How To Make The Best Pancakes

Want to make the best pancakes this Pancake Day? Our Street Kitchen chefs are here to help with their 5 tips for a delicious stack.

Shrove Tuesday - the one day of the year when it’s perfectly acceptable to dine on pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Whether you enjoy your stack sweet or savoury, our chefs are here to help with 5 tips to ensure your pancakes are as delicious as possible. If you’d prefer that we made them for you, then head to Bread Street Kitchen or Heddon Street Kitchen on 25 February for pancakes galore!

1. MAKE YOUR BATTER IN ADVANCE

The unfortunate part of Pancake Day is that it falls on a Tuesday, meaning you’re normally strapped for time if you’re looking to make a batch for breakfast before work or the school run.

Save yourself time in the morning by preparing your batter the night before by simply mixing together your sugar, salt, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla essence and flour. Store in a clean milk carton in the fridge and simply shake before using the next morning.

To create a fluffy pancake consistency, we recommend whisking your egg whites and folding them into the traditional batter – however it’s important to note that this stage, along with adding the baking soda, should not be added to your mix until it’s time to cook. For the perfect buttermilk pancakes check out our recipe here.

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF ROOM TEMPERATURE

If you have prepared your batter in advance, be sure to allow it to come to room temperature before cooking – this allows the leavening to start working once you’ve added in your eggs and baking soda. Make getting the mixture out of the fridge the first thing you do on Pancake Day!

Allowing your mix to come to room temperature aids the overall texture of your treats, by allowing the starch more time to absorb the liquid and the air bubbles time to disperse.

3. ENSURE YOUR PAN IS HOT

Once your mix is good to go it’s time to add it to your pan and start cooking. Instead of frying using traditional oils, try clarified butter instead. Not only does it taste better but it burns slower, meaning you’re less likely to burn your pancakes.

The temperature of the pan is key and should be piping hot before you add the mix. To test the temperature, add a drop of water to the pan, if it skitters across, the pan’s ready for the batter.

4. FLIPPING great

The key part of cooking the best possible pancake comes down to the flip – no pressure! When it comes to flipping, confidence is key.

We recommend aiming to turn your pancakes only once, but when you do make sure your technique is hard and fast. Whatever you do make sure you avoid the pressure to press, pushing the mix down into the pan will remove the air from the inside meaning you’ll lose the fluffy consistency.

5. PREPARE YOUR TOPPINGS

The best part of pancakes is the how creative you can be with your toppings. Spice your stack up with some berries or homemade fruit puree, you could even add this into your batter before cooking for a marbled effect. Try this vegan coconut pancake recipe with mango sauce for a deliciously tropical taste.
If you’ve got a more savoury palette, try layers of smoked salmon and cream cheese, or crispy bacon and maple syrup.

This year Bread Street Kitchen and Heddon Street Kitchen are flipping their special stacks of pancakes. Try the Ultimate BSK Tower, with lashings of Chambord raspberry sauce and ice cream or dive into Heddon Street Kitchen's stacks of fluffy pancakes, including our vegan coconut and caramelised banana stacks.

Celebrate Pancake Day with us here.