Perfect Pancake Recipes

Pancake day aka Shrove Tuesday is upon us and its time to relive the nostalgic tradition of frying, tossing and fighting over delicious discs of joy, one by one. While doing some research on different types of recipes and pancake types, I stumbled across two types that I wanted to try.

Firstly was the traditional crepe style recipe but with the addition of beer! Any recipe with beer is good enough for me so that was first on the list. Its from a lovely little article which also has some good pancake making tips however the measurements are american. After a helping hand from google and some conversion websites I had my first pancake recipe. The texture of the pancake when cooking is a little unnerving at first as its so floppy but the lacy silky result if you keep going is totally worth it. Best pancakes I've ever had. 

Secondly was not really a recipe choice but a style choice. If you have seen pancake art, then you'll understand the fun that can be had with pancakes. I found a basic american style pancake recipe that was recommended for pancake art, stuck it in a bottle and was ready to go!

Traditional Crepe Recipe
serves 4 - 6

480 ml warm milk
80 g melted butter
175 g flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 tbsp oil (I actually left this out!)
120 ml light beer

First, melt the butter in a pan or the microwave with the warm milk. Allow to cool. Mix flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl and create a well in the middle. Add the eggs and oil to the well and slowly start whisking in the flour mix, careful to avoid lumps. Before all the flour is incorporated add a little of your milk mix and continue whisking. Once a smooth paste, slowly add the rest of the milk mix. Pass your batter through a sieve and then stir in the beer, be careful not to over mix. In the article it's recommended to do this 8 hours before use or overnight to allow for the flavour to develop. I only did mine for about 3 to 4 hours in advance and they were delicious. 

American Style Pancake for drawings
makes roughly 6 pancakes depending on size

140 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
240 ml milk
30 g melted butter

Mix together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Then mix the egg and milk. Slowly pour in the flour and whisk until smooth. Lastly whisk in the butter and then sieve to get rid of any bottle stopping lumps. Put the batter in a squeezy bottle or an old ketchup/sauce bottle, ready to pour. When cooking, you should wait for bubbles to appear in the batter before flipping over.