Easy pancake recipes for Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Day, the age-old Shrove Tuesday tradition of using up rich ingredients like milk, eggs, and sugar before fasting for Lent, can be a simple supper, a healthy (or indulgent) breakfast or brunch, or a spicy feast.

The delicious apple pancakes with cinnamon in the video above can be made either with ordinary plain flour or a gluten-free flour substitute (check your local health food shop for options).

Basic pancake recipe
If you're looking for the simplest pancake recipe - look no further.

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
250ml milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil of your choice) to cook in
fresh lemon juice and caster sugar to serve (or topping of your choice)

Method:
1 Sieve the flour into a bowl, add a pinch of salt, then crack in both eggs and stir until smooth.
2 Using a whisk, slowly add the milk. You're aiming for the consistency of single cream, so if it seems a little too thick, add a tablespoon or two of cold water and whisk again. if you''re worried about lumps, put it through a sieve.
3 Allow the batter to rest for 30mins if you have time.
4 Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add a dessertspoonful of the batter and tilt it around to spread it out while it cooks for a minute. Flip it over and cook for another minute, slide on to a plate and add the topping of your choice. Bon appetit!

Have fun with the kids
Pancake portraits are great if you want to spend an afternoon in the kitchen with the kids. You'll need some food colouring or beetroot juice.
How to make fun pancake portraits

Spice them up a bit
Gordon Ramsay cooks up spicy Indian pancakes for breakfast but they'd work at any time of day to perk up your tastebuds when the weather outside is dull and grey.
How to make spicy Indian pancakes

Wholesome and healthy
Who says nutritious can't be delicious? If you're a pancake fan, but watching your waistline, there's a healthier way to indulge in the breakfast staple.
Low calorie flourless pancakes

Naughty... but nice
At the other end of the indulgence scale, the naughtiest syrup you've ever heard of is perfect for drizzling over an innocent unsuspecting pancake. This has all the major food groups represented – bacon, sugar, caffeine and alcohol. Your guests won't know what's hit them!
Ultimate whisky bacon coffee pancake syrup

More pancake recipes:
Pancakes with blueberry sauce
Pancake stack with maple syrup
Savoury beetroot and feta pancakes
Traditional Swedish pancakes with jam and cream