How to make the perfect pancake

1 mug of plain flour

1 mug of milk

1 egg

A knob of butter

For the optional filling:

2 bramley apples - peeled, cored and chopped into bite size pieces just before you start

1 lemon

3 desserts spoons of caster sugar

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

A little water - just enough to cover the apples

preparation 5 mins • you cook for 10 mins • total time 15 mins

Makes 4 pancakes

Watch a 30 second preview of my cook-along video below

If you cannot view the video below, click here to download QuickTime from Apple's website.

The perfect pancake is a real delight. Nice and thin, the choice of fillings is almost endless. In this short demonstration video, I make a lovely cinnamon apple filling, but you can use whatever you prefer. Knowing how to make the perfect pancake is a really useful skill for an amateur chef as it can be used in a multitude of recipes, from savoury crepes to beef wellington.

Large mixing bowl

Large frying pan

Ladle

Palatte knife or something similar

For the optional filling:

Large saucepan

Spoon to stir

This is a demonstration video and as such doesn't lend itself as well to cooking-along. Watch the video to see how it's done, then try it yourself and have fun!. Click here for the video!

If you're making the apple filling then simply place the chopped apples in your large saucepan and add in 3 dessert spoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and enough water to just about cover the apples. Pop this on a medium heat and allow it to bubble away for about 5 minutes until soft and mushy.

For the pancakes, turn your frying pan onto a high heat. Into your large mixing bowl add 1 mug of flour, 1 egg and half of the mug of milk. Give everything a good whisk together (burning off calories in advance of pancakes is good!) then add the rest of the milk. Keep whisking until the batter is really thin and doesn't stick to the whisk.

Add a little knob of butter to your hot frying pan - the smaller the better. Swirl it around so that the pan is completely coated, but not swimming in, butter.

Add 1 ladle of batter to the pan and swirl it around so that it runs to the edges, as in the second photo on the right. Control the heat of your pan- it should be sizzling but not smoking on a high heat. Cook the pancake until the edges begin to come away from the pan - this should take about one minute. Gently ease around the pancake with your palette knife to check it isn't sticking. To flip the pancake - in a nice smooth motion, flip the pan upwards (don't let go!), launching the pancake into the air. Popthe pan back on the heat and cook the other side for a further minute. Both sides should be lightly golden and looking great.

I hope that you enjoy them.

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