We all have that friend who wouldn’t be caught dead eating pancakes. Like a staunch atheist, who would rather die than be seen in a place of worship, your friend would skip breakfast than eat that flat cake, often round or thin, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain milk and butter, eggs, and cooked on a hot surface such as a frying pan or griddle, often fried with oil or butter.
You love your friend. You value friendship. Just to win her over to the pancake family, you asked her to use the search engine, Google, to look up articles on the subject – pictures. Message delivered. Message unread.
It’s time to take practical steps.
Invite her over for breakfast. Tell her her favourite meal of Starch and Banga soup will be specially prepared for her.
(She’s so interested in the idea that within 20 minutes, she’s knocking on your door.)
Tip
Take her to the room that is farthest from the kitchen because you don’t want her to start wondering “has the aroma of Banga soup changed”?
If your choice is evaporated milk, you can use it as it is or you can dilute it with water. However, if you are using powdered milk, dissolve it in 180/200ml of water. The level of water depends on how you want your pancake to turn out – thick or thin.
If you are not a fan of American-style pancakes (crepe), add more milk/water to your batter to make it lighter and flatter when pancaking. You can also reduce the amount of baking powder used by half to help keep the pancake flat.
To make the best pancakes, I’ll advise you to use oil instead of butter because butter tends to burn quickly and that can affect the overall taste of the pancake.
ALSO READ: How to make cake at home
How to serve pancakes
When it comes to serving and eating pancakes, variety is the spice of life. Pancakes aren’t pancakes without the different things you can combine with if for a perfect breakfast experience.
Here are some of them.
- Maple syrup
- Scrambled Eggs
- Bacon
- Sausage Links
- Egg Muffins
- Fresh Berries
- Banana Slices
- Strawberry Syrup
- Blueberry Syrup
- Whipped Cream
- Nuts
- Chocolate Chips
- Peanut Butter
What to drink with pancakes
Why not try…
- Orange Juice
- Coffee, or even
- Water
Go to the bedroom. Smile. Tell her breakfast is ready. Bring out a blindfold. Tell her it’s a special dish that’s why she’ll be needing one. Blindfold her. Lead her to the dining room. Sit her down. Remove the blindfold.
The drama should start now. But remember it’s like evangelism. A ‘soul’ MUST be brought to the pancake family, today!
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Types of pancakes
The simplicity and the flexibility of the pancake mean that it has been tried, tested, retried, and retested hundred times over, with each effort forming something slightly different from the last. That is why we have multiple types of pancakes around the world thousands of years after they first made their way into our diets.
From the well-known French crêpes and Scotch pancakes to the Korean jeon and the banana pancakes to the Akara pancakes (which are more common in African countries like Nigeria) and the whole wheat pancakes to the fluffy pancakes without eggs and the diet pancakes to the Belgian waffles with pancake mix and keto pancakes, they are only a slight divergence from the standard English pancake recipe.
Indeed, when it comes to making pancakes, your creativity is allowed to run riot!
How to store pancake batter
There are two ways to store pancake batter – in the refrigerator or the freezer. Storing pancake batter in the fridge does not allow you to store the batter for more than three/four days. To store in the refrigerator, simply cover the pancake batter in the mixing bowl tightly with plastic cling wrap.
To store pre-made pancake batter in the freezer, on the other hand, pour and scrape the batter from the mixing bowl with a spoon into the gallon or quart-size self-sealing plastic bag, depending on how much is left of the batter.
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Trivia on pancake
Synonyms
Flapjack, griddle cake, hotcake, slapjack
Local Nigerian alternatives
Starch, eba, amala, fufu, semovita (Completely made-up list!)
Related words
Oatcake, wheat cake, blin, blintz, crepe (or crêpe), waffle
Nutrition facts
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data:
- One small pancake (3″ across) made from scratch provides 30 calories, 1 gram of protein, 5 grams of carbohydrate, 0 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of sugar
- One medium pancake (5″ across) made from scratch provides 93 calories, 2 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbohydrate, 0 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of sugar
- One large pancake (7″ across) made from scratch provides 186 calories, 4 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbohydrate, 1 gram of fiber, and 5 grams of sugar.
The following nutrition information is provided for two pancakes (232g) with butter and syrup.
- Calories: 520
- Fat: 14g
- Sodium: 1104mg
- Carbohydrates: 90.9g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugars: 0g
- Protein: 8.3g
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Ingredients and how to make pancakes
We all have that friend who wouldn’t be caught dead eating pancakes. Like a staunch atheist, who would rather die than be seen in a place of worship, your friend would skip breakfast than eat that flat cake, often round or thin, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain milk and butter, eggs, and cooked on a hot surface such as a frying pan or griddle, often fried with oil or butter.
Type: Snack
Cuisine: Greek
Keywords: Pancakes
Recipe Yield: 1
Calories: 520
Preparation Time: PT0H30M
Cooking Time: PT0H30M
Total Time: PT1H00M
Recipe Video Name: Perfect Nigerian Pancakes, TIPS, TRICKS and MYTHS | Flo Chinyere
Recipe Ingredients:
- 190 grams of flour (that’s 1½ cups)
- 2 raw eggs
- 200ml of whole milk (3 tablespoons of powdered milk in water)
- 2 tablespoons of butter (or vegetable oil)
- 4 tablespoons (more or less) of sugar
- Chili pepper or atarodo (aka Scotch bonnet), to taste
- 1 tablespoon of minced onions
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- A pinch of Nutmeg powder
- 1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil meant for greasing the pan
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder (optional)
Recipe Instructions:
How to make pancakes:
- Mix dry Ingredients: Just mix the flour, Nutmeg powder, baking powder, and the likes
- Add wet Ingredients: Now add the eggs, butter, milk, etc.
- Mix and wait: Mix but don’t overdo it. Don’t worry about the small clusters; they take care of themselves. Rather, worry about your friend.
- Pan/Griddle: Place your pan or griddle over medium heat and apply a small amount of vegetable oil.
- Ladle: Using a 1/3rd cup ladle (or 1/3rd cup measure), pour four portions clockwise around the pan or griddle. Remember the order you poured because that’s how you will flip.
- Flip and finish: When the pancakes are going brown around the edges and the bubbles are starting to pop in the centre, flip them over. Once they are golden brown on the bottoms, remove and repeat from Step-5 to cook the remaining pancakes.
- Serve: Dish the pancakes aesthetically so it won’t be unappealing to a non-fan, like your friend.
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