Pancakes | Crêpes | Savoury Pancakes | Sweet Pancakes | Savoury Crêpes | Galettes | Pancake Day | Shrove Tuesday

Left to right: With freshly-squeezed lemon juice and white sugar, with demerara sugar, with Nutella

Shrove Tuesday is traditionally “Pancake Day” in the UK, so I wanted to show you how I make pancakes into an entire meal for the whole family; well, when I say ‘pancakes’, I really mean ‘crêpes’, the large and very thin French version, as that’s what we enjoy as a family. Beware, these are calorie-rich indulgences!!! 😉

Left to right: with cream and mushrooms, with hot smoked salmon flakes, with ham, cream & wholegrain mustard

This is a video recipe, so I will refer you to the YouTube video for the method, but to make approximately 12 crêpes (I counted 2 savoury and 1 sweet per person for a family of 4) the ingredients are:

• 20g melted margarine (plus margarine to brush onto the pan)
• Approx. 300g plain white flour
• Approx. 700ml semi-skimmed milk
• 3 large free-range eggs

Preparation time: Approx. 15 mins
Cooking time: Approx. 45 mins (including reducing the sauces down to the desired consistency)

Please note: I refer in my video to the savoury variety being called ‘galettes’.  In the true sense of the word, galettes are indeed savoury crêpes, but they are not made with plain white flour.  They are made with buckwheat flour.  By making just one batter, though, you can easily make savoury and sweet crêpes for the entire family to enjoy.

Mushroom & Cream Sauce

• 250g closed-cup chestnut mushrooms
• 10-15g butter
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)
• salt (to taste)
• 200ml double cream

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan and whilst on a high heat, add the finely-sliced mushrooms, season with garlic powder and salt
2. Once the mushrooms are starting to cook and create some juices, turn the heat down and add the cream
3. Stir regularly and cook until the sauce has reduced to a thickness you are happy with and has taken on a gorgeous earthy colour (N.B. the sauce will go very runny at first but will then gradually start thickening – this is the same with all ingredients but particularly so with the mushrooms, given the high water content)

Ham, Cream & Wholegrain Mustard Sauce

• 80-100g cooked ham, cut into small cubes
• 200ml double cream
• 1tsp wholegrain mustard

1. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan
2. Turn the heat on low
3. Heat slowly, stirring regularly, until the sauce has thickened to the desired consistency

Hot-Smoked Salmon & Cream Sauce

• 200ml double cream
• 100g hot-smoked salmon flakes
• freshly-ground black pepper (to taste…keep this to a light sprinkling though!)
• Optional: fresh dill to sprinkle onto the pancakes before serving

1. Place the salmon, cream and black pepper in a small saucepan
2. Turn the heat on low
3. Heat slowly, stirring regularly, until the sauce has thickened to the desired consistency

Tips:

• Make the sauces first, then make the pancakes – you can easily reheat the sauces. 
• You can make the pancakes in advance and re-heat them in the microwave…time will vary depending on the strength, but try just 30 seconds to start with, on a med-high setting, on a plate covered with clingfilm.