Quire of Pancakes

 

A Quire of Pancakes is like 'A Quire of Paper', meaning a pile or units of thinly stacked paper of the same size, which refers to the delicate and elegant, paper-thin pancakes that this recipe makes for Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day.  

Quire of Pancakes

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makes approximately 10 to 12 pancakes

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

freshly grated nutmeg or cardamom, optional

2 3/4 cups milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

Topping or Filling:

sugar for sprinkling in between pancakes

freshly squeezed lemon juice or zest

golden syrup for drizzling on top of pancakes

fresh or thawed frozen fruit 

non-dairy coconut whip cream or whip cream

greek yoghurt

In a large bowl or mixing jug, whisk together the flour and nutmeg, if using. Create a well in the centre of the flour and add the milk, the lightly beaten eggs and the cooled melted butter. Whisk the ingredients together until the batter is smooth, a few minor lumps are okay.  

Heat a well seasoned or non-stick 8 inch crêpe/pancake pan or a shallow frying pan. Add a small ladle of the batter, approximate 1/4 cup, on to the pan and quickly swirl the pan around so that the batter forms a thin pancake that just about covers the bottom of the pan. After a few minutes gently flip the pancake, it should be nicely golden brown, and cook for about 30 seconds to a minute on the other side. Then remove the pancake from the pan and place on a serving plate. Lightly sprinkle with sugar, if you wish, and continue with the rest of batter until you have a lovely stack of thin pancakes. 

Fill or top or stack and fold each pancake as you wish with suggested toppings and fillings.

  

Crêpes Wraps and Rolls ~ Honey Pennies

In England, Shrove Tuesday has become synonymous with pancakes... folded with a scattering of caster sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. In France they serve crêpes to celebrate family and life, bringing hope for happiness and good fortune in the many years to come. In most Commonwealth countries it is known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day. Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian speaking countries know it as Carnival. Denmark and Norway celebrate Fastelavn which they eat fastelavnsboller, also known as, Semla (a traditional sweet roll pastry). In Lithuania people eat pancakes and Lithuanian style doughnuts. In Sweden it is known as Fettisdagen, Fat Tuesday. Although in Iceland it is known as Sprengidagur, Bursting Day, and is marked by eating salted meat and peas.  

Crêpes and pancakes do make fabulous anytime food. Sweet and savoury, simple or sophisticated many delicious ingredients have been stacked, flambéd, folded, rolled, and wrapped in and on top of crêpes and pancakes. In almost every country pancakes... or crêpes do feature in one form or another, even including street food. There are blintzes, blinis, crespelles, Dutch poffertjes, flapjacks, galettes, hotcakes, pancakes, and spekpannekoek. 

Which ever you prefer this cookbook has 110 pages full of 60 inspiring recipes for crêpes, wraps and rolls. It is a handy book for brunch and party ideas and light meals. Thought I would share this lovely recipe from the cookbook... 

 

Honey Pennies with double oat heaven

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Serves 4 

for the pennies:

130g/4 1/2 oz/1cup plus, 2 tablespoons self-raising (self-rising) flour, sieved

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

2 tablespoons honey 

150ml/5 fl oz/ 2/3 cup milk

for the oats:

75g/3oz/1 cup rolled oats

74g/ 3 oz/ scant 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 crisp dessert apple, grated

squeeze lemon juice

350ml/12 fl oz/1 1/2 cups Greek yoghurt

25g/1 oz/2 tablespoons butter for frying

2 tablespoons runny honey to drizzle

To make the pennies, mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a large bowl. Whisk the egg, honey and milk together, add this to the flour and mix it all thoroughly.

For the oats, place the oats and sugar in a heavy-based pan and cook on a low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the oats are toasted. Continue to cook. stirring constantly, until the sugar caramelizes and the oats become crisp and golden. (Don't be tempted to rush this: if the heat is too high, it will burn and you will have a speckled mess!) Turn out into a bowl and leave to cool.

Mix the grated apple with the lemon juice and stir into the Greek yoghurt. Just before serving, fold in two-thirds of the crunchy oat mixture. 

Heat a griddle or heavy based pan and brush lightly with melted butter. Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture in the pan, leaving a little space in between each and cook for 1-2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of each penny. Carefully flip the pennies over and cook the other sides for about 1 minute more until firm, risen and golden brown.

Serve the Honey Pennies warm, topped with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture, drizzled over with a little honey and sprinkled with a little of the extra oat crunch. 

Shrove Tuesday

For Shrove Tuesday I served my pancakes after dinner. I made more of a crêpe like pancake and served them with a pinch of organic sugar, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and then a drizzled of golden syrup over top. The lemon juice gave them a burst of flavour that counterbalanced the sweetness from the golden syrup. If I had not made these, my banana pancakes I posted about the over the weekend would have been my other choice. How do you like to dress your pancakes? - JW