Description
English Pancakes (makes 6-8 large pancakes or 12 smaller ones)
Ingredients
Scale
- For the pancakes:
- 1 cup (120 g) plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp melted butter (or vegetable oil)
- Pinch salt
- 1 ¾ cups (425 ml) milk
- For the topping:
- About ½ cup (60 g) granulated sugar
- 2 lemons, quartered
Instructions
- Mix flour, eggs, butter (or oil) and salt together, then slowly add the milk. (You might not need it all.) You’re looking for a pouring consistency – much runnier than American-style pancakes.
- Lightly grease a small, flat frying pan and place over medium-high heat. When it’s too hot to hold your hand close to, pour about a ¼ cupful (75 ml) onto the pan.
- Immediately tilt the pan and turn it, so the batter spreads evenly across the surface. If it’s too thick to spread, add milk to the mix and try again. (One of the cook’s delights is eating up the first one or two pancakes, which are almost always a bit of a wreck).
- When you see the edges start to curl up, gently lift and flip with a spatula. Cook for a further 5 to 10 seconds on the other side, just long enough to brown, and remove to a plate. Re-grease the pan, if needed, and repeat until all of your batter is gone.
- Turn the pancake ‘ugly’ side up. (The side with the spots as opposed to the gentle marbling. The marbled side is the one that first touched the pan – the marbling is created by the swirling as you tilt the pan to cover it. The spotty side is the second side to be cooked – the spots are where the bubbles hit the hot pan. This doesn’t make any difference except aesthetically.) Sprinkle each pancake with about a teaspoon of sugar, then a squeeze of lemon juice. Gently roll it up, enjoy and get ready for the next one out of the pan!
- If, like me, you’re not a morning person then you have two choices. Either designate someone else to be the Pancake Person on February 21st, or else make your pancakes the night before and refrigerate them (stack them up and wrap them in plastic wrap). They can be gently warmed in the oven in the morning or else nuked in the microwave (if you’re normal and your weekday mornings are a mad rush).
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins