Pancake Season: Pancakes with lemon, orange and sugar.

- Makes 10 large pancakes – Ready in 30 minutes -

Best of all I love the traditional pancake flavours of citrus and sugar. Banana slices (mashed slightly) and honey also work well. Or try a handful of fresh berries (blueberries, chopped strawberries and raspberries) with a drizzle of maple syrup. Wrapping grated chocolate (instead of an overpackaged Flake bar) in a just-finished-cooking pancake, whilst it's still in the pan, and then rolling it up, is a really indulgent treat that's worth trying.

Gather together (for 10 large pancakes)...

2 medium free-range eggs.

1 pint (470 ml) of milk.

200g (1 and 1/4 slightly heaped cups) plain flour, sieved.

3 tbsp rapeseed oil / olive oil, in a cup / small bowl (for frying).

Plus...

Silicone brush.

3 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive oil decanted into a tea-cup (a little of this total amount to be brushed on the pan prior to adding each pancake).

Frying pan.

Metal / silicone long spatula or a fish slice.

½ cup (125ml) measure (for a large 28cm-diameter frying pan) or 1/3 cup measure (80ml) for a smaller frying pan.

Digital oven timer.

Squares of greaseproof paper (if you want to keep the pancakes warm in the oven).

Gather together for the filling...

2 or 3 lemons, quartered.

2 or 3 oranges, quartered.

10 tsp white caster sugar.

Or,

A Cadbury Flake (per pancake) but these are individually wrapped in plastic, so I prefer using 25g (approx. 6 squares) of milk chocolate per pancake, which is available wrapped in foil and paper from Sainsbury's (own-brand cooking chocolate) and from Green&Blacks (available at most supermarkets). The Green&Blacks chocolate has the added bonus of being palm-oil free too. I use a potato peeler (or a handheld cheese slicer) on the strip of milk chocolate squares, to re-create the delicate Flake texture.

Get making...

1. In a large jug, with a fork, mix together the 2 eggs, the 1 pint of milk and sieve in the 200g of plain flour. It will be lumpy. Blend until smooth with an electric handheld chopper for 30 - 60 seconds.

2. Preheat the oven to 150 C (130 C fan) or Gas 2, if wanting to make a batch of pancakes which need keeping warm. Ours are always eaten up the moment they leave the pan, but some of you might want a more civilised 'eating-together' pancake-day.

3. Brush a frying pan (I suggest a 28cm-diameter low-sided pan) generously with just-under-a-teaspoon of oil, using a silicone brush dipped in a tea-cup of oil.

4. Open the kitchen window, turn on the extractor fan and shut the connecting doors to the kitchen - pancake frying can make the whole house smell of oil!

5. On a MEDIUM heat, warm the frying pan (this will take circa 5 minutes for a cold pan) until the oil is properly hot and smoking slightly. Not waiting for the pan to heat up properly (i.e. evenly) means that often the first pancake you make is a disaster - as parts of it sticks whilst other parts burn - so be patient and let the pan heat up properly.

6. Pour any excess oil back into the cup of oil.

7.(a) Either (for a large 28cm-diameter frying pan): Pour ½ cup (125ml) of batter into the pan using a measuring cup, swirl the batter into a roughly circular shape - there is no need to cover the whole pan base as it is easier to flip if the pancake is smaller and thicker.

7.(b) Or (for a small frying pan): Pour 1/3 cup (80ml) of batter into the pan using a measuring cup and swirl the batter into a roughly circular shape.

As you can see, my pancakes are rarely circular - this one is more like an oak tree... Just let the pancake be the shape it 'wants' to be and you can then enjoy identifying what each mis-shapen pancake reminds you of!

8. Cook the pancake batter for 1 minute before giving the pan a firm side-to-side shake to see if the pancake has loosened from the pan (indicating that the underside has dried out i.e. cooked).

9. Once the underside is cooked, jiggle the pan until the pancake slides loosely from side to side - if needed ease a spatula or fish slice under the pancake if it is stuck to the pan in places. This sticking usually happens with the first pancake, but later pancakes will cook more evenly (as long as you replenish the oil all over the pan and let it heat up again) as the pan will be warmed through evenly.

10. Jiggle the pancake to the front edge of the pan and enthusiastically flip it in the air so it turns over.

11.(a) Either: If you were hesitant it won't have flipped over fully. If it lands in a crumpled heap in the pan, don't try and unfold it (it won't work and you will burn your fingers trying). Just accept it won't be a great looking pancake but it will still taste nice (if you cook it for about 30 seconds more) and vow to be more assertive when flipping the next one!

11.(b) Or: If you do flip the pancake successfully then let it continue to cook for 30 seconds before jiggling the pan to see if the base has dried out and loosened. If you do check underneath with the spatula / fish slice it will be a mottled golden brown. At this point remove the pancake from the heat.

12. Tip the pancake onto a dinner plate and serve (with lemon and orange quarters to squeeze over it and sugar to sprinkle on before rolling it up), or place the 'naked' pancake on a dinner plate in the preheated, cool-ish oven to keep warm whilst you make the rest. Put a square of greaseproof paper between each pancake in the stack you make to prevent them sticking together.

13. Before cooking the next pancake, wipe away any burnt bits with an old-but-clean tea-towel / cotton cloth, brush the pan with just-under-a-teaspoon of oil again and allow to heat over a MEDIUM heat until properly hot (and the oil is smoking slightly) before adding the next scoop of batter.

14. Enjoy!

Oh I do love a Flake-in-a-pancake, but I do hate the amount of single-use plastic associated with buying a Flake (or worse, the double-wrapped-ness of a multipack of Flakes). From now on I shall use 6 squares of foil and paper wrapped chocolate, carved with a potato peeler as an alternative pancake filling. Some foil and paper wrapped chocolate is palm oil free too - so it's a double hurrah if I can get hold of that!