PANCAKE RECORD MADNESS

on a hot, splendid day in Louisberg, Missouri, USA, something strange was happening. A man was doing crazy things with pancakes. Not just a few pancakes, but actually close to 1,000 of them. Guinness World Records™ was invited along to see what exactly was going on.

Allow us to introduce Steve Hamilton (USA). Now, Steve is a normal guy with a wonderful family and an even more wonderful ambition. Steve wants to be known as the Pancake King. No, he wants to be the Pancake God. No, scratch that again. Steve. Is. Pancakes. For many years now, Steve and his team have been serving all sorts of sweet and savoury goodies across the USA. From French toast to flapjacks, Steve has been pleasing crowds with his culinary masterpieces for over 20 years.

On 23 June 2006, Steve claimed the Guinness World Records title formost pancakes made in one hour by an individual with an impressive total of 555 pancakes. This feat was beaten in 2008 by Canadian Bob Blumer with 559 pancakes. Steve wanted to reclaim the title. Bad.

On 6 May 2009 at Louisberg Middle School in Missouri, and with Guinness World Records Adjudicator Stuart Claxton presiding, the stage was set for Steve to prove his pancake-making supremacy. Right from the start, Steve was all action: pouring, flipping, toasting and serving. It seemed endless. We could hardly keep up with the man! And 60 minutes later, there we were… 956 pancakes served and flipped – a new Guinness World Records achievement! Mr Hamilton, we salute you.

But that wasn’t all. No sir. The very next day, Gregg Zimmerman and Brent A. Busch (both USA) beat off some stiff competition to claim the Guinness World Records title for the highest pancake toss ever. The record to beat was 7.3 m (24 ft), set by Dominic Michael Cuzzacrea (USA) on 20 June 2008. With the sun pouring down, the sweat streaming down their brows and passion in their pancake-shaped hearts, the boys matched each other at every turn… or toss. Finally they shook hands and shared the record. Both men tossed their pancakes an amazing 7.77 m (25 ft 6 in) and were crowned for their Guinness World Records achievement by Stuart Claxton.

The same day, Stuart had yet another feat to adjudicate. “School day at the K” is a special day for all the kids at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. For the past 11 years, FOX 4’s Mike Thompson and his weather team have given a fantastic weather lesson in front of thousands of local kids. This year they were going for something special. They were going to go for the largest meteorology lesson ever. Starting at around 10 a.m. on 7 May 2009, the kids started pouring in to the stadium for the special class. About one hour later, after experiments, displays and superb instruction by the team, Adjudicator Stuart Claxton presented Mike Thompson with a Guinness World Records certificate in front of 16,110 students!

Well done one and all!

TRY OUT PANCAKE CHARLIES HOME RECIPES

PANCAKE CHARLIES – HOME RECIPES

 

 PANCAKES WITH CITRUS FRUIT BUTTER RECIPE

• Recipe facts:
• 20 mins to prepare and 30 mins to cook
• 4

Make the citrus butter by mashing together the softened unsalted butter with the icing sugar, grated zest and juice of ½ orange and the grated zest of ½ lemon. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Prepare the pancake batter by sifting the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a jug then pour half onto the dry ingredients, whisking as you do until you have a thick, smooth batter. Pour the rest of the wet ingredients onto the dry and whisk until you have the right consistency of batter.

When ready to cook the pancakes, melt a knob of the citrus butter in a frying pan over a moderate heat until it stops foaming; make sure you keep some citrus butter in reserve. Add the batter and tilt the the pan so that it covers the surface evenly, adding a little more if it doesn’t. Flip the pancakes once they are set on one side and cook the other side until golden and slightly crispy on the outside.

Arrange on a plate lined with a sheet of aluminium foil that is large enough to be wrapped around the pancakes loosely to keep them warm. Fold the pancakes into triangles and arrange on a serving plate.

Melt the reserved citrus butter in a saucepan over a moderate. Pour over the pancakes, garnishing with the julienned orange and lemon zest before servin

Charlies -Basic Pancakes 

Basic Pancakes 

Serve these pancakes with butter and syrup.

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Preparation:

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. If the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 4.

Magnificent Seven Pancake Day Ditties

Shrove Tuesday – the traditional day of feasting and fun before the forty days of Lent, has its own mostly long forgotten tradition of rhymes and verses.

In centuries past a day for eating and exertion with feasting (of a kind) and football (of a sort) Shrove Tuesday has more than its fair share of unique and unusual songs, rhymes and poems. To celebrate the day here’s the Eden.co.uk collection of Seven Magnificent Pancake Day Ditties.

Pancake Tuesday is a Happy Day… in Lancsahire

Celebrating the tradition fry-up of all the forbidden foods of Lent, this is the rhyme most of us know from our school days. This one’s a 1930s Lancashire version:

Pancake Tuesday is a very happy day,
If you don’t gea us holiday we’ll aw run away,
Eating tawfy, crackin’ nut
Stuffin’ aw pancakes deawn awr guts!

