You're probably wondering why I have called these English Pancakes given we (Le English) call them pancakes. I haven't come over all patriotic when it comes to the cousin of the crêpe. It's purely for anyone who may look at these and think "That's not we call a pancake!" as they are used to their own variation. It was that or I called them "now I remember why we only make these once a year" pancakes. I am a little negative towards these pancakes because they never really hit the spot. I've also never got used to the 'tradition' of dousing them with lemon juice and sugar. IF I am going to make pancakes I'm going to sizzle over spoonfuls of golden syrup. It's the only way. There. I said it.
Makes 4-6
Hands-on Time 7 minutes
Cooking Time 24 minutes
Ingredients
15g Unsalted butter plus extra for frying
85g Plain flour
1/8 tsp Fine salt
1 Egg, large
150ml Full-fat milk
40ml Water
Equipment
Small microwaveable bowl
Microwave
Measuring jug
Small whisk or fork
Medium frying pan
Off-set spatula
Kitchen paper
Put the butter into a microwaveable bowl and pop into the microwave for 20 second blasts on a low setting until it has melted. Give the bowl a slight swirl between rests.
Put the frying pan onto a medium or small hob plate and turn the heat to a medium setting. Leave to warm up. This should take at least 5 minutes.
Add the flour to the jug along with the salt and give a quick stir.
Add the egg and give a quick stir before beating in the milk and water. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom and sides of the jug.
Finally, beat the melted butter into the mixture. You should have a smooth batter.
Add a small knob of butter to the frying pan. Swirl the pan around to coat the bottom. Don’t be tempted to add a lot of butter. If the butter browns immediately then your pan is too hot. Wipe the pan clean, turn the heat down, and leave the pan to adjust to the lower temperature.
Pour enough batter into the pan to nearly coat the bottom. Immediately swirl the pan so the batter touches the sides. Leave to cook a couple of minutes.
When the pancake starts to look spongey it’s time to turn it over. My advice at this point would be to use a spatula. You may be keen to get tossing but patience is needed.
Carefully flip the pancake over and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. I’ve found I sometimes need to rest my spatula on the middle of the pancake whilst it cooks to stop it puffing up.
At this point the pancake should be cooked but you can flip it over again if you want to brown it a little. Now that the pancake is cooked you can also toss away to your heart’s content.
When you are happy with the pancake transfer it into a piece of kitchen paper. Put the pan back over the heat, add a little more butter, and repeat until you have used all of the batter up.
I find it’s best to either layer the cooked pancakes between kitchen paper as it will absorb excess butter and stop them sticking together, or you eat each one as you make them like a pancake production line.
Enjoy!
