Happy Pancake Day!
Today is Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday. Traditionally, on this day, ingredients would be used up that wouldn't be consumed over the period of Lent.
Here's a quick and easy pancake recipe, taken from Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course.
Ingredients
110g plain flour
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs
200ml milk mixed with 75ml water
2 tablespoons melted butter
extra butter for cooking the pancakes
Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, holding the sieve up high to give the flour an airing. Then make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whisk the eggs, beginning to incorporate bits of flour from around the edges as you do so. Then start to add small quantities of the milk-and-water mixture gradually - and ignore any lumps because they will disappear as the whisk gets to them. When all the milk-and-water has been added, slide a rubber spatular around the edge of the bowl to bring any elusive bits of flour into the centre of things. Then whisk once more till the batter is smooth and the consistency of thin cream.
When you're ready to cook the pancakes add the 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the batter and stir it in. Then melt about a teaspoon of butter in the pan then swirl it all round the pan. Now tip the excess butter onto a saucer (the pan needs to be coated with butter but the pancakes should not be cooked in fat). Next get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium, and to start with do a test pancake to determine whether or not you're using the correct amount of batter.
As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook: you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Now it's up to you whether you flip the pancake or not! If it's thin enough it should cook through and not need turning over.
Slide your pancake onto your plate and serve with your favourite topping!