Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras… Whatever you want to call it, Pancake Day is upon us at last! There are few foods in life better than a pancake. Three simple ingredients, minimal effort but can lead to worlds of glorious flavour combinations – sweet or savoury!
I have already mentioned my wonderful grandmother in this blog, who taught me so much about life and love. I wish I could say my love of cooking came from her. Sadly she was no great shakes in the kitchen. In fact, her cooking was atrocious with one exception – pancakes! Not the delicate crepes or indulgent American varieties that dominate our mardi gras nowadays but podgy little scotch pancakes, cooked on a massive girdle over the hob. Yes, for the non-Scots out there, I do mean girdle. A girdle is a Scottish griddle man or bakestone – like this one and Grandma didn’t need a particular day of the year or religious belief to bring it from the bottom shelf in the larder. I can still remember the mouthwatering anticipation when the girdle was produced. I used to love helping make the pancakes, dropping perfect rounds of batter onto the greased pan and watching them colour. We would eat them hot, straight from the girdle, slathered in butter or cold with a good dollop of homemade raspberry jam.
These days, I tend to favour the French style crepes – at least for Shrove Tuesday. My recipe comes from my mother’s old Good Housekeeping book – a true kitchen antique if ever there was one. I remember how amazed she was when I insisted on keeping it when she was going to toss it. It’s old, worn, stained with over a century’s worth of spills and splashes – but it is my go to guide for all the old fashioned puddings and traditional British dishes. It was, as I said, my mum’s but I think even she picked it up at a fair age in a charity shop – the publication date is before she was born!
My cookery bible gives the following recipe for pancake batter:
4oz flour
½ pint milk
1 egg
¼ tsp salt (I don’t tend to add this).
Mix in a food processor (ok, the recipe says beat with a wooden spoon) and leave to rest for at least 30 mins before giving a final stir just before starting the cooking process. Mum would always make the batter in the morning and leave to rest all day until teatime. The recipe suggests heating lard until bubbling in a frying pan, I follow mum’s method of swirling a dab of butter in a non-stick pan before adding the batter one pancake’s worth at a time. When it starts to show pits and bubbles, it is time to flip! The above recipe yields around 10 pancakes depending on thickness.
I had, in anticipation, lined up the potential toppings, ready to do their duty. In the end only the maple syrup lived to fight another day. S, who has a seriously sweet tooth, slathered 3 pancakes in nutella and filled two with a banana/nutella combo. I had 2 x classic sugar and lemon, 2 x nutella and 1 x nutella and banana. Don’t judge me – it’s the one day of the year we can feast like pigs!
Pancakes are for life, not just for Shrove Tuesday and they do occasionally make an appearance as dessert or lunch at other times of the year. I thought I would take the opportunity to share with you my top ten pancake dishes
1. Lemon and sugar. There’s a reason classics are so called and this is seriously hard to beat.
2. Nutella. I was introduced to nutella late in life after having spent my childhood maintaining that it looked yuck. Big mistake. I became addicted quickly. I am allowed to buy one small jar a year for the purposes of Shrove Tuesday only. Without this routine I would happily sit in pyjamas all day everyday, eating nutella from the jar with my fingers.
3. Nutella and banana. See above but with a healthy addition!
4. Banana flambé pancakes. Wrap a banana in a warm crepe. Pour over the liqueur of your choice – dark rum is good, kahlua is better! Flambé and serve warm with a spoonful of Chantilly cream. Heaven!
5. Banana pancakes. Not to be confused with the above banana variations, this involves blitzing ripe bananas with the batter mix (3-4 bananas is perfect for the above batter quantity) and cooking small thick scotch pancake or drop-scone like rounds with a slightly squidgy banana flavoured centre. Good hot or cold spread with butter. Better warm and topped with toffee sauce.
6. Maple Syrup and Ice Cream. A la Pancake Place. This was my favourite childhood indulgence but I am sorry to say, it’s too sickly sweet for me to contemplate these days.
7. Maple Syrup and Bacon. When I first went to the USA as an 11 year old, I was both shocked and intrigued by the breakfast options but they have it so very right. The bacon has to be perfectly crisp and salty to be complemented by the sweet syrup, all presented on a fluffy pancake base. Clogged arteries have never tasted so good!
8. Cheese and mushroom. Classic savoury version and a quick and tasty lunch.
9. Cheese, mushroom, egg and tomato. More indulgent version of the above. Bacon is also an optional extra.
10. Jam and cream. Who says it’s just for scones!
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