How To Make Buttermilk Pancakes With Maple Syrup

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These pancakes are the best pancakes ever – light and fluffy, with a crisp exterior edge. You’ll never go back to plain old pancake mix again!

Pancake day falls on Tuesday, March 1 this year. Here is an easy recipe for Canadian buttermilk pancakes, with suggestions on recommended equipment for the best results.

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day is part of the Christian calendar and is the day before Lent starts. Lent is traditionally a period of abstinence: 40 days and nights of prayer and fasting, and the idea of eating pancakes the day before was based on people using up rich ingredients in the larder such as eggs and butter, as these were not allowed during Lent.

The word ‘shrove’ means to confess your sins and ask for forgiveness. Cultures around the world celebrate this time of year in different ways – in the US it is pancake day, in Brazil, carnival time, and in France it is known as Mardi Gras, which literally means ‘fat Tuesday’ – though pancakes don’t have to be fattening!

Here is an easy-to-make recipe for Canadian buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, based on a recipe by supercook Delia Smith. She recommends using pure maple syrup, which originates from the sap of maple trees in Canada, for the best taste, and serving them straight from the pan with a little crème fraîche.

Buttermilk Pancakes With Maple Syrup

Ingredients (serves 6):

 5 oz (150g) plain flour
 1/2 tspn of baking powder
 A pinch of salt
 4 fl oz (120ml) buttermilk
 3fl oz (75ml) cold water
 3 large eggs
 1-2 oz (25-50g) lard
 Pure maple syrup and crème fraîche, to serve

Directions:

  1. Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk up the buttermilk and water, and slowly fold in to the flour mixture. Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk until all the mixture is used up.
  2. Whisk up the eggs and add to the mixture until smooth.
  3. Gently heat a large, heavy frying pan then add a little lard and heat moderately for one minute.
  4. Measure a tbsp of batter (one pancake) and add 2-3 spoons to the frying pan.
  5. Cook for one minute until golden brown then gently flip with a spatula and cook the other side for 45 seconds. The pancakes should resemble small soufflés.
  6. Remove from the pan and put them on absorbent kitchen roll before serving.
  7. Repeat this process until you have used up all of the batter (you can also save batter in the fridge for up to a week).
  8. Serve immediately on warm plates with lots of pure maple syrup and crème fraîche.

Sweet and Savoury Pancake Recipes

There are many delicious ways to serve pancakes and it doesn’t have to be Shrove Tuesday to indulge. Test out old family recipes and experiment with fillings. Chocolate chips, apple and blueberry are great for a sweet tooth at breakfast, and cheese & onion, potato, and chicken are nutritional fillings for a quick lunch or supper. Any excess mixture can be frozen for later.

For the best results (and less cleaning) invest in a proper crêpe pan, or a heavy non-stick frying pan.

Happy Pancake Day!

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