Pancake day, Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, whatever you want to call it, it falls quite early on Tuesday 9th February this year and we can’t wait to get flipping!

Pancake day gets its name from being the day before the Christian 40 day fasting period of Lent, preceding Easter. Pancake day specifically because it is tradition to use up rich foods such as eggs and milk ahead of Lent. Lent is marked by fasting from both foods and festivities before the celebrations of Easter, when Jesus was resurrected. As a result, the date changes each year, depending when Easter falls.

Pancake races are also traditional on Pancake day and are thought to have come about after a woman who had run out of time to finish her pancakes before noon rushed to church still clutching her frying pan and pancakes!

We certainly have our priorities straight though and will be feasting on pancakes for breakfast and dinner. Try simple with lemon and sugar for breakfast, and a combination of savoury (ham and cheese or our delicious tomato, spinach and ricotta) and sweet (try putting cocoa in the batter or drizzling with chocolate) for dinner – deliciously decadent.

Here’s our recipe for the perfect pancake, all you need to do is choose your filling – enjoy!

Basic pancake recipe

110g flour
2 eggs
1/2 pint whole milk
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
knob of butter

Blitz to a smooth batter.
Preheat a NON-STICK frying pan for a few minutes on a medium-high heat.
Add a large knob of butter and a good glug of neutral oil (e.g. groundnut or rapeseed) to the pan – once butter is melted pour the butter/oil mixture into a glass jug and set aside (do this each time to lubricate the pan for subsequent pancakes).
Return pan to heat and pour a ladle of batter into centre of pan (not too much – you don’t want thick pancakes!) – shake pan quite vigorously to spread the batter out – this vigorous shaking creates a nice marbled texture to the pancake and better colouring.
After a minute or so the pancake should be cooked on one side and should slide around when you shake the pan – once this is happens, flip it and cook for a minute on the other side.

Enjoy!

Alternatively you could try our savoury pancake recipes or our lighter, sweet pancake recipe – delicious!