Chocolate Orange Pancakes for Pancake Day 2017

Pancake Day will soon be upon us, and kids all over the country will be pestering their parents for pancakes after school. If you want to really impress the kids then instead of slaving over the stove for ages making crepe style pancakes, and having them eaten before you've make the next one, make a batch of these chocolate orange pancakes the evening before and warm them up for a pancake day breakfast.

We often have American style pancakes as they are so much less time consuming to make than the larger, thinner pancakes that I grew up eating once a year. Once you've got the hang of making these you will want to make them every week rather than once a year!

This pancake day the kids have requested waffles, as they like to be rebellious, but I expect I will be making pancakes too. I think my favourite pancakes have to be the Mincemeat Pancakes that I make at Christmas, so I may rustle a batch of those up on Tuesday as I still have plenty of homemade mincemeat in the pantry.

Chocolate Orange Pancakes by Helen Jessup on Scribd

Recipe for Pancake Day : Creamy Crepe Cake

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

With pancake day upon us this week, it's time to stock up on eggs and flour and get cracking on with making some pancakes. I make pancakes quite often and they're definitely not confined to just one day a year. I usually make American style pancakes, using my standard pancake recipe here,as they're a lot quicker than crepes because I can fit three in a pan at a time, rather than just one crepe.

On pancake day when I was growing up my Mum would always make crepes, and myself and my brother would always argue over who was going to get the first one. My poor Mum was stood at that cooker for ages trying to keep up with the demand; which of course, she never could.

I've recently made a pancake cake, sandwiched with chocolate, but this time, I've gone for a more delicate looking Crepe Cake, sandwiched with a light mousse-like filling of lemon yogurt, whipped egg whites and cream. You could go with whatever flavour yogurt you prefer, but I chose a tub of Yeo Valley organic lemon curd yogurt, found in the kids yogurts aisle in my local Tesco store.

There's no denying that this does a while to make. Each crepe takes around 2-3 minutes to cook and the quantities here makes around 20 crepes - you do the maths! Once they're made it doesn't take long to put together though. It's best to make it in advance and let it firm up for around an hour in the fridge before serving, to make sure you get nice slices. It will definitely be a dessert to wow your guests, and a great excuse to eat pancakes all year around, and not just on pancake day.

Creamy Crepe Cake 

for the crepes

250g plain flour

2 tbsp caster sugar

4 eggs

600ml semi skimmed milk

butter/oil or cooking spray for frying (I use butter flavoured cooking spray)

for the filling

2 egg whites

400ml double cream

450g lemon curd yogurt

icing sugar for decorating

• Add the flour and sugar to a large bowl
• Whisk in the eggs and one third of the milk, until the mixture is smooth
• Whisk in the remaining milk a little at a time, until it's all incorporated and smooth
• Heat a little oil/butter/cooking spray in a non stick frying pan & wipe any excess off with kitchen paper
• Using a small ladle, spoon some batter into the pan and swill around until it coats the bottom of the pan (the first pancake does not always turn out great so use this one to judge how much batter you'll need for each pancake) - it should be quite a thin layer of batter
• Cook for 1-2 minutes before flipping over and cooking the other side for similar time. You'll know when it's time to flip as the pancake will become drier and move around the pan when you shake it
• Set the crepe aside and repeat until all the batter has been used up
• Set the crepes aside to cool fully 
• Make the filling by whisking the egg whites until they form stiff peaks
• Fold the egg whites into the yogurt carefully, to keep as much air in as possible
• Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks - making sure that you don't over whisk it or it will become stiff and dry
• Fold the cream into the yogurt/egg whites, until fully combined
• Place one crepe on a plate and spread some of the filling evenly over it
• Repeat with the remaining pancakes and filling, until one or both have been used up
• Finish with a sprinkle of icing sugar and some bunting made from paper straws, string and card cutouts

What flavour would you make your crepe cake? I spotted a salted caramel yogurt whilst shopping so that might have to be the next flavour for us.

Chocolate Pancake Cake

Today I'm over on the Wayfair website, sharing my recipe for a Chocolate Pancake Cake, just in time for pancake day.

