What is a pancake?

Posted by laughing_cat@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 62 comments

Hello, US person here. For us a pancake is basically a slightly thick crepe, but I've ordered pancakes in both Indonesia and Thailand and been served what we Americans call sponge cake. Something baked in a pan we'd ice with buttercream and serve at a birthday. I'm curious to know if they're going off of British terminology or if this just a local thing. Technically it definitely is cake baked in a pan.

The reason I thought it might be British is because on so many menus I've seen something called American breakfast, but it's usually just an english breakfast missing an item.

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Nyx_Necrodragon101@reddit

What Americans would call pancakes we call scotch pancakes. Although some places label them 'american style pancakes'. What I would call a pancake is more akin to a crepe: pouring batter cooked in a pan and then served with some sugar and lemon.

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Slight-Brush@reddit

In the UK a pancake for pancake day is a thin French-style crepe.

We are very familiar with smaller thicker US-style pancakes (which are not crepes at all; they have a raising agent)

There are some traditional cakes baked on flat griddles or pans - welshcakes, drop scones, Scotch pancakes, sponge drops - but none are called ‘pancakes’.

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AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

girdle scones

Lol. Sexy pancakes!

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Slight-Brush@reddit

Valid dialect term

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddle_scone

https://jeannieskitchen.me/category/treacle-scones/

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lagoon83@reddit

Yeah but they're still sexy though

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herefromthere@reddit

No, it is a typo. They said girdle scones instead of griddle scones.

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Slight-Brush@reddit

Follow the links

Girdle scones is a valid dialect term

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herefromthere@reddit

Thank you. TIL.

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AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

Well you learn something new every day!

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Boogerfreesince93@reddit

Now I want sexy pancakes.

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Careful_Release_5485@reddit

You need to edit your comment to say in England, not UK. In Scotland a pancake is what OP is describing. What they think of as American pancakes are a Scottish pancake.

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bulgarianlily@reddit

I assume an American breakfast is a full English without the black pudding and with a hash brown.

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Slight-Brush@reddit

Dangerous assumption - look at the links above!

And even in the US it might include pancakes, steak, country fries, grits etc that you wouldn’t find in an English one.

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ProfessionalEven296@reddit

In the UK, pancakes are crap (some say crepe, but they’re the posh people). Doused with sugar and lemon juice, and only eaten on Pancake Tuesday. Or never, if you have any tastebuds left.

In the USA, pancakes are thicker, not as sweet, and taste great with Peanut butter.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

Sugar and lemon juice? That's widely popular?

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horace_bagpole@reddit

It has to be the right sugar though. Freshly squeezed lemon juice and soft dark brown sugar, not granulated cane sugar or castor sugar.

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Blackjack_Davy@reddit

Lol yes they're thin crepe made from batter thats dropped into a frying pan it thins out to a thin sheet and cooked like that very rapidly in a couple of minutes then served up with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of sugar. My mother used to make them on Shrove Tuesday when they're traditionally eaten and were delicious

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Cheese-n-Opinion@reddit

Lemon and sugar is the default on English pancakes, (which are what you'd probably call a crepe), on pancake day (which is the day before lent, what you might know as Mardi gras).

Ignore the other person, it's a really delicious combination.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

I've had a pancake with honey and lime - it was good, but of course it will never be comfort food for me.

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ProfessionalEven296@reddit

Now you know why Pancakes aren't eaten much in the UK! :)

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Chester_Le_Street@reddit

In England, very much so. It's the traditional way to eat pancakes at Easter*, although the likes of Nutella etc are popular too these days.

Which is really the only time we eat them anyway.

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mulberrybushes@reddit

Don’t even get me started on flapjacks.

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Bright_Name_3798@reddit

I must insist that you go on at length about authentic flapjacks and flapjack pretenders.

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mulberrybushes@reddit

Ok so “American” flapjacks (and possibly Canadian??) are = pancakes.

UK flapjacks to my utter confusion when I learned about them, are what Americans might call a granola bar.

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Blackjack_Davy@reddit

They're superficially similar to granola bars but not really the same at all they're moist and slightly gooey and quite soft. They're basically oatcakes but made with syrup

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mulberrybushes@reddit

Except the ones that you get in a health food store or Co-op that pretend to be flapjacks but have no syrup.

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Blackjack_Davy@reddit

Sounds awful lol

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Slight-Brush@reddit

I discovered on this thread that many Americans know UK flapjack (or something close to is) as 'Hudson Bay Bread' - apparently it has a long and illustrious, if somewhat niche, history as 'energy rations' for scouts and outdoor pursuits in the US.

https://kitchen-catastrophe.com/kitchen-catastrophe/kc-316-hudson-bay-bread

https://www.holry.org/HudsonBayBread

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Blackjack_Davy@reddit

Yes thats it or as near as dammit

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Magnus_40@reddit

Just to clarify a little, pancakes are not the same over the whole of the UK. In Scotland pancakes are like the American style pancakes often called dropped scones. The Scottish pancake was exported with the emigrant Scots to the new world and then exported from there to the rest of the world as 'American style pancakes'.

Scottish pancakes are the original American style whereas the rest of the UK have crepe style.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the history on that. My mother's family came from Ireland and her recipe was more like a crepe, but we put jelly on them, not syrup. I don't know if that's French or what, but it's very uncommon in the Us.

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herefromthere@reddit

Jam on pancakes is very traditional. Perhaps more so than golden syrup and lemon juice, or sugar and lemon juice.

