(Scotch) Pancake Day!

It’s Pancake Day tomorrow all across the UK (also known as Shrove Tuesday) and I for one am looking forward to the excuse to cook an old favourite.  As a child, I used to be thrilled at the thought of returning home from school to the warm farmhouse kitchen where my mother would be making Scotch pancakes on the Aga.  Also known as Drop Scones, my mother would cook the pancakes directly on the simmering plate of the Aga, but in the rather less traditional kitchen of my hilltop cottage, I now use a normal frying pan to produce just as scrumptious results.

Scotch Pancakes in comparison to normal pancakes are smaller, thicker and (in my humble opinion) much more tasty and satisfying!  If you fancy a change from normal pancakes this year I strongly recommend the following recipe, which only requires four easy to source ingredients, to bring a bit of traditional Scottish cooking to your home.

To make approximately 20 yummy Scotch Pancakes you will need:

100g/4oz Self-Raising Flour

25g/1oz Caster Sugar

1 (medium size) Egg

150ml/1/4 pint Milk

1)      Mix the sugar and flour together in a bowl and then make a well in the centre.

2)      Beat the egg and pour it into the well, along with half the milk.

3)      Mix to form a thick batter, then add the remainder of the milk and mix again (you should now have a runny batter and be ready to cook the first batch!)

4)      Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and once hot spread with a little lard or oil (I use a piece of kitchen towel to do this, as it avoids putting too much on).

5)      When the fat is hazy (but not smoking), spoon the mixture into the pan using a tablespoon (one spoonful for each pancake) making sure they are spaced well apart.

6)      Bubbles should rise to the surface of the half-cooked pancakes and at this point turn them over.

7)      Cook for a further 30 seconds (or until golden brown) then remove and place between a clean tea towel to keep warm and moist and until you are ready to eat them.

8)      You may need to re-grease the pan between batches to avoid the pancakes sticking.

You can enjoy Scotch Pancakes on their own, buttered, with jam or even chocolate spread (very popular with the kids)!  You don’t have to eat the pancakes straight away, indeed, once cooled you can put them in an air tight container and store them for up to 3 days – heat them up or eat them cold, whatever your preference.

If you fancy trying this, or any other traditional recipe, Aga or Rayburn cooker then you’ll be please to hear that a number of our unique cottages do have them (in a lot of cases as well as a standard cooker ) so why not get in touch and let us help you find your ideal cottage?

From all of us here at Unique Cottages have a delicious and enjoyable (Scotch) Pancake Day!