Pancakes are deep in the British DNA, up there with Easter eggs and Christmas pudding. On Shrove Tuesday, we laugh in the face of clean eating, glorying in sugar, wheat, gluten and dairy.
Of course it’s not just us. Every nation has its personal batter bliss, whether it is paper-thin French crêpes, showy American towers of blueberry pancakes, or crisp, savoury Vietnamese banh xeo.
But unlike other countries, we barely touch them for the rest of the year, preferring a proper blowout on Shrove Tuesday. Appropriate, given that day was always intended to be a last blast before the start of Lent.
There’s no crime in buying a ready-made batter mix. But given that pancakes are among the easiest, and most fun, foods to make, it seems a waste not to get cooking. Who can resist a bit of competitive pancake flipping?
The good news is that the batter positively benefits from being made ahead. I’ve tested pancakes made both with freshly made batter and with some that is properly rested (at least an hour, and as much as overnight in the fridge) and there is no doubt rested batter makes for lighter, more tender pancakes.
