British Pancakes (2024)

FAQs

What do British people call pancakes? ›

In both the US and UK, the term hotcakes is used as a synonym of pancakes.

The tradition of making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday comes from families using up all ingredients in their cupboards so that they can start Lent the next day. The ingredients - eggs, flour and milk - used to be very common things for people to give up for Lent, so it made sense to use them all up.

They are different. American pancakes are made with self raising flour (or baking powder) so they have a cake-like texture. British pancakes are made with plain flour and no raising agent. The batter contains a greater proportion of milk and egg to flour than the American variety.

Beat two eggs with 4 tablespoons of sugar and about one teacup (or 3/4 of a cup) of milk. Add 4 teacups of flour and mix in another teacup of milk "as required" Mix in 3 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 2 tablespoons of bicarbonate soda (baking soda) Fold in 2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Hard or crisp cookies are called biscuits in the U.K. while the chewier dessert can be identified as a cookie.

Unless qualified, however, pudding usually means dessert and in the United Kingdom, pudding is used as a synonym for dessert. Puddings made for dessert can be boiled and steamed puddings, baked puddings, bread puddings, batter puddings, milk puddings or even jellies.

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is a special day celebrated in many countries around the world. It is celebrated in English-speaking countries like the UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada. In France, the USA and other countries, it is called 'Mardi Gras' or 'Fat Tuesday'.

British pancakes are low maintenance, straightforward, even austere: three ingredients only (flour, eggs, milk), simple to prepare and easy to cook. They can be more extravagant if you let them, by adding airborne flips to the turn, topping them with elaborate jams, cheese sauce, or buttered apples.

Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? It was the last chance for a spot of indulgence before 40 days of fasting, and also an opportunity to use up food that couldn't be eaten during Lent. This included eggs, fat and milk, which were made into pancakes and eaten on that day.

Not only are "flapjacks" their own thing in the UK, British cuisine also has a different understanding of what makes a pancake. Though they'll call it a "pancake," the British version is unleavened and closer to what we Yanks might call a crepe than the fluffy, pillowy food we tend to think of.

Is a crepe a British pancake? ›

A French Crepe is about 1mm thick and only cooked on one side, a British pancake is 2–3mm thick and cooked on both sides.

English pancakes were first featured in 1400s cooking books. And, according to the 17th-century “Pasquil's Palinoda”, the act of flipping the pancakes is nearly as old as the cooking process itself. It says, “And every man and maide doe take their turne, and tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne.”

Can I Use Water Instead of Milk in Pancakes? Milk adds both flavor and texture to pancake batter, so if you are looking to make pancakes without milk, a simple swap to water doesn't always do the trick. For pancakes made without milk, you'll want to add some flavor through melted butter and vanilla extract.

An English pancake is thicker fluffier it can be eaten on its own or with syrup, fruit or whip cream or whatever you want really. The crepe is made so thin that to eat it on its own wouldn't have much flavour but it can be made sweet or savoury unlike pancakes that are made sweet.

British pancakes are low maintenance, straightforward, even austere: three ingredients only (flour, eggs, milk), simple to prepare and easy to cook. They can be more extravagant if you let them, by adding airborne flips to the turn, topping them with elaborate jams, cheese sauce, or buttered apples.

A pancake and crepe are quite similar, the most obvious visual difference is that a pancake tends to be smaller and thicker whilst a crepe is much wider but also thinner.

The ultimate difference is that crepes are larger in size and much thinner, as true crepes are cooked on a special griddle that cooks the batter only on one side. English-style pancakes are cooked on both sides. Traditionally, crepes are meant to be eaten with simple fillings or toppings.