Why don't you pop over for the full recipe, and whilst you're there make sure you have a browse of their fab online store with gorgeous products for every room of the house, including this large pink Mason Cash mixing bowl, which I absolutely love, and silicone & wood spatula.

10 Easy Fillings for Pancake Day (sweet & savoury)

Pancake day doesn't just have to be about syrup and lemon. It doesn't just have to be about indulgent sweet feelings either. Here I have 10 quick and easy pancake fillings which are both sweet and savoury. Some are healthy and some are less so. 

How do you prefer your pancakes?

5 Savoury Pancake Fillings

Bacon, egg & tomato

An unsweetened pancake with rashers of crispy bacon, fried cherry tomatoes and a runny egg.

 

Barbecue chicken salad

Strips of cooked chicken breast tossed lightly in bbq sauce, with lots of salad leaves

Cheese, tomato & basil

Cottage cheese, tomato slices, black pepper and fresh basil leaves

Cheesy Mushrooms
Fried chestnut mushrooms with melted Wensleydale cheese

Spicy Beans & Cheese
Baked beans mixed with chilli powder & covered in grated Monterey Jack cheese

5 Sweet Pancake Fillings

Chocolate orange

Chocolate sauce or spread with slices of tinned mandarin orange segments

Strawberry Cheesecake
Cream cheese mixed with lemon yogurt and spooned over fresh strawberries

Black Forest
Morello cherries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream

Cinnamon Apple

Bramley apple sauce (1 apple, 1 tbsp syrup, pinch of cinnamon, microwaved for 2 minutes), raisins and whipped cream

Lemon & syrup

Not forgetting the classic lemon & syrup; simple but delicious!

Thank you to Abra-ca-Debora for their pancakes, Sweet Freedom for Choc Shot liquid chocolate and naturally sweetened syrup & Clarks for their Carob syrup, all of which I received free of charge.

Pancake Stacks

Did you know that it's Pancake Day next Tuesday? I can't really miss it, there are pancakes everywhere, everyone is going pancake mad, and if you can't beat them then why not join them! There are so many pancake possibilities, both sweet and savoury. 

We prefer our pancakes stacked, with lots of sauce and toppings. Here are two flavours that we've enjoyed this week - Rocky Road and Maple Cinnamon.

They were supposed to be buttermilk pancakes but unfortunately Asda let me down with the online shop and substituted the buttermilk with whole milk! Instead I added a little lemon juice to semi skimmed milk which thickens it up a little.

 

Rocky Road Pancakes - makes 4

125ml semi skimmed milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg

100g self raising flour

2 tsp cocoa powder

mini marshmallows, chopped nuts & chocolate chips

1 tbsp Nutella

• Add the lemon juice to the milk and mix well, leave for a few minutes until thickened up
• Beat in the egg
• Add the flour and cocoa powder to a large bowl
• Whisk in the liquid ingredients until just combined (small lumps are ok)
• Heat some oil in a pan (not necessary if you are using a Tefal Jamie Oliver Fry Pan like me)
• Spoon some batter into the pan & cook until air bubbles start to appear
• Sprinkle a small amount of marshmallows, chopped nuts & chocolate chips onto the pancake
• Spoon some more pancake batter to cover the toppings
• Flip the pancake and cook on the other side for a minute or two
• Repeat with the remaining mixture
• To make the chocolate sauce mix the Nutella with a little boiling water & spoon over the stack of pancakes - serve by cutting slices

Maple Cinnamon Pancakes - makes 7/8

150ml semi skimmed milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp Maple syrup

1 egg

100g self raising flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Maple syrup for serving

• Add the lemon juice to the milk and mix well, leave for a few minutes until thickened up
• Beat in the egg & maple syrup
• Add the flour and cinnamon to a large bowl
• Whisk in the liquid ingredients until just combined (small lumps are ok)
• Heat some oil in a pan (not necessary if you are using a Tefal Jamie Oliver Fry Pan like me)
• Spoon some batter into the pan & cook until air bubbles start to appear
• Flip the pancake and cook on the other side for a minute or two
• Repeat with the remaining mixture
• Serve a stack of pancakes with maple syrup

I was provided with the Tefal Jamie Oliver pan to use for my pancake recipes

Tefal currently have a Pancake Selfie app - why not bake yourself into a pancake - try it out here.