Depending on where you are and what your persuasion, Tuesday is either Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday (same diff, of course), Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day. For me, it is above all Pancake Day, and it will never seem right to let the day go by without eating what my mother gave us on this day every year: thin, raggedy pancakes — for which you need my crêpes recipe — with ordinary white sugar (the sort that gives a gritty sweetness) and a fierce squeeze of lemon juice. I also have a nostalgic soft spot for Scotch Pancakes which, even if it wasn't a Shrove Tuesday Special, I remember being given when I got back from school, to be eaten cooled and spread with jam.
If you want to go a bit more luxe — if kitsch — you can use the crêpes recipe for a full-on flambéed Crêpes Suzette although as you will see when you click on that recipe, I unashamedly have, in my time, used store-bought (but good quality!) crêpes instead. And you can also do that for my Nutella Pancakes which are rather more grown-up than they sound. These last two recipes are certainly fit for a Shrove Tuesday supper party, and if you're thinking of just such a thing, another option I have to throw at you are the Arabian Pancakes with Orange-Flower Syrup and you might well consider scattering some pomegranate seeds on top, too.
I suppose there is nothing (except a disinclination to get up earlier) to stop you celebrating Pancake Day at breakfast time, either, in which case I offer you American Breakfast Pancakes with or without bacon and maple syrup or, more modishly, some Red Velvet Pancakes scattered with berries.
Not that there is any reason why this indulgence should be limited to Shrove Tuesday. Make up the easy-peasy Homemade Instant Pancake Mix at your leisure and celebrate Pancake Day any time you want!
