish will be running and flipping their way around the 415-yard course on Tuesday to keep the tradition alive.
Fortunately, they will not be using replicas of the largest pancake, made and flipped in Rochdale in 1994 – it was 15m across and weighed three tons.
Pancakes with fruit & vanilla cream
Pancakes with fruit & vanilla cream
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 250g plain flour
- 2 Eggs
- 1 pint whole milk
- ½tsp Nielsen Massey
- vanilla extract
- 50g lard or butter
- 300ml whipping cream
- Seasonal fruit of your choice l Icing sugar for dusting
Method:
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and whisk together with the eggs. Slowly whisk in the milk and vanilla extract, making sure you disperse any lumps.
- Heat a little lard in a large frying pan, making sure you cover the whole surface of the pan. When the pan is really hot, add a ladle of pancake mix and move the pan so the mix covers the whole surface.
- Cook for a minute on one side and then flip or turn over with a palette knife and brown on the other side.
- Remove from the pan on to a plate and place a square of greaseproof on top, repeat until all the mixture has been used
- Whip the cream with the vanilla extract. Chop fruit into desired size. Take a pancake, add a generous spoon of cream and a handful of fruit and fold in half. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy.
Apple & chocolate crisp
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 4 eating apples
- 15ml water
- 50g caster sugar
- 50g chopped plain or milk chocolate
- Icing sugar
Method:
- Peel, core and slice eating apples and place in a medium pan with water and caster sugar. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and fluffy. Taste the mixture and add more sugar if you like.
- Leave to cool slightly then stir in 50g chopped plain or milk chocolate. Divide the mixture between four pancakes and place on heatproof plates. Dust the tops with icing sugar and cook under a hot grill until the top of the pancake is crisp and golden.
Bubble & squeak pancakes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 chopped onion
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 500g leftover vegetables such as sliced new potatoes, mashed potatoes, cabbage, carrots, sprouts or peas
- Sauté onion in a non-stick frying pan in vegetable oil for four minutes until golden.
Method:
- Add leftover vegetables. Continue cooking, squishing
- and mixing the vegetables together until they are hot and ‘squeak, in the pan.
- Divide the mixture between four pancakes and serve with grilled bacon and poached eggs.
It’s time to get messy in the kitchen. Go on, pour some sugar on.
Tuna & vegetable pancakes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 300ml milk
- 25g butter and 3tbsp plain flour
- 1 (160g) can tuna steak
- 225g left-over or frozen vegetables such as peas, sweetcorn, carrots or sliced beans
- 50g grated cheddar cheese
Method:
- Place milk, butter and flour in a medium pan, bring to the boil, whisking all the time until a smooth sauce forms. Simmer for one minute.
- Drain and flake tuna steak and stir into the sauce with vegetables
- Divide between the pancakes, place on heatproof plates, sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and pop under a hot grill until the tops are crisp and golden.
Do you have any Pancake Day recipes to share?
About the Author / Gareth Hargreaves
Gareth looks after all editorial content on 50connect. He is the Swiss Army knife of content ideas and production.