It's the same batter as Yorkshire puddings. If you've made too many Yorkshire puddings (something I don't believe is physically possible), you have them for desert with jam in.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

Thank you - that's interesting. veryone keeps saying yorkshire pudding recipe lol. I finally googled it and yes, those are the ingedients. I can make that in my sleep without even measuring lol.

But I pour the batter in a pan and fry them in butter.

Yorkshire pudding sounds delicious.

I'm traveling SE Asia and ordered sticky toffee pudding, which I'd heard of, but never had. It was pretty much the best thing I've ever eaten! My mom used to make an oatmeal cake that was similar. I wish she was still here so I could make her a sticky toffee pudding.

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herefromthere@reddit

You might be interested in a traditional cake from Yorkshire called Parkin. It's a heavy, spiced oat cake (it's best not fresh, everything gets stickier and richer and it's sugary enough that it's practically indestructable)

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TheHeianPrincess@reddit

My mum’s Scottish and I grew up always thinking pancakes were thick and slightly smaller. I was disgusted the first time I was served a crepe and refused to eat it, stating it wasn’t a pancake 😂 To this day I only make Scottish pancakes, but got over the crepe disgust.

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thatscotbird@reddit

You don’t want to be in the same room as me when I order a pancake and someone brings a fucking crepe 💀😂

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TheHeianPrincess@reddit

Username checks out 110% 😂

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spynie55@reddit

Also Scottish, can confirm the disappointment felt when someone describes something as a pancake when it turns out not to be…. But I will still eat it! Crepes and blini, they’re all good ( just not quite as good as my granny’s)

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Sensitive-Donkey-205@reddit

Northern England checking in, Scottish style here too.

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Cybermanc@reddit

North East England checking in, always crepe style here. Never seen the Scottish/US ones unless specifically requested.

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Professional_Yam4775@reddit

I think what you have been served might also be translated as a traybake?

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

I googled that and it seems to be what we'd call a sheet cake? A big rectangular cake cut into squares? What I'm referring to is cooked in it's own little round pan, although I guess the shape is a minor distinction - my "issue" with it is it's sponge cake.

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Viviaana@reddit

you know indonsesia and thailand aren't in britain right? lol why would this be a question for us?

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

I explained that in my OP, but will go into more detail. Pancakes are served here as a western dish. Here, "west" means lots of things -- it can mean UK, Australia and Europe. Sometimes US, but the US is so far away they mostly don't try.

I've assumed the meaning of pancake was lost in translation, but it occurred to me maybe that's how they are in the UK or Australia.

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Careful_Release_5485@reddit

A pancake is a very thick crepe but sweeter. Fried in a frying pan. In Scotland, (that's where Americans pancakes come from), we usually have these as a snack or a breakfast item on special occasions - like mothers day or a birthday.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

Thanks! Yes, the fat fluffy pancake is very popular in the US. I prefer them more like a crepe, but no one else in my family does.

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Cheese-n-Opinion@reddit

Hello US person.

In England and Wales the default pancake is the same thing as a crepe. In Scotland it is more like what Americans call a pancake, with baking powder to give it a bit of rise.

Nowhere to my knowledge would call a sponge cake a 'pancake', this seems like maybe a local translation thing.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

Thank you -- that's what I was asking.

And lost in translation is my suspicion as well. I should ask Australians first, though. There's a very strong Aussie influence in this part of the world.

And I bet the locals think it's really strange. When I ordered it today, the waiter looked really worried. I can only speculate as to why.

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littlerabbits72@reddit

Scotch Pancakes or Drop Scones do not contain any baking powder.

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Cheese-n-Opinion@reddit

Yes they do.

Maybe you use a recipe with self-raising flour, but that's just flour with baking powder pre-mixed?

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Financial-Glass5693@reddit

Thicker than a crepe, thinner than an American pancake. Generally the diameter of the whole pan. The first one will be bad, no one really knows why (they might, but I’ve just accepted it)

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

Thanks, that's how I make them at home. My mom's family was from Ireland and she made them the way her mom did and the recipe was handed down from many years ago. We always put jelly on them, not syrup.

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bulgarianlily@reddit

The first one is the ‘dog pancake’.

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Financial-Glass5693@reddit

I am the dog. Chef scraps are the best!

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DazzlingClassic185@reddit

The second or third will end up in the washing up water, because the cook got a bit too cocky after a successful flip or two.

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blueskyjamie@reddit

Season the pan twice, then start the first pancake, should be ok

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Ok_Neat2979@reddit

As someone who has spent a lot of time in Thailand and Indonesia and had a lot of pancakes there, it just depends on the cafe owner. All listed as pancakes, but some arrive and are like crepes, and others that are like the fluffier cake type. Luck of the draw I guess.

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laughing_cat@reddit (OP)

I understand that. It happens just often enough I almost never order pancakes. I don't speak Thai or Indonesian so it's difficult to ask before ordering. And then there are things you wouldn't think to ask even if you did speak the language -- once my pancakes came out topped with a pile of scrambled eggs lol

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In England a pancake is thin served with lemon and sugar.

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Dogsafe@reddit

Here, pancakes are slightly thicker crepes. They don't have any leavening in them.

What we call American pancakes are thicker and fluffier, leavened with baking powder and/or whipped egg whites.

I'd link you to some pictures or recipes but I don't know if this sub blocks links.