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Pancakes
History, ideas and pancakes world records from BBC Food.
Delia's
pancakes
Delia's traditional recipe.
Pancake
recipes
From BBC Food. Includes Classic
Crêpes Suzette, Choc
Chip Puffy Pancakes and... Fresh
Salmon Blinis.
Shrove
Tuesday
Information about this Christian holy day.
The BBC is not responsible for the content
of external websites.
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| PANCAKES |
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Pancake history
Pancake
Day or Shrove Tuesday is the traditional feast day before
the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.
Lent
(the 40 days before Easter) was traditionally a time of fasting
and on Shrove Tuesday Christians went to confession and were
'shriven' (absolved from their sins).
Shrove
Tuesday was the last chance to use up eggs and fats before
embarking on the Lenten fast. Pancakes are the perfect way
of using up these prohibited ingredients!
Pancakes
have featured in recipe books since 1439.
Pancakes
around the world
Old English pancake batter was mixed with ale.
German
and French pancakes are baked very thin and served with sweet
or savoury fillings. The French crêpe is thin and crispy
- a crêpe suzette is folded or rolled and heated in
a sauce of butter, sugar, citrus juice, and liqueur.
Russian
blinis, usually prepared with buckwheat, are thin, crisp pancakes,
and commonly served with caviar and sour cream or folded over
and filled with cream cheese or jam.
Mexican
tortillas are often served folded over a bean or meat filling
and topped by tomato sauce.
American
pancakes are thicker. They are sometimes called battercakes,
griddlecakes, or flapjacks and are usually leavened with baking
powder or baking soda and served with syrup.
Mardi
Gras
The French name for Shrove Tuesday (literally 'Fat Tuesday'
- nice) has been given to a number of Mardi Gras carnivals
around the world. Among the most famous are those of Rio de
Janeiro and New Orleans.
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How
to make pancakes
Tips
& tricks
Filling & topping ideas
Leftovers
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You
need:
1 egg
½ pint of milk
plain flour - about 4 heaped dessertspoonfuls
lemon
juice
sugar
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Step
One
Whisk the egg in a measuring jug. |
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Step
Two
Add milk up to the ½ pint mark. You can use any sort
of milk. Whisk mixture. |
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Step
Three
Add the flour, one spoonful at a time. Whisk well each
time to make a smooth batter. |
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The
batter should have the consistency of single cream. Test it
like this -->
Add more milk or flour until it looks right.
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Step
Four*
Add a few drops of oil to the pan. You can use any oil but
light oil is best.
I used light olive oil.
Wait
for the pan to become hot on a high heat.
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Step
Five
Pour two dessertspoonfuls of the batter into the pan and spread
it around with the back of the spoon. Or, pick up the pan and
tilt it to spread out the batter. |
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It
doesn't take long for the first side to cook (~1 minute).
Test
to see if the first side is cooked: lift the pan off the heat
and shake it. When the pancake comes away from the pan, it's
time to toss.
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Cook
the other side. Toss the pancake to check if it's cooked.
Both sides of the pancake should be golden with brown speckles.
Remove
from the pan.
Add
a drop or two of oil to the pan between each pancake. Stack
up cooked pancakes so they stay warm.
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Step
Six
Squeeze a lemon. Pour a couple of teaspoonfuls onto the cooked
pancake and sprinkle all over with sugar. |
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Eat!
Roll up the pancake and scoff! This amount of mixture will
make 10 - 16 pancakes. |
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Tips
& tricks
1)
You need a good non-stick pan, preferably a heavy one. To cook the
pancakes properly, the pan needs to be hot. If you buy a new pan,
you're supposed to 'season' it before you use it (heat some oil
in it, discard the oil, then use fresh oil for your cooking).
2)
Tossing a pancake isn't rocket science but you need to practise.
If it's just not happening for you, use a spatula!
3)
For some reason, the first pancake is always rubbish. Eat this one
straight away so no-one sees it.
4)
Some people make the batter the other way around - by adding liquid
to the flour. But this generates more washing up (bowl + measuring
jug) so I do it the other way around.
5)
Some folk think it's essential to leave the batter to cool in the
fridge for half an hour or more before you use it. Apparently, this
expands the starch molecules and you get a more viscous batter.
Hmm. I've never bothered...
6)
Some other folk think it's essential to use a metal spoon. Why??
7)
To make Scotch pancakes (drop scones), use ¼ pint of milk
instead. This makes a thick batter. Scotch pancakes should be smaller
(only about 5" across).
Tasty
fillings & topping
The
most basic traditional way to eat pancakes is with sugar & lemon
juice.
Sweet
pancakes ('crêpes') are popular for breafast, snacks and as
a dessert.
Ideas:
•
Maple syrup or golden syrup
• Tinned fruit pie filling
• Ice cream & chocolate sauce
Savoury
pancakes ('galettes') are easy to make for a French-style main course.
Ideas:
• Beans & sausages
• Leeks & cheese sauce
• Ham, cheese & egg ('le complet')
For
more ideas, visit BBC Food's pancake,
crêpe
and blini
recipe index pages.
Leftovers
Pancakes
are best eaten immediately. Store any leftovers on a plate, covered
in clear food wrap, in fridge.
Reheat
them in a microwave - for a stack of six, one minute on high is
fine. Or you can heat them in a pan - fold them into quarters and
reheat four at a time.
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