Top that! (pancake toppings)

This Tuesday many households all over the country will be flipping their pancakes. Shrove Tuesday is preceding the first day of Lent, it is the last chance of enjoying the rich foods before long fast of 40 days. Did you know that the earliest known record of the pancake recipe goes back to 5AD? That Roman recipe suggested adding honey and pepper to the pancake. The Tudors liked their pancakes made with the good old ale, and used plenty of spices like cinnamon and ginger in the batter. The pancake as we know it today is a later creation, thanks to the influence of the French cuisine of the 18C.

Pancakes with mascarpone and fresh berries

Judging by the numerous pancake polls, the Brits like to eat their pancakes the traditional way, with lemon and sugar. As a girl who grew up in Russia, I don't fancy lemon-sugar combination. It is either honey for me, or the soured cream with sugar. Of course, there are so many recipes and variations of pancakes, that you could probably eat them every day for a year and serve them differently each time.

For the classic American style pancakes you will need bacon rashers and maple syrup.
I use a standard recipe, that works well in many pancake recipes.
You will need
2 medium eggs
80ml milk
1tbsp soured cream (optional)
1tbsp wholemeal flour
3 heaped tbsp self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
1tbsp melted butter (optional)
butter for greasing the pan
sugar from 1/2tsp to 1tbsp (whether you want them savoury ot sweet)
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. In a measuring jug whisk the milk and eggs. Pour the egg mix and melted butter into the bowl and mix well. Leave it to stand for 10 minutes.
When the pan is hot, pour the ladelfuls of batter. Turn them carefully and cook until both sides are golden brown.
Serve with the crispy bacon and maple syrup.

For a vegetarian version, skip the bacon. Add the blueberries to the batter and serve with the maple syrup as well.

For my American style pancakes I used Clarks original maple syrup (blended with carob fruit syrup). It is a classic combination of sweet and salty flavours.

If you are more of a chocoholic, perhaps you would prefer to drizzle some liquid chocolate over your pancakes?
Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate by Sweet Freedom is a versatile ingredient. You can make a cup of hot chocolate with it, just stir into hot milk. Drizzle it over ice cream, toast, fruit salad or porridge. It has 25% fewer calories than regular hot chocolate.
From the list of credentials: it is 100% natural, GM & gluten free, with Low GL.
One teaspoon of liquid chocolate is 13.7kcal (per 5g).

Daddy's pancake

My guys, big and small, love their pancakes with lots of fresh cream, squirted from the Anchor bottle. Slice half a banana per each bigger pancake, squirt lots of cream and drizzle the liquid chocolate.

Eddie's pancake

Choc Shot on pancakes? mmm, yummy

If you like, swap the cream for ice cream or thick Greek style yogurt. Add any berries you like, or caramelized fruit like pears or banana.

Or do a mini-tower from pancakes, mascarpone and fresh berries. You will need about 2tbsp of mascarpone, 1tbsp of maple syrup, 1tsp lemon juice and a handful of raspberries and blueberries. Eddie loves blueberries and calls them chuckleberries (in case you don't watch Tree Fu Tom, these are sweet juicy berries which can laugh). As mascarpone is quite thick, mix it with the lemon juice and maple syrup to make it more spreadable. Add half a tablespoon of the cheese mix to each pancake, top up with berries.

Whichever recipe you enjoy, have fun on the Pancake day! And don't forget, pancakes are not just for Pancake day.

For more information about Clarks maple syrup range visit their page Clarks Maple Syrup UK.
I suggest you visit their Recipes page, as it has some fabulous mouthwatering ideas like Cinnamon and Clarks Maple Syrup Pancakes with Caramelised Pear and Pecan Brittle, White Chocolate and Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Syrup Drizzle and many more.

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Clarks maple syrup and Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate each, to write a post on pancakes, though as you might know well, I do talk about pancakes very often.