Monday 20 February 2023

Pancake Day 2023 : The pancakes are low carb In our house !

The UK has a fairly unique tradition known as “Pancake Day”, which is on the 21st of February in 2023, and comes the day before Lent begins. This day is otherwise known as “Shrove Tuesday” and is 47 days before Easter Sunday. In other cultures, Mardi Gras takes place on this date. Pancake day is an observance only, not an official bank holiday.

In times gone by, people felt the need to use up all eggs, butter, and sugar just before Lent because these items were to be given up during the fasting period. Therefore, it made sense to make pancakes out of the ingredients, and so the tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday was born.

There are also pancake races held in England this time of year, the most famous one taking place in Olney, Buckinghamshire. You have to flip a pancake in a pan while racing hundreds of yards and not dropping it on the ground. The other big tradition for pancake day is the annual Shrovetide Football matches.

well Eddie and I don't plan to flip our pancakes
but we may enjoy a few low carb ones, as detailed below

Low Carb Crepes / Pancakes


These crepes/pancakes are virtually carb-free and are very easy to make, although you use ricotta cheese they do not taste of cheese.

Ingredients
200 Grams of ricotta cheese
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
A splash of milk

Method
Mix the cheese, eggs and cinnamon into a small mixing bowl - add a splash of milk if the mix is too thick to run freely.
Place a small knob of butter into a (frying) pan, I use a small omelette pan 8". Heat the butter and spoon in 3 table-spoons of mix.
Fry until firm then turn over and cook for one minute or until the crepe is starting to brown.
This mix makes between 6 and 8 crepes/pancakes.
Allow to cool and fill with cream cheese and finely chopped spring onions or smoked salmon and asparagus tips, whatever you like.
Roll up the crepe and enjoy.
Great at any time and very good for the lunch box or picnics.
Also great warmed up with some low carb berries and double cream.
Or why not serve with a slice of lemon - gently squeezed over the crepes.

Will you be enjoying pancakes?

Dear reader, you will find a variety of articles and recipe ideas within this blog, and it is important to note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e., use a reliable meter. If you have any concerns about your health, it is always advisable to consult your doctor or health care team.

All the best Jan


38 comments:

  1. I remember the pancake racing. Thank you for this recipe, I love pancakes!

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  2. No conocía esa tradición y me parece muy interesante. Besos.

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  3. The recipe sounds good, thank you.

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  4. We have pancakes quite often at our house. It's my favorite!

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  5. Pancake Day - that's a new one for me. Anyway, I love pancakes and your recipe looks perfect!

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  6. I have ricotta cheese today!!
    Will make half of that recipe in about 5 minutes!!
    Thanks!!

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  7. I love the idea of using ricotta cheese to make the pancakes lower carb. And I bet they taste good too. Have a great Shrove Tuesday. Hugs-Erika

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  8. I grew up in Liberal, Kansas that has a race with Olney, Buckinghamshire,England on pancake day. It's a celebrated tradition each year. We'll probably have pancakes on Tuesday!

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  9. Ricotti cheese in pancakes - hmmm.

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  10. We just had some pancakes made with pumpkin seed flour :-) Very yummy!

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  11. Pancakes were never part of our tradition on this day, but the recipe for your pancakes sounds interesting! I wonder if cottage cheese would work in place of the ricotta cheese.

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  12. Who would have thought, I will have to give them a try, happy pancake day.

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  13. Been looking for a good locarb pancake!! Thank you!
    hugs
    Donna

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  14. Hello,
    Your pancake recipe sounds yummy, thanks for sharing.
    Happy Pancake Day! Have a great day!

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  15. That's interesting. I've always loved pancakes and still make them for my hubby. I should try this recipe. I can only use butter for a topping though and I miss the syrup! lol Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Yes, Happy Pancakes Day. I don't remember this tradition from my years living in England, but I love it. When I grew up in Sweden, this tradition was observed every Thursday for dinner: Yellow pea soup, followed by what we called oven pancakes. These pancakes were baked in the oven and were thick and very yummy. Of course, we also had the thin pancakes made on top of the stove. I'm no cook and when I tried to make the oven pancakes here, I'm afraid they totally collapsed.

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  17. I have never heard of Shrove Tuesday. I learn something new every time I visit you. Love it! I saved the recipe. Sounds delicious! Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  18. We used to do Pancake Tuesday. Our kids are!
    Poor JB can't eat them. Stir fry tonight!

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  19. I am sitting down now to a late lunch with pancakes. It's a tradition for my family. This happens to be my first time eating in at a restaurant since Pancake Tuesday in 2020.

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  20. Until I read this post, Jan, I had completely forgot about having pancakes on shrove Tuesday. Thanks for both the post and now my dinner plan.

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  21. I didn't know the history. I didn't make pancakes but I may well have them another day.

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  22. What interesting facts! I don't tend to make pancakes, I did when daughter was at home as she loved them.xxx

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  23. Lorrie said...
    Pancakes were never part of our tradition on this day, but the recipe for your pancakes sounds interesting! I wonder if cottage cheese would work in place of the ricotta cheese

    Hello Lorrie
    Yes, there are quite a few recipes that use cottage cheese when making a lower carb pancake.
    Have a look at this one, you may like it.

    https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/cream-cheese-pancakes/

    Happy Pancake making :)

    All the best Jan

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  24. Thank you, great idea with the cheese! I might add salami or such, too.

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  25. Jan - darn - it's 10:13 pm and too late to make pancakes. Maybe next year! I did have some doughnuts on Sunday - as close as I could get to celebrating Mardi Gras! I had never heard of pancake races, but I just inquired of my Brit hubby and he knew about them - where have I been all this time?

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  26. Sorry I missed this earlier. Olney England competes with Liberal, Kansas in the States to determine the fastest time in either town. Each year these two town compete to win the "International Pancake Race." Olney took back bragging rights this year after Liberal claimed victory last year (they discontinued the race during the pandemic of 2021). This is the 74th year Liberal has run against Olney.

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  27. An interesting story... They must be very tasty... Happy week...

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  28. I love crepes and thanks for the background on Pancake Day. I had no idea where it came from.
    Take special care.

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  29. I would love some crepes right now, or pancakes.

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  30. I heard of fat Tuesday but didn't hear that pancakes were made, very interesting!

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  31. I do enjoy pancakes. Though mine are low sugar, no egg and no a few other things. Very cool that you can make them low-carb to fit your life. That is the best when we can do this for ourselves and families. Happy Belated Pancake Day!

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The lowcarb team value your comments. Thank you for taking the time to contribute to our blog. Please note! negative comments and insults from anonymous idiots, with nothing to add to the debate will not be authorised. However, we welcome constructive criticism.

The best of health to you and yours.

Eddie