Simple Way To Cook English Pancakes

Posted on by Atif

Here in the UK we usually just call them ‘Pancakes’ but I thought I’d be a little more specific, as I’m sure many of you non English folks would refer to them as ‘Crepes.’ But we assure you, these are not crepes! Crepes are a thinner, often savoury side dish that can be served with a number of savoury dishes- including meat.

Ingredients

  • 110g/4oz plain flour, sifted
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water
  • 50g/2oz butter

To Serve

  • caster sugar
  • lemon juice
  • lemon wedges

Directions

Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl. Now make a hole in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do. Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don’t worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk).

When all the liquid has been added, use a spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth. Now melt the of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.

Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It’s also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go.

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.

Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

To serve, spinkle each pancake with lemon juice and caster sugar.