Flip Off: Foolproof Pancake Recipe

Our guest writer Jessie (aka mscooksalot) has loved cooking and exploring recipes for as long as she can remember. Passionate about real food, she wants to know what’s in it and where it comes from. Today she's going to help us with her foolproof pancake recipe (so you have time to stock up tonight) and tomorrow she's going to share her top tips for three delicious sauces to go with your pancakes.

In the last couple of years I’ve noticed that Pancake Tuesday seems to have been renamed as just Pancake Day. It drives me mad - whatever happened to Tuesday? Is it just a marketing thing? I have no idea but I wish it would stop. Anyway, whatever you want to call it, it always seems to creep up on me and catch me off guard - but not this year!

This year I got a head start and made up a batch in advance to show you how easy it is. I know that those bottles and packets of pancake mix are quite popular, but when you see how easy it is to make them from scratch you’ll be wondering why you would ever do it any other way.

There is a bit of a knack to actually frying the pancakes and all I can say is that practise makes perfect. The first pancake is always a bit of a dud, but don’t worry about it - nobody needs to know about that one. Have the oven on low and keep them warm in there until you’ve finished cooking  all the batter. Or if you have a hungry crowd sitting (not very patiently) at the table, just serve them as you go. It’s up to you.

Ingredients:

• 110 g plain flour

• 175 ml semi skimmed milk

• 50 g butter

• 2 large organic eggs

• pinch of sea salt

Makes approximately 8 pancakes.

Method:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and let it cool for about 10 mins.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour and the salt for a minute to get a bit of air into it. This is a handy alternative to getting the sieve out and saves on the washing up.

Make a well in the centre of the flour and crack the 2 eggs into it.

Pour the milk into the eggs and whisk as you go, slowly incorporating all of the flour into the batter.

If you have any lumps, just keep whisking until the batter is relatively smooth and the consistency of thick cream.

Whisk most of the cooled, melted butter into the batter ( except for about two tablespoons, which you’ll be using to grease the frying pan). Adding melted butter into the batter means that they won’t stick to the pan later, trust me!

Now you can use the batter straight away or leave it stand for a while - it’s up to you.  I had a few other toppings to get ready for tomorrow’s follow up post, so I left mine standing for about 30 minutes at room temperature.

Warm your pan on medium heat. I use a small 9 inch stainless steel frying pan to cook these pancakes - as it is the perfect size.

With a piece of kitchen paper, grease the pan with the melted butter - being careful not touch the hot pan of course!

Transfer your batter into a jug - this will make it much easier to pour into the pan.

Pour about four tablespoons worth of batter into the hot pan and tilt the pan in a circular motion to coat the whole bottom with batter.  The batter should immediately start to set and a few bubbles might form.

Let it cook for about 60 seconds, then with a spatula or fish slice, check the underside of the pancake. It should be a nice deep golden colour.

Gently ease the pancake away from the sides of the pan and turn it over with your fish slice. If you’re feeling confident you can try to flip it with just the pan, but I played it safe and used the fish slice.

Give the pancake another 30 - 60 seconds and then tip it out onto a warmed plate and keep in a low oven until all the batter has been used up. Every two or three pancakes, wipe the pan with the greased kitchen towel. I never have any trouble with them sticking.

Serve the pancakes with fresh lemon wedges and some granulated sugar.

Are you tempted to try out this recipe? We’d love to hear all about it and do tweet us any pics of your finished pancake products.

If you’d like to read more from Jessie, you can check out her blog here!