The Food Gatherer's Note: From classic crepe style pancakes to American style, here's some recipes and tips for flippin' good pancakes - Kim x
Flip them, roll them, fold them, stack them, sweet or savoury, drop scones, crepes, or traditional, there are so many things you can do with a pancake that it's no wonder they're such a popular dish, not just reserved for Shrove Tuesday.
For me the classic pancake with sugar and lemon is called for on Shrove Tuesday, but at other times I like to experiment a bit and my girls favourites are an apple compote with cinnamon or sliced banana with chocolate sauce. This Tuesday though we will always go the whole way on this day of pancakes and have savoury pancakes for supper too. Tuna sweet corn or cheesy pancakes with ham and leeks goes down a treat!
Classic Pancake recipe
Ingredients:
125g Plain flour
1 egg
300ml milk
A knob of melted butter (optional)
Pour the flour into a mountain in the bowl, make a whole in the middle then crack the egg into it. Gradually pour the milk in with one hand while you stir from the outside of the bowl inwards to combine the batter mix (any lumps, get the whisk out and give the batter a good beating!)
Sometimes I add a knob of melted butter into the mix to enrich it but you should always let the batter stand for at least 30 minutes. Most importantly, make sure the pan is piping hot before you start and turn it down as you cook the pancakes and only rub a bit of oil onto the pan with kitchen roll.
Drop scones
In our house a drop scone or Scotch pancake is a regular visitor to Sunday mornings, a small stack of these with some crispy bacon and a glug of maple syrup, may not be the healthiest way to start the day but it does set you up nicely for a good Sunday walk. If I'm feeling a little more health conscious they taste great with a healthy handful of berries and some crème fraiche or natural yoghurt.
Ingredients:
125g self-raising flour
2 tsp caster sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp melted butter
150ml milk
Add the flour and sugar to the bowl and as above, make a well and add the egg and melting butter. Stir in the milk to make a thick batter. Drop a tablespoon of the batter into a hot frying pan to make small round discs, flip when the bubbles in the batter are breaking on top.
I recently spotted this amazing looking honey cloud pancakes from a blog called Things we Make and I can’t wait to try it out. Made with an extra whipped egg white, it looks too good to eat…. Well almost!
American Pancakes