four brighton chefs share recipes and tips for pancake day

Holy crêpe, it’s that time of the year again, so to celebrate, here are some brilliant pancake recipes and tips straight from the heads of four of Brighton’s best chefs. (Prefer to leave the whisk in the cupboard? Check out our guide to where to get pancakes here.)

Natalie Demetriou, owner of Lost in the Lanes

Pancakes with lemon curd topping (a LOST favourite)
Makes around 10 (fool-proof and child-friendly!) crêpes

Batter ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 and half cups milk
• 25g butter (melted)

Method:
Blend it all together with a stick blender

Lemon curd topping ingredients:

• 4 lemons
• 4 yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 150g sugar 
• 200g butter

Method:
1. Over a bain-marie, whisk the sugar and eggs together until thickened
2. Zest the lemons and add the juice, then the butter
3. Whisk until the mixture has thickened
4. Finally, add the lemon zest
5. Fry up your pancakes, add the topping and enjoy!

Jonel Calinog, master chef at Trading Post Cafe

Fluffy buttermilk pancakes
Makes around 10-12 crêpes

Ingredients:

Dry mix:

• 220g all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 pinch salt

Wet mix:

• 30g butter (melted)
• 4 large eggs (separate the egg yolk and whites)
• 470ml buttermilk
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Sieve the flour into a large bowl to make sure there are no lumps
2. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and sieve again
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and add the buttermilk, folding into the egg whites gently until mixed
4. In another bowl, mix the egg yolk and sugar until the sugar is incorporated, then add the cooled, melted butter to the egg yolk mix
5. Add the yolk mix to the egg white mix, gently whisking the two
6. Fold the sieved flour in to the egg mix using a large spoon and refrigerate for 10 minutes
7. Take a large, flat, non-stick pan, put in on the hob on a medium-high heat and add 1/2 tsp of butter. Let the butter melt and then, using a large spoon, place a cookie-sized amount of the pancake mix into the pan. Don’t press or move the mix until you see bubbles forming in the middle or browning on the bottom
8. Flip over and cook for and other 2 minutes
9. Plate and enjoy!

Toppings:

For toppings, Jonel recommends classic maple syrup. If you’re after something more exciting, he suggests adding blueberries to the mix and cooking as above. Alternatively, add chopped chocolate to the mix and, once cooked, serve with Nutella and banana slices. Yum!

Holly Taylor, chef at Kindling

Cultured butter

Rather than a recipe for pancake mix (you can use one of the recipes above), Holly has shared details of how to make Kindling’s delicious cultured butter, which works brilliantly as a pancake topping!

Ingredients:

• 125g of live yogurt  
• 600g double  cream  
• 1.7g of Maldon salt per 100g of butter 

Equipment:

• Large bowl
• Cheesecloth
• Butter churn or large jar with lid
• Butter paddle or spatula

Method:

1. Place the cream and the yogurt into a mixing bowl, mix well, pop cling film over it, and leave it somewhere warm for 36 hours to ferment 
2. The next day, chill the fermented cream in the fridge for 2 hours  
3. Put the chilled butter into a butter churn and churn until it splits into butter and buttermilk. (If you don’t have a churn, half-fill a jar with a tight-fitting lid with the butter mixture and shake – this is a great one to get the kids involved in, just make sure those lids are tight!) 
4. This should take 3-5 minutes with the churn. If shaking, it will depend on how vigorous you are!
5. Strain the butter through the cheesecloth
6. Put the buttermilk to one side – you can use it instead of yogurt in your next batch. 
7. Fill a sink with iced water and wash the butter in the iced water, manipulating it to release as much buttermilk as possible 
8. Once the butter has firmed up (and the water is cloudy with buttermilk), transfer the butter to a double layer of cheesecloth and squeeze out as much remaining water as possible, without forcing the butter through the cheesecloth 
9. Weigh the butter and calculate the required amount of salt (you need 1.7g of Maldon salt per 100g of butter)
10. Roughly chop it and sprinkle the salt over it evenly. Gently knead the salt into the butter to ensure the seasoning is even
11. Shape the butter and transfer to a fridge
12. Enjoy on pancakes!

Dan Kenny, chef and owner of The Set

Not a recipe as such, but these are some of Dan’s favourite pancake toppings, if you’re looking for some more inspo!

Ham, gruyère, gherkin and gochujang mustard
These are basically the flavours of the classic Rueben but with a little kick

Banana and miso caramel with a dollop of crème fraîche
Dan’s top tip: for a cheat’s caramel, just reduce dark brown sugar with double cream.

Yuzu juice and honey
Dan says this is a great alternative to sugar and lemon and takes the classic pancake to the next level.

Biscoff spread and crushed Biscoff biscuits
This is basically a Biscoff lover’s dream: you can now buy Biscoff spread from most supermarkets (we’ve spotted it in all the main local ones) – and adding the crushed extra biscuits is great for a crunchy texture.