Come tell me I’m an awful mum

[PancakeDisaster]

Pancake day obviously

I always dread it. I’m a fairly ok cook but there are two things I can’t do, fry anything or mash anything. I burn fried stuff or undercook it and I can never get none lumpy mash.

I had ago at making pancakes for DD and I.

Whatever I did it didn’t work as it came out lumpy and uncooked in the middle.

DD (aged 7) is now crying saying all her friends at school will be having pancakes and it’s not fair – she’s right, from FB I can see at least 20 of the 26 in her class have had pancakes today. She’s stomped off to her room after telling me she hates me.

Just me and her at home so no-one else to have another attempt. I’ve used all my milk, flour and eggs trying to make them, I had several attempts.

Why am I so useless? Tell me I’m an awful mother and she’s never going to forgive me.

DD doesn't like the ready made pancakes (finds them salty) and last year I had one of those ready made batters and it still went wrong!

Buy a new pan firm each pancake day. Mine was £2.50 from Aldi.
A new pan each time - wtf??

Mashed spuds are easy if you use the whisk normally used for batter. Super smooth mash

@PancakeDisaster

Will buy a ricer thanks everyone, I really want to do nice mash!

For the two of you, it shouldn’t be difficult. Cut them small, boil for long enough, drain, heat the milk a bit in the pan and then just beat hell out of them. They should go white. You know where you are going wrong. Boil them for long enough. Butter and pepper optional

You’re not awful. Life isn’t fair is my retort to DD (she’s nearly 7). I couldn’t be bothered to do pancakes and deferred it till Friday. No one died

Why didn't you buy ready made ones? If you are judging the whole worth of a mum on making pancakes, lots of mothers are failures too.

Just buy ready made and have a late pancake day with lots of toppings for your daughter to choose. I'm sure she'll forgive you 😊

@HoneyItIsntGoodLuck

I cannot believe people are heating oil until it smokes. Sounds so grim.

And at the poster who’s as ‘Catholic as the Pope’, but who didn’t realise Shrove Tuesday is a Catholic tradition.

That’s what you’re supposed to do. You need a very hot pan for pancakes. As soon as the oil start to smoke you take it off the heat and pour of the excess oil. Then pour in the batter.

I had no idea until this thread that pancake making was hard.

You don’t need a very hot pan for pancakes - that’s just not true.

No way would I want smoking level oil to cook them in.

Had no idea that pancakes were hard either - DD has been making them for years and she’s 11.

You are not a bad mum. Traditional Crepe style pancakes are very tricky to cook. Thankfully my daughters seem to prefer the American style fluffy pancakes so I tend to make a batch or those for the kids and traditional ones for the grown ups that are always a bit wonky 😂. As other has said the first couple from the pan often end up almost like scrambled pancakes, though they taste just as good and then subsequent ones get better…
Would your daughter eat the American style ones?

with pancakes the first one is always a mess!! I actually managed for the first time in 30 years of making pancakes to not have a cockup on the first one and that's because i forgot i put the pan on so it was the perfect temp when i threw on some batter.

My go to family recipe is.....
4oz plain flour
1/2 pint full fat milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt.

now whisk that with an electric whisk until there are no lumps and leave to stand for about 30mins to thicken.

Get a nice flat frying pan and heat oil over a medium heat (i have electric old 80s stove thing with heats from 1-6 and 4 is the perfect temp.) if you have halogen or gas you can control it better.

Once the pan is hot pour about a ladles worth (or a kids cup) into the pan an swirl it around so the mix goes to all the edges. Should only take a few mins before the top of the pancake is set and it's ready to turn over , flip with a spatula typing flippy thingy (name escapes me) and only about 2 mins on the other side then it's done.

Key point - warm oiled pan before adding your batter and dont make it too thick or they arent good - thinner the better.

But at the end of the day pancake cake day started purely to use up you eggs and milk before lent as they wouldnt keep. So it's not the end of the world though it is fun.

Try the above and see if you can surprise her. Though im sure she'll forget about it in a few days.

It’s not the pancakes themselves you need the pan hot for, it’s heating the oil up enough so that it thins and you can pour of the excess. You need only a merest smidge of oil. Then cook pancakes on a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes until done.

oh and dont smoke the oil - that's nasty! Just hot enough that if you hold your hand above the pan you can feel the heat - to hot will incinerate them!

That was to @HoneyItIsntGoodLuck

@bemusedmoose

oh and dont smoke the oil - that's nasty! Just hot enough that if you hold your hand above the pan you can feel the heat - to hot will incinerate them!

The point is to thin the oil. The pan needs to cool down slightly before you put in the batter.

I was taught to make crepes as kid by a pro chef.

Depending on finances, invest in an omelette maker. You can also do pancakes in it and fry eggs. No messing.

My DD's teacher gave this pancakes recipe, we make them together with my DD, then eat them with some berries, sliced banana and chocolate sirupe. Yummy

@TatianaBis

It’s not the pancakes themselves you need the pan hot for, it’s heating the oil up enough so that it thins and you can pour of the excess. You need only a merest smidge of oil. Then cook pancakes on a medium-high heat for a couple of minutes until done.

Thanks, but I’ve been making pancakes for years, just fine. Zero smoking. Barely any oil.

And my first pancake is always just as good as the rest with my method.

For mash my mum uses an electric mixer they're never lumpy and more milk will make them smoother too! Xx

@HoneyItIsntGoodLuck

And my first pancake is always just as good as the rest with my method.

If this is directed at me, you've got the wrong poster.

It wasn’t.

Just making the point that the method I use doesn’t faff around with this ‘the first pancake is for the pan’ shiz.

At the end of the day, it’s just pancakes - not the answer to world peace or the end of the pandemic or owt……….

Why do you need oil?!?

I make pancakes all year round they all come out perfect and I never used a drop of oil...

Pan super hot then batter in. When bubbles show, flip, check the bottom if cooked then done. Repeat.

I make a homemade pancake mix that I use to make the pancakes. I'll leave the recipe for the mix below. Once made you can keep it in an air tight container and when making the pancakes all you need for a batch is 1 cup of the mix + 1 cup of milk + 1 egg.

For the mix:
6 cup Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
3 tbsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
Mix all together and store. I use 3 cups white flour and 3 cups of whole grain just to make it a little healthier

No no! The opposite - you need a low, consistent heat in the frypan. If the pan is smoking, its too hot and the contents (in this case, pancakes) will 100% burn. You need a fork to push the lumps off flour against the inside of your bowl or whatever vessel you're making the batter in. Also in a separate cup, break the eggs in there, whisk and then tip into your batter. Low pan heat is the key though. Flip when bubbles appear

ALDI'S electric pancake plate was a truly fantastic buy a couple of years ago here.

We eat a lot of pancakes.

It was a really cheap, excellent buy.

I make french toast on it too.

Bread dipped, soaked in an egg mixture and dusted in a cinnamon/sugar is another great filling snack, especially before sports.

If the pan is smoking, its too hot and the contents (in this case, pancakes) will 100% burn.

Sorry but this is cobblers. I’ve never burnt a pancake in my life and clearly neither has that poster. Cooking is not rocket science.

Just don’t understand the logic behind heating the oil to smoking, only to tip it out and then wait for it to cool down.

Just skip all that unnecessary faff.

But - clearly - everyone should just use whatever method works for them. 🤷🏻‍♀️