It’s Shrove Tuesday today, which is the last Tuesday before Lent. Traditionally this is the day on which the English eat pancakes. It is often known as ‘Pancake Day’. The recipe I use comes from a book I got from my mom’s cookery library, titled ‘The Dairy Book of Home Cookery – New edition for the 90s’. Needless to say it is old and very much out of print, but it is full of fantastic traditional British recipes. I thought I’d share this one! These pancakes can be eaten with sweet fillings – the traditional filling being lemon juice and sugar. But it works equally well with savory fillings such as cheese and cooked spinach/cheese and sauté’d mushrooms or steamed asparagus or leftover chicken are particularly nice.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup/4oz/100g plain flour (I used what they call ‘all-purpose’ and it was fine)
300ml milk
Pinch salt
1 egg
1 tbs melted butter (optional)
Oil or butter for cooking
Sugar and lemon to serve (or any other topping)
What you do:
– Sift the flour and salt into a bowl (I use a big measuring jug)
– Add the egg to the flour and mix.
– Whisk in half the milk until the batter is smooth.
– Whisk in the remaining milk.
– Add butter and mix in.
– Brush a non-stick frying pan with butter and allow to heat on medium high heat.
– Pour in some batter and tilt the pan until the batter covers the bottom of the pan in a thin layer.
– Cook pancake until you see the edges going brown.
– Flip the pancake, either with a spatula or toss it in the traditional way.
– Your pancake is ready when the underside is cooked.
– Squeeze on some lemon juice (I used a delicious aromatic Meyer lemon as I had one freshly picked off a tree, in hand), sprinkle with sugar roll up and eat!
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