March 1 is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Tuesday.
Pancakes are associated with this day because they were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar before the fasting season of 40 days during Lent.
It is also thought that Pancake Day may have come from a pagan holiday where the round pancake was eaten to symbolise the sun and was a way of celebrating spring in the northern hemisphere.
Whether you like to flip them, toss them or slide them, bring out the frying pan and whip up a batch to enjoy with your favourite filling.
Gluten-free pancakes with strawberry and Laager rooibos topping
Ingredients
Pancake batter
2 bananas
2 eggs
½ cup almond flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbs sugar
1 cup milk
Butter (for shallow frying)
Topping
½ cup of strong-brewed Laager rooibos tea
½ cup fresh strawberries
½ cup brown sugar
Method
Pancake batter
Mix all the pancake ingredients together to form a smooth batter.
In a medium non-stick frying pan, melt the butter and pour in ¼ cup batter to make one pancake. Swirl the batter around to cover the entire pan. Cook until the sides form little bubbles.
Turn over and cook the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
Topping
Add the Laager rooibos, strawberries and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Cook until the liquid has reduced to half and until the strawberries are very soft.
Serve the pancakes with warm syrup or wait for them to cool.
Laager rooibos pancake cake
Ingredients
Pancake batter
3 eggs
8 Laager rooibos teabags
4 cups milk
4 tbs oil
1 tbs vanilla essence
3 cups cake flour
½ tsp baking powder
Pink food colouring for ½ the batter
Icing
3 tubs cream cheese
6 tbs strawberry yoghurt
½ cup icing sugar
Topping
Strawberries for garnish
A dusting of icing sugar
Method
Pancake batter
In a saucepan, warm up the milk and Laager rooibos teabags until infused. Simmer for 2-3 minutes and then cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla essence.
Sift the flour and baking powder into the wet mixture. Blend together until smooth using a hand mixer.
Divide batter into two bowls. Colour the one bowl of batter with a few drops of pink colouring and mix until combined.
Use a non-stick pan to make pancakes. Heat a bit of oil or use cooking spray for the pan, then fry the pancakes.
Icing
Blend all the icing ingredients together until smooth. Spread icing over each pancake and then stack the pancakes one on top of the other, alternating colours – pink and white.
Ice the top of the pancake cake and garnish it with fresh strawberries and a dusting of icing sugar.
Slice and serve.
Recipes by chefs Lebo and Tebo Ndala.
Chocolate pancakes with mascarpone, raspberries, and toasted hazelnuts
Ingredients
60g flour
40g cocoa
Pinch of salt
30g castor sugar
1 egg
250ml milk
50g butter
175g mascarpone
2 tbs icing sugar
1 punnet raspberries
100g hazelnuts
Method
Sift the flour, cocoa, and salt and combine with the castor sugar in a bowl.
Crack the egg into a bowl, add the milk and mix well. Then pour into the well and stir with a whisk slowly until it is all well combined.
Melt the butter and add 2 tablespoons of it to the mixture. Set the rest aside for cooking the pancakes.
Set the mixture aside in the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes.
Remove from the fridge and test the consistency. It should be like pouring cream – if not, add a splash more milk.
Cook as above.
Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in the oven at 160°C until lightly toasted.
Remove, allow to cool, and, using a kitchen towel, rub off the brown skins.
Chop the nuts roughly and set them aside.
Sweeten the mascarpone with the icing sugar, stirring well, and then fold in the nuts and raspberries, squashing the berries slightly to release some crimson juice.
To assemble, spoon some mascarpone on one-quarter of the pancake, fold the pancake in half and then quarters and devour. No plate required!
Recipe by Anna Savage.