Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, is upon us. The pre-Lent tradition of stuffing yourself with rich foods before the 40 days of abstinence leading up to Easter.
In Ireland that is Pancake Day! The day when we stuff ourselves with pancakes laced with sugar and lemon juice, chocolate spread, or whatever you are having yourself!
Irish pancakes are less like the thick and fluffy American variety, they are thinner and more like a French crepe, though not quite as thin. The traditional recipe uses flour, eggs and milk, so they are vegetarian, but not vegan.
This recipe uses Holland & Barrett's Vegan Egg replacer (not an ad!), which is a powder made from gram (chickpea) flour, corn starch, pea protein, psyllium fibre (a common plant based thickener), dextrose, carrageenan (seaweed derived gelling agent), turmeric, calcium carbonate (food colour), and garlic powder. It states that it is gluten free.
This should make about 6 pancakes - which is also a good amount to make pancake cannelloni with!
Ingredients:
A good pinch of salt
15g H&B Vegan Egg mix
220ml cold oat milk
1 tsp oil
A knob of vegan butter
Put everything except the butter into a liquidiser and process for a shirt time until it is smooth.
Melt the knob of butter in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When melted, pour out into a saucer. Use a piece of kitchen towel to wipe a layer of the melted butter around the pan.
Wait for the pan to come up to heat again, then pour enough of the pancake mix into the pan to cover the base with a thin layer. Allow to cook for a minute or so. Note the strong chickpea smell fading.
Carefully flip the pancack with a spatula or fish splice. Cook the other side for 30 seconds or so then put the pancake onto a warm dish as you make the rest.
Repeat the wipe and pour until all the mixture is done.
Note that traditionally we are too impatient to wait for the pan to be hot enough for the first pancake and that one is usually a mess. Eat it anyway!