Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

You can read all about Shrovetide and Lent in my article Shrove Tuesday, Pancakes and Lent but I wanted to share with you my latest Tudor Cooking with Claire video which features Tim making Tudor inspired pancakes.

Here is the recipe...

Tim's Tudor inspired pancakes

3 eggs
6oz/170g plain flour
1/2 pint/250ml milk
1/4 pint/125ml ale (whatever you fancy or you could use water)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a grating of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
A knob of butter

I mention fritters in the video and here is a recipe for those:

Lady Elinor Fettiplace's Apple Fritters

Take the whites of eggs and beat them very well, then put to them some creame, and a little flower, and some cloves and mace beaten smale, and some sugar, and the pap of two or three boiled apples and stir it well alltogether, then fry it in a frying pan with some sweet butter, and when it is half fried, break it in pieces like fritters and so fry it.

Here's my version based on Hilary Spurling's adaptation of Elinor's recipe:

2 small apples (or 1 cooking apple), peeled, cored and sliced
2 egg whites
2 rounded tablespoonfuls of sugar, mixed with 1 rounded tablespoonful of flour, 2 ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Knob of butter

Stew the apple slices gently in a little water until the apple is a soft pulp.
Beat 2 egg whites stiffly, then fold in (with a metal spoon) 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of sugar mixed with 1 rounded tablespoonful of flour, 2 ground cloves and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon.
Add 4 tablespoonfuls of cream and then add the apple.
Melt 1 ounce or 25g of butter in a saucepan until very hot and then pour in the apple mixture and cook over a moderate flame for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Now, I tried this at home and it was a bit of a disaster as the bottom of the souffle/omelette/fritter was done and burning while the middle was still raw and too runny to turn. I think my pan was too small, so the souffle was too thick. I think I needed to treat it like a Spanish tortilla. Next time, I might try cooking it in the oven.