Traditional Pancakes for Pancake Day

This year Pancake Day fell on the 8th March and this year my mum happened to be visiting so we also invited my Spanish in-laws so they could experience this British tradition. Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday in other countries, is celebrated in Britain by eating pancakes as a way of finishing off all the fats such as eggs, milk and sugar before the 40 days fasting period of Lent. In some cities and towns pancake races are held!

Although the pancake batter is fairly easy to make, it takes a little practice to perfect them (or at least it did with me!). I usually use Delia Smith´s recipe taken from the Complete Cookery Course which always turn out delicious. The secret to making a perfect pancake is to have a good frying pan (preferably non-stick). Heat the fat (I usually use lard) till it´s smoking hot, then drain off the excess fat, then pour in the batter as thinly as possible, tilting the pan till the batter covers all the bottom of the pan. If you have any gaps you can fill them in with extra batter. It´s important to have the pan and the fat very hot otherwise the pancake will stick. After a few seconds flip the pancake over either traditionally tossing the pancake up in the air (v.difficult especially if you don´t want to end up cleaning bits of pancake that have stuck to the ceiling!)or with a wooden spatula and cook the other side till the pancake is a pale golden colour! The traditional way is to squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle sugar over the pancake and then roll it up but you can serve them with golden syrup, maple syrup, raspberry or chocolate sauce, Nutella..the choice is yours!

Scotch Pancakes (25th Feb '09)

Yesterday was Pancake Day, or to be more precise Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Karnival/carnivales...whatever you want to call it. Shrove Tuesday is traditionally the day you make pancakes to use up all the eggs and milk before Lent(a fasting period). Pancakes are traditionally served with lemon juice and sugar in Britain.

Another strange tradition is the Pancake Race. Woman compete against each other wearing an apron, high heels, and carrying a frying pan and tossing pancakes at the same time. This wierd custom started when a woman in Olney ran out of her house with her frying pan and forgetting her apron when she heard the church bells for the service.

This year I decided to do something a bit different than the normal pancakes and made Scotch pancakes. They differ only slightly to pancakes in that they are smaller and thicker. They have a light, fluffy texture although can be slightly filling. They are very similar to American pancakes. I followed this recipe from Scottish Teatime Recipes and found it doesn´t need any tweaking. The trickest part was flipping them over (as it usually is). I served them with strawberries and cream and they were delicious- even if I do say so myself! As you can see, I need to improve on my presentation....I´d never win Masterchef!

Ingredients (makes about 6)

4oz (1 cup) self- raising flour
pinch of salt
1oz (2 tbsp) caster(superfine) sugar
1 egg
1/4 pt( 140ml) milk

Method

1. Whisk egg and milk together.
2.Sift flour and salt into a bowl and add the sugar.
3. Add the egg and milk mixture gradually and combine with wooden spoon
4. Once all ingredients are combined, melt a small amount of butter in small frying pan or girdle.
5. When hot (you can test by adding a tiny amount of batter and if the bottom turns brown in less than a minute, then it is ready), add tablespoons of the batter.
6. When bottom is golden brown, use a slice to flip the pancake over and cook the other side for a minute.
7. Serve immediately and enjoy!