I love making pancakes, one thing that I really love is that I made my very first one on camera with MyVirginKitchen and have picked up lots of tips along the way, check out the British pancake day recipe section for plenty of inspiration. So this Year I thought rather than doing a basic how to make a British pancake recipe video i’d just put all the tips i’ve found into a handy little videos, including tips on freezing pancakes to make ahead and use later and serving suggestions.
The pancake batter is very similar to a crepe, it’s thin the opposite to an American pancake, i’ve made some healthy American style pancakes made with Yoghurt that are gorgeous so give those a try if you want the more puffed up variety.
The batter is made by mixing the flour with the salt, then dropping in the eggs at first to stir into the flour, it will get a bit rough, tip in the melted butter, then slowly add the milk, you need to whisk well to get all the lumps out, if you are feeling a little flash add a little vanilla extract too. It will take a while to get thin but it is worth it, you do not want a lumpy pancake and this is one of those recipes you will find it hard to avoid. A little trick is passing it between another mixing bowl if you wish through a sieve to get any lumps out and work them through separately. Once the batter is made put it to one side for ten minutes to settle. You can also freeze the pancake batter now if you want.
Make the pancakes in batches so have kitchen towel to hand to divide them up. Get the pan warm over a medium heat evenly and lubricate the pan lightly with oil or butter, spoon on the batter (not much you want them thin) and work around the pan, it will take a couple of minutes for it to brown and you should be able to lift the pancakes and see the change in colour to a nice shade of brown, the pancake will also move a bit in the pan. At this stage either flip the pancake or pass onto a plate then tip back into the pan. Either way works. Only needs about 30 seconds on the second time in the pan to brown so be careful. Rest on kitchen towel lubricate the warm pan again and repeat until you use all the pancake batter.
Serve with toppings of your choice, although lemon and sugar go down a storm and are very traditional. Good luck and I hope this easy pancake day recipe guide will come in handy.