It was in fact obligatory and, to be fair we mostly stuck to it despite living above an ice cream and sweet shop.
Though, there were two concessions when we could eat as much chocolate as we liked; St. Patrick’s Day, and St. Joseph’s Day. These dates have stuck in my mind even today, shows how much we looked forward to them.
To help us off to a good start pancake Tuesday was a thrill; we all made our own versions and ate our fill.
These fluffy yoghurt pancakes are easy to make and, once cooled, can be popped in separate bags in the freezer easy to pull out and microwave any time Lent gets too hard.
Ingredients:
250g plain flour
4 flat teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 large free- range eggs
375 ml semi skimmed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, to taste
125 ml Greek yoghurt
butter
Method:
Sieve the flour into a bowl and mix in all the dry ingredients, baking powder, sugar, salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and stir in the skimmed milk.
Add the vanilla extract; taste just enough to give a background vanilla hint. Don’t overdo it.
Now mix this liquid into the flour beating everything together to get a smooth batter.
Fold in the Greek yoghurt.
Choose a non- stick frying pan or cast -iron skillet.
Heat on a medium heat.
Test the heat by adding a drop of batter onto the pan. If it sets almost at once it is ready to use.
Rub the pan with a kitchen paper smeared with a little butter, just enough to stop the batter sticking.
Add tablespoons of the batter mixture, spaced well apart, and cook 2-3 minutes until large bubbles
start to show in the surface and the pancake browns on the edges.
Flip over and cook another minute until the underside starts to brown a little.
They should be thick and fluffy.
Place on a warmed dish.
Cook the remaining pancakes.
To serve:
Assorted berries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries
Caster sugar and lemon juice
Maple syrup
Icing sugar
Hull and cut the strawberries. Add in a bowl with the rest of the berries
Sweeten with a little caster sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Leave for 10 -1 5 minutes for the
flavours to develop.
Serve the pancakes with a generous drizzle of Maple syrup and pile with plenty of fresh berries.
Mary Contini OBE is a writer and Director of Valvona & Crolla ltd. We are happy to welcome you in our CaffèBar and shop again, open all day. Book and order online: www.valvonacrolla.com
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