Until today, I didn’t actually know why we had ‘Pancake Day’. So, before I get to the yummy pancake recipe, here’s a bit about Shrove Tuesday AKA Pancake Day or Fat Tuesday!
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday when the 40 day fasting Lenten season begins on the lead up to Easter. It is the day where Christians should repent their sins and partake in a last round of jubilation before Lent begins. During the Lenten season Christians make sacrifices, fast, pray and partake in other spiritual disciplines.
But still, how did pancakes come about? Apparently, it was just a great a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before Lent begins!
Admittedly, pancakes are a weekly thing in our house. At the moment, this is our favourite recipe. The recipe says it makes 8 small pancakes but I double it up for the 3 of us and make 8 big pancakes. We clearly eat too much!
Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 150g Plain Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 Pinches of Salt
- 1 Egg
- 30g Caster Sugar
- 150ml Milk
- 30g Unsalted Butter (although I’ve used salted and it still tastes good)
- 125g fresh blueberries (optional – we usually skip them)
Method
- Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar with a wooden spoon and leave to one side.
- Crack the egg into a bowl and add it to the milk, whisk them together. It is best to do this in a jug so the mixture can be poured easily in Step 3.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture into the flour and beat with a wooden spoon. Gently fold in the blueberries (if using), taking care not to crush them. If you have time, for fluffier pancakes, let it stand for 30 minutes before cooking.
- Over a medium heat melt 1/4 of the butter in a large frying pan (yes, it’s a bit like shallow frying a pancake, the more butter the better😜. Must be my Scottish roots coming through! Ha ha). When the butter begins to bubble, you are ready to start cooking!
- Ladle two spoonsful of batter into the frying pan. Fry the pancakes for two minutes or until bubbles appear on top and the undersides turn golden.
- Use a metal spatula to flip the pancakes. Cook the other side for two minutes or until the cakes are cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
And now for the toppings! We usually have a mixture of Nutella, maple syrup and banana. Sometimes we have fresh berries, yoghurt and loads of maple syrup. Or depending on my mood, I sometimes just squeeze lots of lemon on them😋. Oh, but then I do love smoked bacon and maple syrup on them too…. The choices are endless!
What’s your go to pancake topping?
Happy Pancake Day when it comes!
Photo by Portuguese Gravity on Unsplash
Recipe from DK Children's Cookbook by Katharine Ibbs
