5 of the best… things about pancake day

via GIPHY

If you’re a regular follower and reader of the ‘5 of the best’, then you’ll probably be aware that whenever we have the opportunity to theme it around food - we’re all over it.

We love food and we love pancakes. So with Shrove Tuesday slightly later this year on 5th March, we thought we’d dedicate the our 5 of the best for March to the glorious pancake.

It’s fair to say that the UK flippin’ loves Pancake Day. It’s probably the only day of the year where it is acceptable to eat eight of these little beauties, (covered in sugar, lemon, ice cream and whatever else you can think of) for your tea! But have you ever wondered why we celebrate pancake day?

1, Pancake origins

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is always 47 days before Easter. It dates back to Anglo-Saxon times when Christians would go to confess and obtain absolution for their sins. The tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday began as a way to help people avoid the temptation of eating rich foods during Lent, a period of sacrifice. This is where the phrase ‘giving up for Lent’ comes from.

The ingredients for pancakes are also said to symbolise four points of significance at Easter. Eggs signify creation, flour is said to be the staff of life, salt is for wholesomeness, and milk symbolises purity.

2, Whisk up the batter

The typical English pancake is thin and light just like a French crêpe. If you follow Jamie Oliver’s one-cup pancake recipe then making them couldn’t be any easier. You don’t even need to weigh any of the ingredients!

All you need is:

• One cup of flour
• One cup of milk
• One egg
• Blueberries (optional)

Mix together in a large bowl until you have a lovely, smooth batter. Then add some of the mix to a greased frying pan.

3, Turn up the heat

So we were looking for top tips on how to cook and flip pancakes. We initially thought that you pour some of the mix into the centre of a well grease, hot pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, then flip and cook for another few minutes.

But then we saw this.

We’ve been doing it wrong the whole time.

4, Flippin’ Awesome

But if you’re up for the challenge - why not trying flipping your pancake? Flipping sounds easy, but it is very easy to get wrong. However, with a little practice you’ll soon be as good as this guy:

5, The proof of the pudding is in the eating

There are two popular ways to eat pancakes. One is to have them flat and loaded with toppings. The other is to load them with toppings and roll them up. Either way, it is essential to load them with toppings.

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The most popular is lemon and sugar. However, here are a few of our favourites from around the office:

• Any flavour of Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream
• Strawberries and natural yogurt
• Banana and toffee
• Strawberries and melted chocolate (but the chocolate has to be Vegan!)
• Bacon and maple syrup

Pancake trivia before you go...

Did you know that the largest pancake was created in the North West of England in Rochdale in 1994. It measured 15.01 metres (49 ft 3 in) in diameter and was 2.5 centimetres thick. It weighed 3 tonnes and took a crane to flip it over!

Let us know if you manage to land the best flip ever or if you have any toppings we should try!