What to rustle up for Pancake Day
Hooray, Pancake Day aka Shrove Tuesday has arrived!
SERVES: 8
PREP TIME: 5 mins
COOKING TIME: 10 mins
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: Pancake Day, brunch
BUDGET: £
Pancake Day aka Shrove Tuesday
Lent
It’s the feast before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.
And it lasts for around 40 looong days until Easter.
Full disclosure; I’ve never done it, nor ever will.
But I will eat Pancakes on Pancake Day 😉
How did it come about?
The (Christian) idea is to gain absolution for your sins by way of confession and doing penance.
They’d ring a bell (shriving bell) to call people to confession.
This became known as the ‘Pancake Bell’
Why pancakes?
It was the last opportunity to use up and eggs, flour and fat hanging about the house before starting lent.
And who doesn’t love a good stack of pancakes?!
But the ingredients also symbolise four points of significance at this time of year:
- Eggs = Creation
- Flour = The staff of life
- Salt = Wholesomeness
- Milk = Purity
Personally, for me, they represent my childhood which was loads of running around.
And family.
The traditional pancake
A traditional English pancake is very thin and served the way I grew up with them…
Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar.
And Mum would let us have whipped cream… it was amazing!
American pancakes are thicker, smaller and they stack’em.
Pancake Day celebrations in the UK…
Basically, includes a lot of silliness.
Around the country, people in fancy dress, race down streets tossing pancakes.
The reason: to finish first with a frying pan and cooked pancake in hand.
But having flipped the pancake while running.
The most famous of these races is claimed by Olney in Buckinghamshire.
Apparently, in 1445 a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell while making pancakes.
In a panic, she ran out of the house to the church still in her apron, clutching her frying pan.
My perfect pancake breakfast. Sweet & savoury
I love American diners.
My favourite diner is in New York City, West Village.
It’s called the Bus Stop.
When I lived there for a couple of years, it was my Saturday morning treat to head there with a newspaper and start my weekend.
I’d order the same thing every weekend (almost).
A stack of pancakes (or french toast) with crispy bacon (key component), berries, a side of lightly fried banana and maple syrup (the other key component).
LOTS of maple syrup.
Then a juice and the standard bottomless (quite rubbish, tbh) ‘cwoffee’.
It was food heaven.
Enjoy Pancake Tuesday whether you’re about to start lent or are just having a bit of fun.
And enjoy some killer pancake combo’s… that is… bacon and banana and go heavy on the maple!
And for another great brunch idea, check out how to make shakshuka.
Got any other combos you want to share? Leave a comment.
Pancake recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g plain flour
- 2 large eggs
- 300 ml milk
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- butter
Topping ideas
- streaky bacon
- maple syrup
- bananas
- berries
- lemons
- castor sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the plain flour, eggs, milk, sunflower and a pinch of salt, then whisk to a smooth batter. In a frying pan over a medium heat, add a little oil and a knob of butter and when hot, pour in your pancake mix and cook for 1 min on each side until golden. (I look for little bubble forming on the top of the pancake as a sign that it's almost ready to flip)Once done on both sides, pop into the oven (on low) to keep warm.
- While you are making the pancakes, grill some streaky bacon (and pop in the oven until all your pancakes are done).Once you've finished the pancakes, add a knob of butter to the frying pan and cut your banana's in half length-ways and caramelise them.
- Serve you pancakes so your guests can help themselves to them and the toppings they want to add on.
Reference: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Pancake-Day/
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