Pancake Day is upon us once again – that glorious day on
which it is acceptable to stuff ourselves silly with a food that we rarely eat throughout
the rest of the year. The glorious pancake. Who doesn’t like pancakes? Exactly.
Everyone likes pancakes, because they
are so versatile and customisable. With so many different types just waiting to
be tasted, I propose we all have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Because
no-one will judge us if we do. (See below for recipes.)
Of course, Pancake Day’s real name is Shrove Tuesday, and it
is part of the Christian calendar (it
seems to me that Christianity loves a good old feast – Advent, Christmas or
Easter anyone?) “Shrove” is the past tense of the verb “to shrive”, which means
“to confess”, as the idea was to confess your sins before Lent. A little
religion and language lesson for you there.
Although people may say it’s unwise to devour as many
pancakes as we possibly can in one day, the fact of the matter is that Shrove
Tuesday is actually known as Fat Tuesday in many Christian countries – Mardi Gras in France, for example. Even
better, in Iceland the day is called Sprengidagur,
which literally means “bursting day”. Rather appropriate, I’m sure you’ll
agree.
But then again, having a fat day is only really justified if
you then give something up for Lent. Ahh. Hadn’t quite thought that through,
had we? Yes, the original reason for whipping up a load of pancakes was to use
up supposedly luxurious ingredients (eggs, butter and sugar) before fasting
until Easter. Our “Fat Day” is supposed to be a reminder that we’re entering a
time of abstinence.
Not many of us actually do give things up for Lent anymore.
For a lot of people, it comes at a time when they’ve only just finished their
New Year health kick, so the thought of a further 40 days without one of their
vices is understandably unappealing. But whether Christian or not, the idea of
challenging yourself can actually be rather enticing.
And then comes the problem of what to give up. There’s no
point in deciding to go without crisps if you never ate them before, but
obviously you (well, I) can’t bear the thought of 40 days sans chocolate. We all know those mad people who decide to give up
chocolate, cake, cheese, biscuits, crisps, bread, sweets, pasta AND ALL
ENJOYMENT IN LIFE, and quite frankly, that is just unrealistic. It’s winter,
the time of year when comfort food is at its most crucial.
Whether you give something up or not, why not get into the
Fat Tuesday festive fun and have a go at whipping up a few batches of pancakes?
Quite frankly, the array of ready-made pancake mixes is an insult to all our
intelligences. Pancakes are so easy to make, and it’s guaranteed that your
housemates will love you as a result. Make sure you have a super-hot pan, as
the batter needs to cook immediately. Of course, you have to try and flip them,
but don’t worry if it doesn’t quite go to plan – it’s universally acknowledged
that the first pancake in a batch is always a bit dodgy.
For a Shrove Tuesday to beat all Shrove Tuesdays, I propose
thick American-style pancakes for breakfast; savoury pancakes for lunch; and
then a sugary feast of classic crêpes for
dinner.
To make thick fluffy breakfast/Scotch/American pancakes, you
need to use a raising agent, so for my recipe below you’ll need self-raising
flour and baking powder. For traditional thin French-style pancakes, plain
flour is all you need. Apart from that, the recipes are very similar, so
they’re easy peasy to make.
Breakfast pancakes
Ingredients
200g
self-raising flour
1 tsp baking
powder
Pinch of
salt
1 egg
300ml milk
20g butter,
melted
Sunflower
oil for cooking
Optional: 2
bananas, really ripe and mashed, a handful of chocolate chips, a handful or two
of blueberries, chopped in halves
Method
1. Mix
together the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Beat the
egg with the milk in a jug, and then whisk into the dry ingredients with a fork
to make a thick smooth batter. Stir in the melted butter, and mix in the mashed
bananas, chocolate chips and chopped blueberries if desired.
2. Heat a
teaspoon of oil or small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Drop a
large tablespoonful of the batter per pancake into the pan and watch them spread
and small bubbles appear on the surface. Cook for about 1-2 minutes over a
medium heat then flip over and cook another minute or so until golden. Try to
stop everyone devouring the first one straight out of the frying pan, and
smother with your choice of syrup or spread when ready to eat.
Basic thin pancakes
Ingredients
100g plain
flour
1 egg
300ml milk
Pinch of
salt
Oil or
melted butter, for frying
Method
1.
Whisk all the ingredients together to make a
smooth batter.
2.
Heat the oil in a pan, then pour away any
excess.
3.
Ladle some batter into the pan, and tilt it
round so the mixture is evenly spread out in a thin layer. Leave to cook for
about 30 seconds before loosening the edges with a spatula and then flipping it
over and cooking for another 30 seconds or so on the other side, until just
golden.
4.
Serve on a warm plate and top with whatever you
desire!
Savoury
toppings: cheese, spinach, ham, fried bacon and onion.
Sweet
toppings: go for traditional lemon juice and sugar, or try something more decadent
like melted chocolate, marshmallows, peanut butter, jam, chopped fruit, syrup,
dulce de leche, ice cream or yoghurt. If you’re anything like me, the trouble
is you’ll want one of each! Well, it is bursting
day…
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