Feeling brave? Try Colm O’Gorman’s pancake recipe
Colm O'Gorman serves up two alternatives to traditional crepes. Pictures: Mary Browne
Irish people will eat more than twelve million pancakes on Pancake Tuesday. On average each of us will tuck into 2.55 pancakes. We will use more than one and a half million eggs and one hundred and fifty thousand kilos of flour in the process.
A survey a few years ago found that a third of us do not know the origins of Pancake Tuesday. The tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday goes back more than a thousand years. It originates from a tradition of using up foods that could not be eaten during Lent due to fasting. Eggs, fats, sugar, and other indulgences that could not be eaten during the forty days of Lent were used up in one last moment of pleasure before the deprivation of Lent.
In Ireland we have traditionally eaten crepe style pancakes. These are incredibly easy to make. The basic recipe is simplicity itself.
Pop 100g of plain flour, an egg and 150ml of milk into a large bowl and whisk it into a smooth batter, add another 150ml of milk and mix that through thoroughly.
Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave it to rest for at least thirty minutes. To cook, heat a pan over a medium/high heat.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan. Pour in a ladle of batter and swirl it around your pan to get an even covering.
Cook for about a minute until the underside is golden brown. Turn the pancake over using a fish slice or pallet knife and cook it for another thirty seconds to a minute.
If you are feeling adventurous, toss your pancake in the pan. It is all in the wrist action. You have to just go for it. A timid toss will give you half tossed pancake folded over on itself.
Finish your pancakes with your favourite toppings. The classic lemon and sugar is always good. Personally, I am not a fan of chocolate sauce or fudge on pancakes, it all gets a bit too heavy, sweet and sticky for me. Go for it though, use whatever sweet treat takes your fancy. Remember, this is meant to be indulgent.
I will not be making traditional pancakes though. I am not a fan to be honest. Instead, I will make a stack of my favourite Blueberry and Lemon Pancakes. These are light and fluffy, and full of flavour. I will serve them with crispy smoked streaky bacon, maple syrup and maybe some fresh berries if I can get my hands on some.
- 350g plain flour
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 500ml buttermilk
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 250-300g of fresh blueberries
- Butter to cook the pancakes
Makes 12-15 pancakes
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Separate the eggs. Lightly beat the yolks, add the buttermilk, lemon zest and juice and mix well. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a spoon ty make a smooth batter. Do not over mix it though.
Whisk the egg whites to a stiff peak, and then, using a metal spoon, fold the fluffy egg whites into the batter. Combine well, folding it in rather than whisking so that your pancakes are beautifully light and fluffy.
Warm a heavy based frying pan to a high heat, throw on a knob of butter and let it melt until the butter foams. Turn the heat down to medium and spoon on the pancake batter. You want the pancakes to be about 3-4 inches in diameter.
As soon as you start to see the surface of the pancake bubble, scatter a handful of blueberries on top of each one and flip them over in the pan. The underneath should be toasted and golden. Cook the other side for about 3 minutes. Flip the pancakes again to check they are cooked to perfection, before popping them onto a warm plate and moving on to the next batch. Serve with fresh berries, streaky bacon and maple syrup.
Another lovely option is a new recipe I came up with to use spare sourdough starter. This Sourdough Pear and Ginger Skillet Pancake is gorgeous. This recipe makes one large, deep and delicious pancake, which means the cook gets to eat at the same time as everyone else and does not have to batch cook and serve everyone else first. Served with knobs of butter, maple syrup, and yes, crispy streaky bacon. I shared a day-by-day guide to making sourdough starter a few weeks ago on Instagram that has gone down a storm. My focus was to prove that making a starter and baking sourdough did not have to be intimidatingly complicated. The daily deluge of photos of beautiful loaves I am receiving has proven me right. If you want to give it a go head over to my Instagram page. Once you have your starter, you can also make this gorgeous pancake.
- 250g sourdough starter
- 275g plain flour
- 500ml milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 25g butter
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 3 pears
To serve:
- Maple syrup and a little more butter
- Crispy streaky bacon
Combine the starter, flour and milk in a big bowl. Cover with a clean towel and let it sit overnight. Just leave it on your worktop, it should not be refrigerated. The next morning, add the eggs, milk, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk well to combine until you have a nice creamy batter.
Heat your oven to 200c for a fan oven. Now peel and cut the pears into quarters lengthwise. Remove the cores and cut each quarter into three lengthwise. Heat a heavy based frying pan or skillet over a medium/high flame.
Toss in the butter. When it melts and starts to foam, add the ginger. Cook for two or three minutes over a medium heat. Add the sugar, stir for a minute, now add the pear. Coat them well in the sugar and butter mix, then arrange them evenly across the base of the pan.
Pour over the batter, covering the fruit by about 2cm or so. Let it cook on the hob for five minutes before transferring to the oven. Cook for six to eight minutes until the top is golden and the edges start to crisp.
Remove from the oven, flip the pancake fruit side up onto a large plate. Scatter a few small knobs of butter across the pancake and drizzle with maple syrup. Serve with some crispy streaky bacon and more maple syrup to taste.
