Where’s Daddy? “he’s hiding” (the pink one), “he’s on the boat” (the blue one). Oh so charming! This conversation took place after I had tried to explain, evidently not well, that ‘Daddy’ was at work! The ‘blue’ one has a point, Daddy does take the river taxi to work most mornings, but the fact that he thinks Daddy stays on it all day doesn’t bare thinking about. As for the ‘pink’ one, frankly everything is ‘hiding’ at the moment, ‘ugly doll’, ‘rabbit’, ‘Toffee’, even ‘Granny’. ‘Hiding’ is just such a useful word and is curiously linked to this post by the very fact that the all important ‘pancakes’ were ‘hiding’ yesterday, strangely inside the ‘little people’s’ tummies.

With Shrove Tuesday fast  approaching (Tuesday 12th February), I wanted to share a quick word on pancakes. Firstly, pancakes of any variety should never be condemned to just one day a year, and secondly, little people love them; fat, thin, fruity or syrupy,  they are so, and I mean, SO easy to make, and hence the reason for this post. Don’t get me wrong I am not into pancakes at breakfast but as a pudding, that’s a different matter, having eaten all the trees (that’s brocolli in our house) then pudding, or pancakes in this case get the green light.

I was brought up in a home where packets of biscuits simply did not exist. My mother was, and still is a great baker, and as children we were treated to endless cakes and biscuits made by her fair hand, but only once the ‘meat and 2 veg’ had been devoured. Granny’s scones are unrivalled and her ‘Scotch pancakes’ or ‘drop-scones’ are pretty awesome. In a hark back to what I was bought up on, I started making the ‘little people’ the latter about a year ago, and have never looked back. From my experience they are hilariously easy to knock up and are virtually inhaled on sight. What is more they can help (or hinder) the making process, which most little people rather like doing. The ‘blue’ one cracks the egg, it gives him a sense of empowerment, the ‘pink’ one helps spoon in  the flour, and everyone gives it a stir, I do the cooking and flipping!

I tend to make them plain but occasionally I add blueberries and banana into the batter which adds a little fruity jazz into what is ultimately a very plain pudding. The ‘little people’ like a little butter on the finished product, but that’s it, they are after all, their fathers children (he loves butter)! We have not really ventured into golden syrup territory, which is a relief for their teeth, and keeps the whole pudding chapter on the straight and narrow in terms of not injecting them with unnecessary sugar. Chances are, you have all of these ingredients in your store larder now, which makes this toddler pudding a complete no brainer. The batter can be made in advance (but not too far), but the pancakes have to be cooked and eaten instantly, no hanging around or they lose their magic. Happy pat-a-cake-pancake making.

‘Little People’ Pancakes

1 Egg

3 tablespoons of self-raising flour

1 teaspoon of sugar

3 tablespoons of milk

A knob of butter

Makes about 10 – 15 small pancakes the size of a hob nob biscuit.

1. Spoon the flour and sugar into a bowl, crack the egg and add in the milk. Stir with a wooden spoon or use a whisk to bring everything together so it is well incorporated in to a smooth batter.

2. Using a non stick frying pan, melt a knob of butter pushing it all around the pan. Now scrape the remaining melted butter in the pancake batter, give it a good stir. Start spooning large teaspoons of batter into the pan. When the batter starts to bubble flip the pancakes over. Once cooked, leave to cool slightly before letting the ‘little people’ polish them up.

How many can get in my mouth?