Decided to make pancakes for Shrovetide yourself – an excellent choice. It’s much easier to do than it seems. After all, everyone gets a “bad first pancake,” even professionals. Making a simple and tasty dish is very easy.
Shrovetide – what you need to make pancakes
If briefly, you need a recipe, ingredients, and tools. More precisely, kitchen utensils or appliances that will perform the frying process. We recommend quickly reviewing all points to decide for yourself which tool is better to use.
Simple recipe for making pancakes
Eggs, flour, milk, and butter – these are the four basic ingredients. All other additives, such as cottage cheese, meat, mushrooms, or fruits – simply affect the taste of the pancakes. Here is the simplest recipe:
- Break 4 chicken eggs into a bowl, pour in 400 grams of flour, and add 1 liter of milk. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt, to taste.
- Mix all ingredients into a homogeneous mass using a spoon or, preferably, a whisk. By the way, you can pour the milk gradually, as you mix. This will make the batter come together faster.
- The batter should be liquid – like raw condensed milk. Add 50 grams of vegetable oil. Let it sit for a couple of hours (in a warm place).
- Heat a skillet and melt 50 grams of butter on it.
- Use a deep spoon or small ladle. Scoop the liquid batter into it and carefully pour onto the skillet surface. Watch the amount of batter – it should just cover the entire surface of the skillet. If you pour more, the pancakes will be thick and not tasty.
On average, one such recipe should yield 13-14 pancakes. Don’t be afraid to experiment. When making pancakes for Shrovetide, it’s important to find your “golden volume” of batter to pour onto the skillet. Practice, and you’ll be able to fry pancakes quickly and perfectly.
Kitchen tools for making pancakes
You will need cookware. For the batter, a bowl and a whisk are necessary. Try to use sturdy containers, such as plastic or metal. Glass and porcelain are not practical here. A volume of 5-7 liters is recommended so that the batter doesn’t splash onto the kitchen walls during mixing.
It’s better to buy a whisk in a ready-made metal version. Alternatively, you can use a mixer or blender. If nothing is at hand, you can take one or two forks. This is a proven working option. It will take a bit longer to whisk, but the result will be similar to using a whisk.
To flip pancakes during Shrovetide, you will need a spatula. You can, of course, toss the pancake in the air, but it requires skill. The spatula can be wooden or plastic (heat-resistant kitchen utensil). Also, if you don’t want burnt edges on your pancakes, it’s better to buy a culinary brush and grease the edges of the pancakes on the skillet with oil.
Tools for making pancakes
There are several options here. You can use a regular skillet, buy a special pancake pan, or a full pancake-making machine. The last option is the most expensive but can cook several pancakes at once. In a regular skillet, used for frying eggs or meat, flipping pancakes and controlling the liquid level is difficult. Therefore, the best solution is to buy a pancake pan. The price of such a device is very low, so it won’t be a problem for the buyer.
What’s better for making pancakes during Shrovetide
Another point – many cooks claim that pancakes are better cooked on electric cooktops rather than gas stoves. The problem is that gas stoves heat the pan quickly, which then cools just as fast. An electric cooktop allows for precise temperature regulation.
It could be believed if the authors of posts and videos online didn’t leave links to buy cooktops. Our grandmothers cooked pancakes on wood-fired stoves. So, it doesn’t matter what the heat source is. You can even cook over an open fire in the forest or while fishing. The main thing is to develop skill in pouring the right amount of batter and flipping the pancake quickly.