Favourite pancakes
On Shrove Tuesday, aka pancake Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras, people use up all their fats before beginning their Lenten fast. My favourite pancakes are Crepes Suzette. You make the pancakes from a basic flour, egg and milk batter, keeping them very thin. Then you melt butter in a pan and squeeze oranges and lemons into it, before adding sugar, cognac and Grand Marnier. Here’s Delia’s recipe:
For the crêpes suzette:
1 medium orange, grated zest only and 1 tbsp caster sugar mixed into the batter
For the sauce:
150ml/5fl oz orange juice (from 3-4 medium oranges)
1 medium orange, grated zest only
1 small lemon, grated rind and juice
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp Grand Marnier, Cointreau or brandy
50g/2oz unsalted butter
a little extra Grand Marnier, for flaming.
You mix it, put the pancakes, folded into quarters into it, add more liqueur, and set fire to it! It is one of the most sublime tastes known to humankind. One of my friends, first introduced to it, remarked that “it tastes of power…” He was not wrong.