If you are like most Britons, you will not know that today is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, as it is often called. The Christian festival — which marks the beginning of Lent — falls particularly early this year, and four fifths of people surveyed admitted they didn’t know it was coming up. But it’s not too late — pancakes are surprisingly easy to make. Batter up the British, American or French way.

The Classic: Fine crepes with lemon and sugar (Jill Dupleix)

Makes 8 crepes
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 10 min
125g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp dark rum (optional)
225ml semi-skimmed milk
2tbsp melted butter, cooled
Butter for frying
1tbsp grated lemon zest
2tbsp caster sugar for serving
1 lemon, quartered

METHOD

To make the crepes, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Whisk the egg, egg yolk, caster sugar and rum into the milk, then add gradually to the flour, whisking until smooth, without over-beating. Stir in the 2tbsp melted butter.

Melt a little extra butter in a 15cm non-stick frying pan. dd a small ladleful of the batter, tilting the pan to help it to spread thinly. Cook for 1-2 min until golden, then use a palette knife to turn (or flip) and cook for 1 min until golden brown.

Loosely roll the crepe and keep it warm while you make the remaining crepes. Mix the lemon zest and caster sugar together, sprinkle it over the crepes, and serve with lemon wedges.

The Detox: Mixed Berry pancake (Sybil Kapoor)

This is an excuse to eat lots of nutritious fruit packed with vitamins, antioxidants and roughage. You can use frozen mixed berries for the sauce, but you will need 100g fresh blueberries for the pancakes.
Serves 4
For the sauce
200g strawberries
55g caster sugar
125g raspberries
300g blueberries
For the pancakes
115g plain flour
Pinch of salt
quarter tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
2/3 tsp baking powder
1 medium egg
140ml buttermilk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
100g crème fraîche (optional)


METHOD

To make the sauce, hull and slice the strawberries. Tip into a noncorrosive saucepan and mix in the sugar, raspberries and 200g blueberries. Cover and set over a low heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit is warm and juicy.

Next, make the pancake batter. Mix the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and beat in the egg, then the buttermilk and 4 tbsp cold water, so that you have a smooth, thick batter. Mix in the remaining 100g blueberries. Set a large nonstick frying pan over a medium-low heat and liberally rub with the sunflower oil. Once hot, spoon a blob of batter into the pan. Repeat until there are 3 pancakes, each about 7cm in diameter.

After about a minute, bubbles will start to form in the wet surface of each pancake; when this happens, flip them over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover with a clean tea towel while you cook the remaining mixture. It should make 16 pancakes. If necessary, reheat the fruit sauce. Divide the pancakes between 4 plates, spoon on the warm sauce, add a dollop of crème fraîche (if using) and eat immediately.

The Boozer: Spiced apple pancakes with calvados sabayon (Gordon Ranmsay)

Pancakes make wonderful dinner party desserts, and are ideal for making ahead. The batter for these pancakes is a revelation. Mostly egg and milk, they are so light because they contain very little flour. After filling you could serve them with just some lightly whipped cream, but I suggest you spend some extra time and make a frothy apple-brandy zabaglione-style sauce.

Pancakes
40g plain flour
half tsp sea salt
2 medium free-range eggs
160ml milk
Olive oil, for cooking

Filling
4 Granny Smith apples
60g caster sugar
60g butter
1 cinnamon stick, snapped in two
Sabayon
4 large free-range egg yolks
60g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp Calvados
half tsp cornflour
1 tsp liquid glucose, optional (this helps to stabilise the foam)

METHOD

1 To make the pancakes, whiz the flour, salt, eggs and milk until smooth in a food blender or liquidiser. No need to allow the batter to stand.

2 Heat a small nonstick omelette pan (about 20cm) until you can feel a good heat rising, then brush lightly with oil. Pour in about 2 tablespoons of the batter from a small ladle and quickly swirl around the pan to coat.

