Our cookery team share their top tips for Pancake Day
Pancake day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is the day before the beginning of Lent (Ash Wednesday). The reason why it's traditional to eat pancakes the day before Lent was because historically, it was a way to use up any foods that would spoil (such as eggs and butter) as meat and animal-based products were forbidden during the period of Lent. One of the easiest ways to use up eggs and butter was to turn it into a pancake, and hence Pancake Day was born!
It's a recipe we love to make year-round as it's so versatile - easily being adapted to sweet or savoury styles and the additions of fillings are endless, perfect for using up leftover fruit or veg!
If you're celebrating Pancake Day, or just want to eat them for a simple supper, we've asked our cookery team for their favourite tools, tips and recipes to make your pancake flipping delicious (sorry we had to).
The recipe
Our cookery director, Meike Beck, recommends the 3-2-1 recipe.
Essentially you follow this easy-to-remember ratio (which makes approx 6-8 pancakes):
300ml milk
2 medium eggs
100g plain flour, sifted
Make sure you incorporate the liquid (both milk and eggs) slowly into the flour, or whizz it all in our top-scoring blender, guaranteed to remove any unwanted lumps.
Meike suggests you "leave the batter to rest in the fridge to allow the flour to expand (it can also be made up to 24 hours ahead, just whisk to recombine and slacken with some extra milk, if needed)". But she reveals that she doesn't always leave the batter to rest and the pancakes don’t suffer too much at all.
"I always use butter when cooking pancakes as they give a deeper flavour and lovely golden colour, rather than flavourless oil. You'll want to swirl out the pancake as thin as possible and tip out excess batter if necessary, otherwise if they're too thick they can be leathery", says Meike.
You can cook them ahead of time (just put small squares of parchment paper in-between every layer) as they take surprisingly long to make a bit quantity. Stack, cover and chill for a few days, then reheat in a hot, dry pan, flipping until piping hot.
Meike says that "the first 1-2 are always flabby and not great. And pancakes eaten while you are cooking don’t count (chefs treats!)."
The kit
Ensuring you have the right kit will set you up for a successful Pancake Day. We've trialled a lot of utensils and pans and recommend the following items to ensure success. The pan you use really is key, so look for one with even-heating and non-stick qualities.
The flavourings
For our cookery director, Meike can't go past this classic recipe, with its simple flavour combination of sugar and lemon. It's a classic for a reason and one we turn to often.
Our Senior Food and Drink writer, Mel is fan of savoury crepes, and regularly whips up this Ham and Cheese Galette recipe, with an oozy soft yolk in the middle. It's easy enough to make for dinner during the week, but hearty enough to feel satisfied, too.
Cookery Assistant, Georgie would regularly invite her friends around after school on a Friday and make them all fresh pancakes, drizzled with golden syrup. She loves a classic pancake, but for something a bit different, she enjoys these Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes with a Blueberry Compote.
For Grace, our Senior Cookery Writer she loves the combination of salted butter and melted white chocolate chips in the middle of her pancakes, but for a main dish on Pancake Day she loves making these Corn Fritters with Smokey Black Beans.
The recipe that our Senior Cookery Writer, Alice loves to make and turns to time and time again are these Chocolate Filled Pancakes. She says, "They were one of the first recipes I ever developed, and I love how easy and moreish they are. For a more adult version, you could always use thin squares of dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate buttons."
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