Tasty treats for Pancake Day

With Pancake Day looming tomorrow, imaginative Black Country chefs are cooking up all kinds of different recipes to celebrate the annual event with a modern twist.

And in the kitchen at a new Wolverhampton restaurant, staff have created a range of sweet and savoury pancakes for Express & Star readers to try at home.

Check out the recipes at the bottom of the story.

Paul Burgwin, who is the manager of the newly-revamped The York Hotel in Tettenhall Road, has dreamed up four mouth-watering recipes which feature ingredients from black pudding to caramelised bananas.

"People think that pancakes have to be the same every year but that's just not true," he explained.

"There's no end to what you can put into them," he went on to say.

Denis Corkery, second chef at the hotel who also worked at The Moathouse in Acton Trussell, created Paul's tasty treats.

In each case, a simple American-style pancake recipe is followed and then a range of delicious ingredients added to each one.

Pancake Day – or Shrove Tuesday as it is officially known – is marked in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.

The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb "shrive," which means to get absolution for one's sins by confessing and doing penance.

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving – confessing – that Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to receive immediately before the religious festival Lent.

Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because the 40-day period is historically spent fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are traditionally disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast.

Pancakes and doughnuts were an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.

Another tradition is the pancake race, which takes place in many towns and villages across the country.

* Pancake ingredients: (makes about 12 small pancakes or 4 six large ones) one cup plain flour, one egg, two teaspoons baking powder, one cup milk, and an optional pinch of salt.

Great recipes for you to try

Savoury breakfast pancake

(makes four)

Two rashers smoked

cooked bacon

Two cooked pork sausages

Four button mushrooms

4oz black pudding

4oz red Leicester cheese

Four eggs scrambled

Chop the bacon, sausage, black pudding and mushrooms. Make the pancakes. Make the scrambled eggs.

Mix the breakfast mix lightly into the scrambled eggs and arrange over the pancakes.

Grate the cheese over each one, fold like calzone and bake in a hot oven for six minutes.

Starter/ lunch savoury pancake (makes four)

1?2 leek finely shredded

Two asparagus spears

50ml white wine

8oz salmon supreme

poached Dill

4 fl oz double cream

A few black olives

Make your pancakes, wrap in foil and put in oven on very low heat. Grill asparagus until just cooked.

Lightly sauté leeks in olive oil (do not brown), add white wine when soft, increasing the heat, chop the asparagus and olives then add to the now bubbling wine, and add the cream.

Reduce the heat slightly and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, then add chopped salmon and couple of sprigs of chopped dill. Season with salt and cracked black pepper. Arrange on pancake then top with another pancake and serve with a rocket garnish.

Main course savoury pancake

(makes four)

Two 8oz chicken breasts

One beef tomato chopped

Half red onion finely

chopped fresh basil

garlic olive oil

buffalo mozzarella

Make the pancakes and brush with garlic oil, set aside

Grill seasoned chicken and then finely slice, arrange on pancakes with sliced tomatoes and onion.

Cover with mozzarella and bake for eight minutes in a hot oven.

Finish with fresh basil, olive oil and cracked black pepper.

Caramelised bananas and rum pancake stack (makes four)

Four bananas

2oz butter

2oz brown sugar

2oz raisins

50ml dark rum

Pinch of cinnamon

Slice the bananas into rounds, put in shallow baking dish and dot with butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, drizzle on the rum, and sprinkle on the raisins.

Bake for eight minutes in hot oven until caramelised.

Whilst baking make 12 small pancakes using a tablespoon of sugar instead of salt. Place a pancake on the middle of four plates and spoon on some banana mix, top with another pancake and then some more banana mix.

Finally place a pancake on top and finish with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream.