How to Make Flipping Awesome Pancakes

Pancake Day usually means one of two things, you either flip your way to success or end up covered in flour trying to scrape burnt pancake remnants off of your pan. Even the most skilled pancakers can get it wrong sometimes, which not only means you end up with a lot of mess to clean and more pancakes in the bin than on plates, you also have a hungry family who will never let you hear the end of it.

Fear not! You can avoid total pancake disaster and ensure that your Shrove Tuesday goes completely to plan, earning your the title of pancake king or queen. No, we’re not talking about having some ready-made ones on standby – they’re never as good and your family will suss out you cheated! Simply knowing all the tips and tricks for the best pancakes will help you keep everyone happy.

Rather than shying away from Pancake Day altogether or giving up after the first failed hurdle, simply follow our tips to help you cook – and flip – the perfect pancakes.

To start with, you really need to sieve your flour. We know that a lot of recipes call for sieved flour and that most people – ourselves included – are guilty of skipping over this. However, popping your flour through a sieve helps to keep lumps out of your batter and introduces more air, which means your pancakes will be nice and fluffy.

You might want to do things the old fashioned way and put plenty of elbow grease in, but you’re better going electric when it comes to mixing your batter. Not only does an electric whisk save time, it also cuts down the risk of lumps further, resulting in a nice smooth batter.

Lumpy batter tastes far from appetising – no one wants to eat an uncooked hunk of flour – but it also doesn’t spread as easily in your pan so you won’t get nice thin pancakes. Smooth batter is the way to go so make the most of your electric whisk this Shrove Tuesday.

To make good pancakes, your pan needs to be hot – and we mean hot! Pancakes should cook fast, which means getting your pan to the right temperature quickly and keeping it there. To check if your pan is hot enough to get cooking, carefully splash a bit of batter in it to see if it sizzles and cooks straight away.

Of course if you’re using a Tefal pan, the Thermospot is there to help! Wait until it turns solid red and you’ll know your pan is hot enough to start cooking.

Keep your pan hot and you should be able to whip up a pile of pancakes in no time, keeping everyone happy.

It pretty much goes without saying that not using the right pan could result in a pancake disaster. After all, you can’t expect to successfully flip a pancake if you’re making it in a wok. If you’ve got a pan that is designed for pancakes or crepes they’ll allow for easier flipping. Otherwise just make sure you’ve got a good non-stick pan. If the non-stick is no good, then half of your perfect pancake might end up left behind!

While you can sometimes get away with different types of pans for various foods, when it comes to pancakes, you really don’t want to mess around.

Pancakes may taste great when they are cooked in butter, but your pan has to be so hot that your butter will likely burn before you even pour your batter in, which isn’t going to taste so amazing. While you can use clarified butter, this isn’t the healthiest option and you still risk burning it, so you need to consider what oil you’re going to use.

Sunflower or vegetable oils are great as they are suitable for high temperature cooking and hold their heat without burning. Pour plenty of oil into your pan to start with and allow it to heat up before pouring the excess out so you avoid greasy pancakes and getting your batter stuck to the pan.

It is a rule of nature that the first pancake you make will nearly always fail – it’s been a year since you last made them after all! If your first one doesn’t fail, then you must have superior pancake making skills – or a pan with a Thermospot!

Don’t let that initial shriveled and slightly sad pancake get you down or make you doubt your cooking abilities. It happens to the best of us so just pop it in the bin and start on pancake number two.

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Our final tip is that if you don’t think you’re going to be able to flip a pancake, don’t even try it. Yes, it may look funny when caught on camera, but you risk ruining every pancake you make, meaning more clear up and a waste of good pancakes that could’ve been covered in maple syrup.

By all means, try the initial flip, but then make the most of your handy spatula to flip your pancakes and get them served up as fast as you can to satisfy hungry bellies. Less time flipping = more time eating!

Once you’ve perfected your pancake making, you’ll probably want to eat them every day, and there’s nothing wrong with that!