On Tuesday, I promised an explanation of what Pancake Day is to some readers. Pancake Day is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Shrove Tuesday). The idea of eating pancakes originated from the idea of using up your “rich” ingredients from the cupboard before Lent; such as sugar, milk and eggs so that there would be a focus on plainer food. Whilst eating pancakes only really occurs on Fat Tuesday in the UK and Commonwealth countries, I can fully get on board with this tradition. Mardi Gras will forever hold the special Fat Tuesday place in my heart but a holiday that’s an excuse to gorge yourself with pancakes is a close second.
(For further clarification, pancakes in the UK are a bit more like French crepes than American pancakes. This has resulted in many a breakfast feud between Sam and I.)
Just because Sam flipping pancakes makes me laugh….Last year I made Lemon Ricotta Stuffed pancakes. This year we had a combination of classic English pancakes with sugar and lemon and some with Nutella, and also some red velvet pancakes as an extra special treat. Red Velvet Pancakes
They may not look like much but they tasted fantastic!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk3 large eggs1 teaspoon of vanilla4 tablespoons vegetable oil2 tablespoons of red food colouring2 cups of flour2 tablespoons of cocoa powder1/3 cup of sugar2 teaspoons of baking powder1/2 teaspoon of baking soda1/2 teaspoon of saltpowdered sugar (optional)cream cheese (optional)
Instructions:
Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl and all the wet ingredients together in another. Pour the dry mixture into the wet one and stir well. Bubbles should start forming in your batter as you whisk.
Heat up a skillet and add butter to grease it. Ladle about 1/2 a cup of batter into the skillet. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side.
I topped mine with a glaze of cream cheese and powdered sugar.