Every year, we Brits celebrate Shrove Tuesday with pancakes. We call it ‘Pancake Day’. This brilliant YouTube video explains why.
This traditional batter recipe dates back to 1439, as per Historic UK
Quote: “The ingredients for pancakes can be seen to symbolise four points of significance at this time of year:
Eggs ~ Creation Flour ~ The staff of life Salt ~ Wholesomeness Milk ~ Purity
To make 8 or so pancakes you will need 8oz plain flour, 2 large eggs, 1 pint milk, salt.
Mix all together and whisk well. Leave to stand for 30 minutes. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, pour in enough batter to cover the base of the pan and let it cook until the base of the pancake has browned. Then shake the pan to loosen the pancake and flip the pancake over to brown the other side.”
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Pancakes or Crêpes?
Many years ago our daughter bought us a party crêpe maker. It is a non-stick heated hot plate. Perfect for a crêpe or pancake party where each guest gets to cook their own creation.
Plug in and heat to temperature. Add pancake mixture. The picture below comes from my family in the UK.
pancakes
My pancakes did not look nearly as appetizing. Unfortunately, the recipe I’d picked up on the internet had the wrong quantities per ingredient, aka not enough liquid, so the gloopy consistency was more that of stodgey cake batter than pancake. Eventually, I tweaked the stodge by adding far more milk, which was sort of okay.
Mr. Piglet moaned constantly that they were too thick as he ate them. He nearly wore the rest of the batter on his head, although I had to concede he had a point. Don’t you just hate it when men are right?
Pancakes are served with various toppings, such as sugar and lemon, jam, honey, and fruit. You can even create savoury pancakes to include cheese, onion, bacon, tomatoes etc
I chose three other toppings: savoury, jam and then honey. Trust me when I say ‘they tasted better than they looked’. 0.5/10 for presentation.
Savoury crepeSweet crepe with jamSweet crepe with honey
While researching traditional English pancakes for this post… um… I then realised I’d not used the traditional historic English pancake recipe as above. Ooops …
Further research on pancakes revealed the website had posted a version of the traditional crêpe batter ingredients (albeit with the wrong quantities). So, historically (as per Historic UK), I now know the difference. Shrove Tuesday pancakes don’t include eggs, caster sugar, melted butter, or baking powder.
On a positive note, my research did lead me to discover the French Cooking Academy and ‘How To Make French Crêpe batter (Crêpe Suzette tutorial part 1)’ This chef is great to watch and offers some useful tips.
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The French take the humble pancake to the next level! And often add alcohol. Love the French!
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In sweden it´s an old tradition to eat pancakes every thursday after soup. But thats too often for me, but I love pancakes. My recipe is 5 dl whole milk, 2 dl wheat flour (or glutenfree as I use), 3 eggs and salt. We want thin pancakes, fry them in butter to get them a little crispy also. Thanks for the reminder, it´s time to do it again soon!
In sweden it´s an old tradition to eat pancakes every thursday after soup. But thats too often for me, but I love pancakes. My recipe is 5 dl whole milk, 2 dl wheat flour (or glutenfree as I use), 3 eggs and salt. We want thin pancakes, fry them in butter to get them a little crispy also. Thanks for the reminder, it´s time to do it again soon!
Hi Anna, interesting the tradion is to eat them every Thursday. I wonder why? I think it would also be too often for me. I am also going to keep a note of your recipe. Thank you for sharing.
I was raised Lutheran, Carole. Every shrove Tuesday our teen church group, known as the Luther League, put on a pancake breakfast in our church basement. The whole community attended. Thanks for the memory!
Enjoyed the video! In Maine we don’t have a shrove Tuesday pancake tradition. As far as I am concerned, any day is a good day for pancakes, and I love the idea of a day devoted to pancakes. I like all kinds, but unlike your husband, my preference is for thick and fluff. To achieve this, my husband, the pancake maker, adds baking powder
I also loved the video, Laurie. IT’s amazing what gems you can unearth on the net. And I agree any day is good for eating pancakes … although I must try and refrain. It is the baking powder that makes them fluffy. I never realised this until I made them on Tuesday.
Piglet in Portugal 
In sweden it´s an old tradition to eat pancakes every thursday after soup. But thats too often for me, but I love pancakes. My recipe is 5 dl whole milk, 2 dl wheat flour (or glutenfree as I use), 3 eggs and salt. We want thin pancakes, fry them in butter to get them a little crispy also. Thanks for the reminder, it´s time to do it again soon!
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In sweden it´s an old tradition to eat pancakes every thursday after soup. But thats too often for me, but I love pancakes. My recipe is 5 dl whole milk, 2 dl wheat flour (or glutenfree as I use), 3 eggs and salt. We want thin pancakes, fry them in butter to get them a little crispy also. Thanks for the reminder, it´s time to do it again soon!
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Hi Anna, interesting the tradion is to eat them every Thursday. I wonder why? I think it would also be too often for me. I am also going to keep a note of your recipe. Thank you for sharing.
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Hi, Carole – I grew up practicing Shrove Tuesday but have lots touch with it in the past several years. Thank you for the reminder and the memories!
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Hi Donna, it’s fun to look back and ressurect old traditions. there’s always next year. 🙂
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I cheated and bought frozen ones this year. I don’t have a good non-stick pan and last year’s were a bit feeble. Himself was quite happy!
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The means justify the ends, Jo 🙂
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I was raised Lutheran, Carole. Every shrove Tuesday our teen church group, known as the Luther League, put on a pancake breakfast in our church basement. The whole community attended. Thanks for the memory!
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What a lovely community tradtition, Terry.
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Enjoyed the video! In Maine we don’t have a shrove Tuesday pancake tradition. As far as I am concerned, any day is a good day for pancakes, and I love the idea of a day devoted to pancakes. I like all kinds, but unlike your husband, my preference is for thick and fluff. To achieve this, my husband, the pancake maker, adds baking powder
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I also loved the video, Laurie. IT’s amazing what gems you can unearth on the net. And I agree any day is good for eating pancakes … although I must try and refrain. It is the baking powder that makes them fluffy. I never realised this until I made them on Tuesday.
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Yes, yes!
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I’d not heard of shrove Tuesday! I’ve never made pancakes with that few of ingredients before. I love crepes, delicious 🙂
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Hi Tracy, I think it’s prbably a quiry English tradition lol
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