Top Pancake Day Recipes

Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday as it’s more commonly known falls this year on Tuesday 13th February and marks the day before the start of Lent. It’s also known as the day when the novice chef attempts to flip a pancake or two and try out their skills in the kitchen. It usually results in more than a few pancakes hitting the floor, but that’s all part of the fun.

For convenience, you can buy the batter premade at any supermarket, but we think it’s worth the extra effort to make the batter from scratch. Luckily, we have been sent two incredible recipes courtesy of Chef Natasha Sideris of Tashas and Chef Sandia Chang of Kitchen Table.

We love the fact that they are two completely different types of pancakes, depending on your preference. We can’t pick a favourite as both recipes are divine, and we think you’re going to love both. Let us know how you get on!

Crêpes Suzette By Natasha Sideris

Many great dishes have been created by accident in the kitchens of absent-minded cooks and hot-headed chefs. One story of the origin of these crêpes tells how a young assistant waiter was finishing off a dessert for the Prince of Wales at the Café de Paris, when it caught fire. What the chef was thinking in entrusting this grand finale to an amateur we can only guess. But we’re grateful he did, because we now have this wonderful, burnt sugar and orange liqueur flambéed classic. Serve the crêpes with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe for Crepes Suzette

Serves 4

Crêpes

• 1 cup flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 500 ml milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• 5 tbsp soft unsalted butter 3 large eggs
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds removed 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for frying
• 125 ml beer, preferably lager

Orange Liqueur Sauce

• 500 ml orange juice
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
• 2 oranges, zested & segmented
• 180g butter, softened
• 100ml Grand Marnier (orange liqueur)
  

Method:

Crêpes:

Sift together the flour and salt. Whisk together the milk, sugar, butter, eggs and oil. Whisk milk mixture into the flour mixture.

Pour the batter through a fine sieve into a large mixing bowl.

Whisk in the beer, cover and refrigerate for about 4-5 hours, or best overnight.

Remove the batter from the fridge and let it stand to reach room temperature.

Heat a flat non-stick crêpe pan to medium heat, lightly brush with a little bit of oil and pour 125ml of batter into the pan.

Once the crêpe starts to make bubbles all over it is ready to be flipped. It should be about two minutes per side.

Remove the crêpe from the pan, place on a platter and cover with a lid or dome to prevent the crêpes from drying out.

Repeat until the batter is finished.

Orange Liqueur Sauce:

Heat the orange juice, then add the sugar, vanilla seeds and orange zest and bring to a boil.

Once the sugar has dissolved, whisk the butter in, bit by bit.

When the sauce is smooth and thickened, add the orange segments and bring back to a boil.

To serve:

Place the crêpes one at a time into the boiling sauce. Make sure they are completely covered.

Fold them in half and in half again to make triangles. Make sure you have a few orange segments inside each crêpe.

Once they are folded in the pan, covered in sauce and very hot, add the Grand Marnier.

Carefully set the sauce alight with the flame of the gas burner or a lighter and allow it to flame briefly.

Serve with ice cream and the remaining sauce on the side.

Silver Dollar Pancakes by Sandia Chang

On a typical Shrove Tuesday, I make American-style ‘silver dollar’ pancakes for my kids in the morning. They’re named after their small size and are really fun to stack up. We normally serve them with maple syrup and have them for breakfast that day. Then, in the evening, my husband James (Chef James Knappett, co-founder of Kitchen Table) will make us traditional English pancakes for dessert after dinner. He serves them classic, with sugar and lemon juice.

Recipe for Silver Dollar Pancakes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, separated

Method:

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine.

In another bowl (or I use a large liquid measuring cup) combine the milk and vegetable oil. Add the egg yolks to the milk and whisk to break up the yolks.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. There will still be small lumps.

Place the egg whites in another bowl and beat until they have stiff peaks.

Add about 1/3 of the stiff egg whites to the pancake batter and stir it in to combine and lighten the batter.

Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold until no white streaks appear.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Grease with butter or with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour about the size of a “silver dollar” of batter onto the hot griddle. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles form, then flip and continue to cook until browned and cooked through.

Continue with the remaining batter until all of the pancakes are cooked.