3 Cook until golden brown and set, then loosen the edges with a small palette knife and check underneath. It should be a mid-golden brown colour. Carefully flip over and cook the other side briefly. Slide the pancake out and stack on paper towel. Repeat with the remaining batter, until you have about 6-8 nice pancakes, making sure to lightly brush the pan in between with more oil.

4 For the apple filling, quarter, core and peel the apples, then cut each quarter in half for wedges. Heat the sugar gently in a heavy-based saucepan with a tablespoon of water and the cinnamon stick until it dissolves and becomes clear. Raise the heat and cook, without stirring, until it turns golden brown. Remove from the heat and beat in the butter until smooth.

5 Mix the apples and then spread in a small roasting pan. Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and bake the apples for about 12-15 minutes, stirring once or twice until lightly roasted and syrupy. Remove the cinnamon and cool.

6 To make the sabayon, bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer. Put all the ingredients in a large, clean bowl and place over the water. Using a balloon whisk or small hand-held electric whisk, whisk slowly and steadily until the mixture starts to turn a pale cream colour.

7 Increase your speed and continue whisking until a pale stable foam forms. You should be able to lift up a ribbon of foam with the beaters that you can almost write with. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and cool, whisking occasionally until tepid. Set aside.

8 To serve, fold each pancake into four like a cone, and spoon in the apples. Lay in a shallow dish. Cover loosely with foil and return to the oven to heat through. Then, to serve, re-whisk the sauce if necessary until light and frothy again, and spoon over the pancakes. In the restaurant, we sometimes brown a sabayon sauce with a blow torch to just caramelise it. It’s a nice touch.

(serves 4-6)

The Romantic: Cinnamon pancakes with praline cream and chocolate sauce ((Sybil Kapoor)

If possible, buy a superb dark chocolate such as Valrhona, as its wonderful flavour and texture are dependent on the quality and treatment of the cocoa beans rather than just a high cocoa content. Serves 4 (Makes 6 large or 12 small pancakes)

For the praline cream
Sunflower oil
50g blanched hole almonds
50g blanched hazelnuts
100g granulated sugar
284ml double cream
1 tbsp Armagnac (optional)

For the pancakes
115g plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 medium egg
125ml milk
100ml cold water
1 tbsp Armagnac
1 tsp sunflower oil

For the chocolate sauce
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
10g unsalted butter

METHOD

Lightly oil a nonstick baking sheet. Put the almonds, hazelnuts and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Set over a low heat and stir occasionally until the sugar has melted and is beginning to caramelise, then stir regularly until the nuts and melted sugar are a deep golden. Pour onto the oiled sheet and leave until cold. Break up and tip into a processor and whizz until it forms a fine powder.

To make the pancake mix, sift the plain flour with the cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the egg and slowly mix the flour into it with a wooden spoon. Slowly add the milk until you have a thick, smooth batter. Then beat in 100ml cold water, 1 tbsp Armagnac and 1 tsp sunflower oil and strain into a jug. Rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the cream (and Armagnac, if using) until it forms soft peaks. Gently fold into the praline powder. Set aside.

Next, place the chocolate and butter in a small bowl. Shortly before you are ready to serve the pancakes, place it over a pan of just-boiled water. Leave to melt, stirring occasionally, until it forms a smooth sauce.

Heat a nonstick or well-seasoned flat-bottomed frying pan over a medium-low flame. Rub with a little sunflower oil. When the pan is hot and well greased, remove from the heat and, holding it at a slight angle, pour in some batter and quickly rotate the pan so it is evenly coated with a thin layer. As soon as the batter begins to set and form small bubbles, loosen the edges with a greased palette knife (if necessary) and flip over. Cook for another minute or so and repeat with the remaining batter, stacking the pancakes on a plate and covering with a clean tea towel or foil to keep them warm.

To serve, halve each pancake. Quickly place a spoonful of praline cream on each warm half and roll into a cone. Divide the pancakes between four plates. Drizzle with the warm chocolate sauce and serve.