Happy Shrove Tuesday!
It’s Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent – the 40 days leading up to Easter, traditionally a time of fasting. Nowadays we don’t all have these ingredients in our cupboards to use up, but it’s great fun to get baking with the children and with so many variations there’s sure to be one for everyone!
When we were growing up my lovely Mum used Delia Smith’s recipe books as her cooking bible, so I’m sharing Delia’s fool proof pancake recipe for you all today! We have used it for years. This simple recipe is my favourite – Lemon and Sugar, the great classic. You can add pretty much anything else you like, see our list after Delia’s Recipe.
Trust Delia Smith to show you exactly how to make classic pancakes – and enjoy Pancake Day without any flops.
Not including the lemon and sugar topping, each pancake provides 88kcal, 7.5g carbohydrates (of which 0.9g sugars), 5g fat (of which 2g saturates), 0.4g fibre and 0.2g salt.
Ingredients
- For the pancake mixture
-
- 110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- 200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
- 50g/2oz butter
- To serve
-
- caster sugar
- lemon juice
- lemon wedges
Preparation method
- Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do – incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.
- Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don’t worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.
- Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It’s also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.
- Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.
- To serve, sprinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar, fold in half, then in half again to form triangles, or else simply roll them up. Serve sprinkled with a little more sugar and lemon juice and extra sections of lemon.
If you’re short on time, you could always buy a ready mix?
Alternative Pancake Toppings!
Maple Syrup
Nutella
Bananas
Sprinkles
Strawberries
Cream
Peanut Butter
Blueberry
Sprinkles
Almonds
We love the idea of a pancake bar, simply put a mixture of ingredients in some bowls and let the children create their very own pancake!
Have you ever seen Pancake art!?? This video shows you how to make some amazing cartoon characters!
Check out these incredible designs…way past our abilities!
I hope you all have a wonderful day!
