Tuesday 4 March 2014

Pancake day (Shrove Tuesday)!

As you may already know today (Tuesday 4th March 2014) is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake day, which is made to use up all the rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before the 40 days of lent (fasting) where many people give up a food or food group that we enjoy. 
I thought I would take this opportunity to share the perfect pancake recipe and different topping ideas. 
Now I tend to go for the traditional lemon and sugar mix but there are many many more options such as ice cream, Nutella/chocolate spread, honey, maple syrup or even something alcoholic like Southern Comfort (if you're old enough haha!). You could even add some coco powder to your batter mix to make chocolate pancakes instead. 

This recipe makes 8-10 thin pancakes but if you prefer thicker ones then probably about 5-6. 


  • 300ml milk 
  • 100g plain flour sifted 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1 tablespoon/ 15ml vegetable oil & a tad more for frying 
  • pinch of salt
    1. Put the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the middle, then pour in about 50ml milk and 1 tbsp oil. Start whisking from the centre, gradually drawing the flour into the eggs, milk and oil. Once all the flour is incorporated, beat until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add a little more milk if it is too stiff to beat.
    2. Add a splash of milk and whisk to loosen the thick batter. While still whisking, pour in a steady stream of the remaining milk. Continue pouring and whisking until you have a batter that is the consistency of slightly thick single cream. 
    3. Heat the pan over a moderate heat, then wipe it with oiled kitchen paper. Ladle some batter into the pan, tilting the pan to move the mixture around for a thin and even layer. Quickly pour any excess batter into a jug, return the pan to the heat, then leave to cook, for about 30 seconds. Pour the excess batter from the jug back into the mixing bowl. If the pan is the right temperature, the pancake should turn golden underneath after about 30 seconds and will be ready to turn.
    4. Hold the pan handle, ease a fish slice under the pancake, then quickly lift and flip it over. Make sure the pancake is lying flat against base of the pan with no folds, then cook for another 30 seconds before turning out onto a warm plate and serving with your choice of topping. 

    I hope you all had a great Pancake day and don't give up lent :) 

    Monday 3 March 2014

    Ed Sheeran tickets!

    Recently I have been busier than expected which has meant that I haven't really had time to blog however, I am turning over a new leaf and am going to try my best to fit it in as often as possible. 

    Back in January a friend and I managed to get a pair of tickets to see Ed Sheeran in October on his long awaited tour. After much frustration with ticket websites on the morning they went on sale we managed to grab level one tickets which is pretty good considering how popular  he is. I've been lucky enough to see Ed Sheeran live once before at the Capital FM Summer Time Ball in 2012. I'm so excited to see the new music he will be bringing out and to see him on his own tour. 

    Another exciting event that I booked last Friday is tickets to LeeFest, for those of you who have never heard of LeeFest it's a small(ish) festival held in south east London. It is for up and coming artists such as Bastille who I was lucky enough to see at LeeFest in 2012, when I didn't actually know who they were (lucky right!?). Other bands such as To Kill a King, Man like me and Bwani Junction are a few of my favourites that I also saw back in 2012. Here are a few (bad quality) pictures I took, I did manage to get a picture with the main singer Dan Smith from Bastille but unfortunately my eyes are closed in the picture and I am not very good with picture editing. 
    http://leefest.org.uk/ 
     


    I hope you enjoyed this short post and I hope to post soon