Hello Shove Tuesday… Oh how I love this day for the excuse it gives me to indulge in Nutella & banana heavenliness! I’d love to say that I then always abide by the tradition to give up all things sweet and naughty for lent, but I’d be telling a porky. My sweet tooth is definitely my weakness and whilst I have attempted to ignore chocolate temptations in the lead up to Easter in the past, I don’t ever recall having achieved the full 40 days. (Tut tut.) Hmmm, maybe 2019 could be the year to accomplish this. I’ll report back on that!
In the meantime, to mark this annual event, here’s the result of my haphazard pancake research…
Reckon You Could Do Batter?!
Do you feel like taking on a new challenge? Then why not try and compete with one of these Guinness World Record breakers?
- Largest pancake: measuring a massive 15.01m (49ft, 3in) in diameter and 2.5cm (1in) in depth, this was organised by the Co-operative Union Ltd, in Rochdale, on 13th August 1994
- Most people tossing pancakes: 890 is the answer and it was achieved at an event organised by the University of Sheffield, on 15th February 2012. 930 people turned up for it, but 40 were discounted due to pancake fails (shame)
- Most pancakes filled in one minute: 11 – achieved by Laura Tobin on the set of ‘Good Morning Britain’, on 28th February 2017. The filling of choice was chocolate sauce and chopped bananas – yum
- Most pancakes made in 8 hours by a team: a whopping 76,382 by Batter Blaster LLC, in Atlanta USA, on 9th May 2009. 175 volunteers became pancake chefs and approx. 20,000 lucky people were served
- Most pancakes thrown and caught in one minute – team of two: Ashrita Furman and Bipin Larkin achieved 46, in New York USA, on 26th September 2009. The duo threw the pancakes from one frying pan to the other – Mr Furman catching all 46 of them without breakages – impressive stuff
- Highest pancake toss: reaching a cracking height of 9.47m (31ft, 1in) – achieved by Dominic Cuzzacrea, in New York USA, on 13th November 2010. Dominic beat his own previous record by 30cm (11.8in) – skills!
- Most pancakes made in one hour: a spectacular 1,127 was achieved by Erica Price, in Kansas USA, on 17th April 2016. Erica’s father, Steve Hamilton, previously held the title and encouraged Erica to take on the challenge… like father, like daughter
- Tallest stack of pancakes: 213 pancakes reached an impressive 8cm (3ft, 4in) high – made by James Haywood and Dave Nicholls, at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest, on 8th February 2016
- Most tosses of a pancake in one minute: Brad Jolly achieved a tremendous 140, on 21st February 2012, in Sydney Australia
- Fastest marathon flipping a pancake: Mike Cussacrea ran the Casino Niagara International Marathon (USA – Canada) – whilst flipping a pancake continuously – in a time of 3hrs, 2mins & 27secs, on 24th October 1999. Because running a marathon alone wasn’t enough of an achievement for this man!
What’s Your Pancake Preference?
I asked the MoF team this question – to see if I could be inspired for a change to my norm – but it turns out there’s a lot of love for the traditional toppings, with a couple of different takes thrown in the mix. In case you’re interested, here’s the response I received:
Jane: Banana and chocolate flake, with crushed nuts (a fancy take on a classic!)
Tessa: Lemon and sugar… all day
Anna: Just sugar or Nutella and banana
Erin: Nutella and strawberries… or Nesquik chocolate powder (I’m dubious about this one, but she swears it’s a winner!)
Ella: Nutella and strawberry – but she also can’t beat a good old traditional lemon juice and sugar
Adam: A third vote for lemon and sugar
Gareth: Lemon and sugar here too
Evie: Apricot reserve and vanilla ice cream/whipped cream… sounds posh to me, but she puts it down to her Austrian heritage
Del: A fifth and final vote for the classic lemon and sugar
How do you eat yours? Oooo that’s got me thinking… Crème Egg pancake anyone?!
Will You Flip or Flop?
I was trying to teach my children how to flip a pancake this weekend (albeit it with a miniature version, as it turns out our frying pans are pretty darn heavy), but with little success. This led me to a good old Google search and apparently this is how it should be achieved:
- Pick a light (non-stick!) pan – as unless you have guns of steel, it’ll be much easier this way
- Swirl a little bit of sunflower or vegetable oil around your pan…too much and it will spit at you – ouch!
- Pour a dollop of pancake mix into the pan – with more swirling to make a nice big, but thin pancake – and place on the hob, with medium heat
- After a minute or so, gently shake the pan to see if you can move the pancake (apparently using a spatula is a big no-no!). If you can, you’re ready to flip!
- Slide the pancake towards the edge of the pan and thrust this edge upwards in a smooth quick motion (doing so with confidence!) – the pancake should fly up
- Now (taking a step back if needed), catch the bottom edge of the pancake on the near side of the pan – making it fall backwards as it lands onto its uncooked side – easy right?
- Finish cooking the pancake and et voila!
Time to master this art!
