For many people around the world, Shrove Tuesday – the traditional feast day marking the day before the Christian period of Lent – is now associated almost exclusively with one thing: pancakes.
Pancakes come in all shapes and sizes and are eaten by cultures all over the world. From French crêpes to American griddle cakes and Indian dosas, these versatile circles of fried batter offer endless opportunities for sweet and savoury indulgence.
But however you enjoy them, a smidge of science can go a long way towards making this Pancake Day a resounding success (as long as you don't get carried away and flip one on the floor). We've enlisted the help of materials chemist and food scientist Prof Matt Hartings and professor of fluid mechanics Ian Eames to bring some scientific rigour to your favourite pancake recipes.
1. Swap normal milk for buttermilk
Most pancake recipes use some kind of milk. But if you want that perfect stack of American fluffy pancakes – you know, the ones with a bit of butter slowly melting on top – then you should swap normal milk for its fermented cousin, buttermilk.
Buttermilk can be substituted for milk in equal amounts in most recipes. “For me, the best pancakes need to be made with buttermilk,” explains Hartings. “This ingredient brings such an irreplaceable punch of flavour that I don’t make pancakes without it.
“Some of the important molecules in buttermilk include diacetyl, which has a buttery aroma; a number of aldehydes and ketones, which can be floral and fruity; savoury amino acids; and acids – lactic acid and citric acid, among others.
“These acids are doubly important in that, along with adding flavour, they are part of the one-two punch that makes pancakes rise. These acids react with the baking soda in the batter to make the carbon dioxide that causes pancakes to fluff up during cooking.”
Don’t have any buttermilk lying around at home today? Adding a squeeze of lemon juice (we recommend a tablespoon for every 250 ml of milk) into the batter will have the same effect as the acid in buttermilk, giving your pancakes that perfect bubbly texture.
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2. Add some melted butter to your batter
If you’re looking for the classic golden-brown colouring on your American pancake stack, then this step is non-negotiable. Why? As Hartings says: “The buttered batter helps you get a perfectly golden-browned pancake from edge to edge.
“The brown colour doesn’t fully come from the butter, though. That beautiful brown colour and the flavours associated with it are products of the Maillard reaction.”
The Maillard reaction is a complex process that occurs when sugars and proteins are exposed to heat, producing compounds known as melanoidins. These compounds are what make food look brown when cooked and give it its distinctive flavour too.
Seared stakes, bread, toasted marshmallows and, yes, pancakes, are all undergoing these reactions when we cook them.
“While butter can play a role in generating the chemical components that are part of the Maillard, the butter is most important here for ensuring consistent thermal contact between the pancake batter and the hot pan,” Hartings says.
Try melting roughly a quarter of the amount of flour by weight and adding the melted butter to the mix at the same time as the milk.
Pro-tip: Maillard reactions favour non-acidic environments. This means that if you are using buttermilk, adding a touch more baking soda than the recipe says can help create that perfect browning you’re after.
3. Use the golden ratio
Unlike their fluffy American relatives, British pancakes are much thinner and wider. According to Eames, who wrote an entire scientific paper all about how to make the perfect pancake, the secret to any good pancake relies on knowing how to best balance your ingredients.
“The characteristics of your pancake are determined by the Baker’s ratio,” he says, which is roughly equivalent to the volume of milk in your batter in millilitres divided by the mass of flour in grams.
“The ratio is an indication of how much liquid is in your pancake mixture, and the thinness of the pancake. Compared to other countries, the British pancake tends to be quite thin and wide and the pancake mixture has a high milk content as a result.”
Eames’ research concluded that the correct Baker’s ratios are approximately:
- 1 for American-style pancakes
- 2 for British pancakes
- 3 for French crêpes
Sounds like too much maths to you? If you’re trying to make a British pancake, Eames recommends using 200 ml of milk and 100 g of flour with 1 or 2 eggs.
4. Give it a rest!
We know what it’s like on Pancake Day. All you want to do is dash home and wolf down your weight in fried batter in as little time as possible. You could be tempted to rush things. But try not to.
Why? Well, if it’s thin pancakes you’re after, leaving the batter to rest for half an hour or so is an essential step.
The reason for this lies in flour's protein, glutenin. This protein starts out inactive, but when mixed with water, it stretches and connects with other gluten molecules. This forms a network that traps air bubbles, which is great if you’re after thick, fluffy pancakes, but less ideal for the traditional, thinner kind.
Leaving your mix to rest for a while allows the flour to fully absorb the liquid, which makes your pancakes lighter, and gives the gluten time to relax so the pancakes are less prone to forming those pesky bubbles.
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About our experts
Matt Hartings is an associate professor of chemistry at American University, Washington. His research aims to develop new materials for 3D printing and environmental monitoring and explore how materials are made by biology. Hartings is also an expert on food and cooking chemistry and has authored a book on the topic titled Chemistry in Your Kitchen.
Ian Eames is a professor of fluid mechanics at University College London. His research interests cover fundamental fluid mechanics and engineering in extreme environments. His fun scientific paper on making the perfect pancakes formed part of a more serious study of biological membranes in the eye.