Monday, February 23, 2009

Pancake Day is tomorrow so lets be indulgent...


A favourite for many Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday heralds a fabulous day (Tuesday 24th Feb) for me! A day dedicated to eating pancakes (without the guilt) until our heart's content! Can you think of anything more beautiful?!
This auspicious day also signifies something more important then my grumbling tummy its the last day before Lent begins and in true tradition a festival honours this beginning with fabulous food! Also called 'fatty Tuesday's' by the French because fatty foods were used up on this day to ready themselves for the abstinence of 'fatty foods' throughout Lent.

Lent is a day many Christians still celebrate for a period of 40 days before Easter Sunday arrives (Easter Sunday= Easter bunny=chocolate!). In previous years I have given up similar foods; chocolate, lollies etc! Then once Easter Sunday arrives I have been known along with my sisters to gorge ourselves silly on the chocolate we abstained from eating during Lent. This in turn made us so unwell that we simply couldn't eat any more chocolate for at least another 40 days...

Pancakes are traditionally eaten because they contain eggs, butter and sugar; such indulgent foods were once forbidden during the period of LENT! So indulge and enjoy pancakes whether its at work, home with the kiddies, or with your friends!

Try the Banana Pancake recipe, great served with fresh ricotta, slices of banana and drizzled with maple syrup! Experiment with different fillings and toppings; try adding chocolate, fruit or ice-cream! Or for a more traditional topping my sister loves, try sprinkling pancakes with sugar and drizzling with lemon, roll up and demolish one after another!

A great excuse to try something sweety!



Banana Pancakes

The ingredients
1 cup (155g) Self raising flour
1/4 cup (65g) sugar
2 cups (500ml) milk
2 (59g) eggs
1 large ripe banana, mashed

100g fresh ricotta
1 extra banana, to serve
maple syrup, to serve

Lets have some fun
Add flour and sugar to a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add milk, eggs and banana, mix well until all flour is incorporated and there are no lumps. Set aside.
Heat a non-stick fry pan over medium heat, add a dot of butter if desired.
Drop 1/4 cup of batter into heated pan and cook until bubbles appear. Turn once and cook for a further 1-2 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining mixture.
Serve pancakes with a spoonful of fresh ricotta, slices of banana and drizzle with maple syrup.
Replace bananas with blueberries or raspberries.

Bananalicious!




love amie x

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