Pancakes and the author of ‘In the bleak midwinter’

Christina Rossetti’s poem for Pancake Day gives outline cooking instructions including a vital hint for tossing the pancake: catch it if you can.
 
Mix a pancake,
Stir a pancake,
Pop it in the pan;
Fry the pancake,
Toss the pancake,
Catch it if you can.

Shakspeare’s Henry IV and Pancake Tuesday

Shakespeare’s Shrove Tuesday rhyme says something about the importance of the day and the feasting that went with it. In Henry IV part 2, Justice Silence sings:
 
Be merry, be merry, my wife has all;
For women are shrews, both short and tall;
‘Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all,
And welcome merry shrove-tide.
Be merry, be merry.

Good eating and the Cheshire Guttit Bell

In the Middle Ages Shrovetide feasting was announced throughout England with the 11am ‘Pancake Bell’. In Cheshire the signal was called the ‘good-eating’ ‘Guttit’ bell:
 
But hark, I hear the pancake bell,
And fritters make a gallant smell.
The cooks are baking, frying, boiling,
Stewing, mincing, cutting, broiling,
Carving, gourmandizing, roasting,
Carbonading, cracking, slashing, toasting.

Shrove Tuesday final score: Derby 0 The Army 1

Disorderly, Shrovetide football involving whole towns, were common throughout England. In Derby the 1839 game was so unruly it had to be ended by the intervention of the army:

Pancakes and Fritters say the Bells of St. Peter’s
When will the ball come? Say the bells of St Alkmun,
At two they will throw, says St Werabo,
Oh very well, says little St Mich-ael.

Pancake Day-light robbery going door to door

‘Lensharding’ or ‘Shroving’ was the Lenten version of Christmas carolling and little more than begging with menaces. Most Shroving adventures were accompanied by singing this threat:
 
Please I’ve come a-shroving
For a piece of pancake
Or a little ruckle cheese
Of your own making.
If you don’t give me some,
If you don’t give me none,
I’ll knock down your door
With a great marrow bone
And away I’ll run.

Mardi de crêpe est un jour heureux

Back to the Lenten themes of feasting, fasting and looking forward to Easter, this is a Shrove Tuesday rhyme from probably the best pancake makers in the world, and its translation:
 
Alegre, Diou nous alegre,
Cachofué ven, tout ben ven,
Diou nous fague la graci di veïre l’an que ven.
Se sian pas mai,
Que siguen pas men!”

Let us rejoice, and may God keep us merry,
For Cachofué, the season of All Good, is coming.
May God protect us in the year ahead,
And if we cannot grow fat,
May we at least not be lean!

PANCAKE DAY SHOVE TUESDAY

Pancake Day also known as Shrove Tuesday in Britain. Pancake day is the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. ‘Shrove’ – as in Shrove Tuesday – stems from old English word ‘shrive’, meaning ‘confess all sins’. It is called Pancake Day because it is the day traditionally for eating pancakes as pancake recipes were a way to use up any stocks of milk, butter and eggs which were forbidden during the abstinence of Lent.
Pancake Day, Pancake Recipe 
Pancakes Recipes from Around the World 

History

The earliest records of pancakes and pancake tossing appeared in the fifteenth century when the pancakes were a little thicker than the modern pancake; they would also often have added spices for a little decadence. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century and the influence of French cooking and their thin crepes that pancakes more as we know them now.

Pancake Customs in the UK and Ireland

‘Shroving’ was a custom in which children sang or recited poetry in exchange for food or money. ‘Lent Crocking’ was one of the many customs of the day when children would pass from house to house asking for pancakes. If they weren’t given any broken crockery would be thrown at the door!

Other customs and superstitions included the belief that the first three pancakes cooked were sacred. Each would be marked with a cross, then sprinkled with salt to ward off evil spirits, then set aside.

In Ireland, Irish girls were given an afternoon off to make their batter and the eldest, unmarried girl would toss the first pancake. Success meant she would be married within the year.

In Scotland, special oatcakes called Bannocks were made using oatmeal, eggs and salt and cooked on a griddle. A charm would be added to the dough and if an unmarried person found it, would be married within the year.

Wales also had their own customs where people would pass from door to door begging for flour, lard or butter. In some parts of Wales children would kick tin cans up and down the streets, believed to be commemorate the putting away the pots and pans for Lent.

Today, Pancake Races are a popular event throughout the UK and Laura Porter, About’s Guide to London has some fun pictures of races in London .

SHROVE TUESDAY

 

It’s Pancake Day again

The household are very busy

Whipping up all the mixture

In a frenzy making them dizzy

 

Mother standing at the stove

Mixing in flour, eggs, milk and water

Eagerly waiting with fork in hand

Stands her precious daughter

 

No sooner the pancake is ready

Like scavengers they woofed it down

Mother tossed a pancake

Which landed on the ground

 

The day was enjoyed by everyone

And the children were well fed

Then all the children said good night

As they all trooped off to bed

 

 

Malcolm Bradshaw