Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the day before the first day of Lent (or Ash Wednesday) – exactly forty-seven days in February or March before Easter Sunday arrives. This is the day when many Christians indulge in rich and fatty food that are sacrificed for the season of Lent before heading into it to reflect on their past behaviours or repent on their wrongdoings. The French term ‘Madi Gras‘, meaning ‘Fat Tuesday‘, refers specifically to this indulgent practice before religious fasting begins on Ash Wednesday.
I remember this craze about having pancakes and flipping them all around out in the streets when I was staying in the UK. There were all sorts of competitions and events involving pancakes: pancake races, culinary shows featuring pancakes and their fillings, dress-up of males into housewives etc. Personally, I have never tried to flip a pancake ever, not even in my own kitchen. And I thought better of it too. Perhaps I should start by learning how to make a proper pancake first before I think about the rest of the fun that comes with it.
Ingredients:
- Egg: 2, at room temperature
- Plain milk: 700ml, microwaved 1 min till lukewarm
- Unsalted butter: 115g (8 tbsp) + extra for pan-frying
- Vanilla essence: 3 tsp
- Whole wheat flour: 210g
- Plain flour: 210g
- Baking powder: 2 tbsp
- Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp
- Salt: 1.5 tsp
- Sugar: 4 tbsp
- Strawberry: 100g, washed and halved
- Blueberry: 1oog, washed
- Maple syrup: to serve
Method:
- Whisk eggs, milk, butter and vanilla essence on low speed for 5 min.
- Mix wheat flour, plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, salt and sugar in a separate mixing bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the mixing bowl. Pour in milk batter.
- Use a fork to stir the batter till evenly mixed.
- Heat saucepan with melted butter.
- Scoop about 1/2 cup batter onto saucepan and spread into a medium-sized circle.
- Leave to fry for 1 min, till bubbles start to form on the top of the pancake and edges are cooked.
- Flip pancake to the other side. Cook for 1 min more till both sides turn light brown in colour.
- Serve hot with fruits and maple syrup.
Tricks:
- Spread the batter on the pan with the scoop from inside out so as to create even pancakes.
- Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve for a different look and taste. You can also serve the pancakes with other sugar-laden fruits such as bananas and raspberries.
Disclaimer:
- Replace the amount of whole wheat flour with plain flour if you don’t have the former. I decided to use whole wheat flour here as I had excess of them in my kitchen and needed to use them up before the expiry date.
Serving:
20 pieces of medium-sized pancakes