Pancake Day: A Compendium of Pancakes

As I am an American pancakes to me are round, thick and fluffy usually covered in maple syrup.  In fact in the USA any day is Pancake Day!!

As I live in the UK I have also come to love the traditional Pancake Day, the day before Ash Wednesday the start of Lent.  I am not very accomplished at making the British versions of a pancake so this year I decided to do a round up of pancakes available in the supermarkets at the moment.

I was sent some Flavorking plums from South Africa. They are available only from M&S, sweet and taste like candy and are only around for 3-4 weeks - a very short season indeed.

I griddled some plum halves sprinkled with brown sugar and put them on top of some freshly whipped double cream.

Aunt Bessie is well known for her frozen roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings so I guess it makes sense that she also makes frozen pancakes.

Gluten free is very much the buzz word at the moment with a large amount of producers now making a gluten free version.  Crumbles is already a well established producer of gluten free bakes (I love their coconut macaroons!) and this year have a mix you add water to and ladle onto the hot pan.

There are a few of the plastic containers called pancake shakers that you add water to a fill-line, replace the cover and shake vigorously until thick. Pour into the hot pan and continue as directed.

Morrison's Plain Pancakes are made with buckwheat and are very much like the Staffordshire Oat Cakes we used to get when visiting relatives in the Manchester area. They are fantastic heated in the frying pan after cooking the bacon!

Because they work so well with a savoury partner I made a cheddar cheese sauce with mushrooms and smoked ham to pour over the warmed pancakes.

And finally who remembers those little frozen pancakes filled with a cheese sauce, folded over and breaded then fried. They were made by Birds Eye and were really popular when I was first married but seemed to disappear from the freezer compartments.  Well hurrah they are back.  I took a little trip down memory lane and served them to Mr R with a side salad.

Which ever way you enjoy your pancakes have a great Pancake Day. I would love it if you would leave a comment below to say your favourite pancake topping or filling.  Cheers.

I was not paid to write this post. All opinions and photos are my own.  No photographs may be reproduced without my written permission.

Sourdough Pancakes for Pancake Day

Pancake Day - I bet most people in the UK have the thin 'crepe' like pancakes with lemon and sugar. I have never had much luck with these and combined with being American I tend to make the thicker American style pancakes for Pancake Day. (Secret: they are appropriate for any day!)

I decided to spice up my usual pancake batter and add some of the sourdough starter I keep in the fridge and see what happened.

After mixing all my ingredients I added the sourdough starter, mixed well and left to stand 5-10 minutes.

The trick it to let them get loads of bubble on the surface before you flip them over and you only need leave them 30-40 seconds before serving.

Serve with lashings of real maple syrup (mine comes from Vermont, as do I), Moose Maple Butter and a sprinkling of icing sugar and Enjoy

American Pancakes

In a large bowl mix:

200gm Self Raising Flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 egg

300ml milk

Mix well then add:

3 large tablespoons of sourdough starter and mix again

Leave to stand 5-10 minutes

At this point you can add 200gm blueberries if you want.

Drop large spoons of batter onto a griddle or large frying pan that has a know of butter and a tsp of sunflower oil heated leaving space between the spoonfuls.

Cook until the surface has lots of bubbles (see photo above) then flip and cook a further 30-40 seconds to brown the underside.  

Serve on a warmed plate and garnish with a knob of butter, either unsalted or maple butter, pour over real maple syrup and sift a little icing sugar on top.

I was not paid to write this review and as usual all photos and opinions are my own.