February 24, 2009

Its Pancake Day!

In England, (and the rest of the UK) the Tuesday before lent is known as Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday). On that day it is traditional to eat pancakes, toss pancakes and take part in pancake races. Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday and is therefore the final day before the commencement of Lent, a Christian festival leading up to Easter Sunday. Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between 3 February and 9 March.

The origins of eating pancakes arose from Christians who observe Lent and wanted to use up all the rich foods in their cupboards. During Lent eggs, sugar and butter were not allowed, so these ingredients were used to make pancakes.

Today everyone celebrates Pancake Day regardless of religion.

A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately from the frying pan with sugar and lemon...but these days people put what they like on them...Nutella for instance is delicious!.

TRADITIONAL ENGLISH PANCAKES

220g/8oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 pint of milk
50g/2oz butter

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing.
   
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it.
   
3. Whisk the eggs making sure any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl are mixed in with the egg.
   
4. Gradually add small quantities of the milk, still whisking
   
5. Continue whisking until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream.
   
6. Melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a non-stick frying pan.
   
7. Spoon 2 tbsp of the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in.
   
8. Let the pancake mix stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
   
9. Pour any left over butter into a dish. This will be used later to grease the frying pan after each pancake has been made.
   
10. Make sure the non-stick frying pan is really hot before adding about 2 tbsp of the batter mixture.
    
11. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the pan around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.
    
12. Carefully lift the edge of the cooked pancake with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be.
    
13. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife to cook the other side....serve with a topping of your own choice...Hmmm
    
    Have a great day gals