It’s Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, which is just a fancy way of saying Fat Tuesday. What could be more fattening than pancakes? Well chocolate and cream pancakes filled with 100% cacao, honey and clotted cream?
I have a block of Willie’s Venezuelan Black 100% cacao which has been lurking in the cupboard for some time now. I say lurking, because I’ve been feeling rather shame faced about my uncertainty as to what to do with it. However, on the train home this evening I had a bright idea – pancakes!
Grating some of Willie’s cocoa into and on top of the pancakes would make a change to the traditional lemon and sugar. When I got home, CT reminded me that we had some clotted cream in the fridge – ooohhh.
Pancake Day
I love Pancake Day. I grew up in a frugal household and money was tight. Pancake Day was one of those occasions where we had a veritable carb fest. The pancakes were of the English variety and we filled them with cheese sauce as a main course, then had them with sugar and lemon for pudding. Yum!
Pancake Day falls 47 days before Easter and the day before Ash Wednesday, so somewhere between 3rd February and 9th March. Traditionally, it’s known as Shrove Tuesday. Christians confess their sins before Lent and thus are said to be ‘shriven’. It was also a time to clear the house of any rich foods, especially eggs, before the big fast when those foods could no longer be eaten. For this reason Pancake Day is also called Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) in parts of Europe and many South American countries.
Chocolate and Cream Cornish Style Pancakes
The pancakes are traditional style British pancakes, only I make them with wholemeal spelt flour. I’ve only every made pancakes with wholemeal flour and they work splendidly.
So, CT made the wholemeal pancakes and I drizzled some honey over the top. I then grated on a wee bit of cacao and finished them off with a healthy dollop of organic Cornish Clotted Cream. All I then had to do was roll them up and grate on a bit more cocoa. Venezuelan Black meets Cornish White CT quipped as we wolfed them down.
These chocolate and cream pancakes were a heavenly match of bitter black and creamy white. I hadn’t had Willie’s cocoa before and boy was it powerful. It says 100% on the packet and I believe it. A little goes a very long way, which is just as well as this is a gourmet product with a price to match.
These chocolate and cream pancakes work equally well rolled up in rye sourdough pancakes. You’ll need to have a rye sourdough starter though of course.
Resting the Batter
You don’t have to rest the batter for 30 minutes before cooking, but it helps to stop the pancakes tearing or breaking up if you do. It allows the glutens to develop which hold the batter together.
Other Recipes Using Willie’s Cacao
Since writing this recipe, I’ve used Willie’s Cacao a number of times. I find it really handy to have a block in the cupboard ready to grate over dishes when a dusting of chocolate is called for.
- Banana chia pudding
- Banana matcha smoothie
- Dried mushroom risotto with cacao
- Healthy chocolate puffs
- Salted caramel chocolate milkshake
- Willie’s cloud forest chocolate cake
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these chocolate and cream pancakes or a variation of them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more pancake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Chocolate Cream Pancakes. PIN IT.
Chocolate and Cream Pancakes – The Recipe
Chocolate and Cream Pancakes
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 115 g wholemeal spelt flour (4oz)
- pinch fine sea or rock salt
- 2 eggs medium to large
- 240 ml milk (8 fl oz)
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- butter or oil for frying (optional)
Chocolate & Cream
- 10 g 100% chocolate finely grated
- 120 g clotted cream
- 8 tsp honey
Instructions
- Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl. Discard any extra large bits of bran left in the sieve if liked. Otherwise, throw them into the bowl.115 g wholemeal spelt flour, pinch fine sea or rock salt
- Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs.2 eggs
- Stir from the inside out, adding the milk as you go along until all of the flour is mixed in.240 ml milk
- Add the oil and whisk thoroughly.1 tbsp sunflower oil
- Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
- Turn the oven on to its lowest setting and place a plate inside to warm up.
- Warm an 18cm (7") frying pan on a medium heat (I set mine to 3 out of a possible 5).
- Depending on how good a non-stick pan it is, you may or may not want to brush it with a little oil. I add a tiny peice of butter to mine.butter
- Pour in 3-4 tablespoons of batter. You want just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Tilt the pan so the batter covers the bottom in a thin layer.
- Cook for about three minutes, then turn the pancake over with a wide spatula and cook on the other side for a further 30 seconds.
- Turn out onto the warm plate and put back in the oven. Alternativley you can serve it immediately and let the recipient put the toppings on.
- Repeat the process until all the batter is used up, stacking the cooked pancakes on top of each other. You should get eight pancakes if you make them in a medium sized pan.
- Drizzle a tsp of honey over each pancake, grate over a little cacao, then dollop with a heaped tsp of clotted cream. Eat as is or roll up and grate a little more cacao over the top.10 g 100% chocolate, 120 g clotted cream, 8 tsp honey
Nickki says
These pancakes sound absolutely luxurious. What a lovely weekend treat!
Choclette says
You are so right. Just wondering when I can justify making them again.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
I definitely don’t need it to be Pancake Day for me to absolutely inhale these pancakes!
Choclette says
Inhaling is a good start, but I find eating them is the most satisfying bit 😉
Choclette says
Thanks Jagruti – glad you found my blog.
Jagruti says
Hi
first time here..stumbled down from another blogroll…oh boy! you have a great collection of recipes..making me drool..I’ll come back for more..following you..;-))
Choclette says
Cinnamon Girl – yes the clotted cream was an inspiration, just lucky we had some in the fridge.
Celia – thank you for reminding me where it was I saw 3 recipes made with one block of Willie’s cocoa.
Hannah – glad the feelings were reciprocated.
FoodieCat – having just burnt a pan with the savoury filling designed to go in our pancakes just beforehand, we were very pleased to manage near perfect pancakes when it came to making those.
Foodycat says
Oh wow! Chocolate and clotted cream in a pancake! It’s a lovely looking pancake too. Mine rarely have that perfect lightly speckled with brown look.
Hannah says
Thanks for visiting my blog – I feel like I just discovered a second Christmas, having found a blog all about cooking with chocolate!! Am bookmarking and coming back soon :o)
figjamandlimecordial says
Great idea! The gorgeous Zeb sent me two blocks of Willie’s cacao, and I still have one left…
Cinnamon-Girl♥ says
These sound so decadent with the chocolate and clotted cream! Heavenly!
Choclette says
Chele – And there I was waiting to see what sort of pancakes you’d made!
Chele says
I missed out on pancake day this year owing to my college course ;0(
Will be remembering this idea for next year though lol. Yum!
Choclette says
Lucie – he has a book which is on my wish list – I’ve heard lots of good things about it. He also had a tv series I believe all about his chocolate factory in Devon and his Chocolate plantation in Venezuela but as I don’t have a TV, I didn’t get to see it.
e – good to hear from another librarian indeed. Hope to hear from you again.
Mangocheeks – yes I ummed and ahhed over the chocolate when I saw it. The price is quite a hefty one – that’s part of the reason I’ve been rather scared to use it. I have heard others say that you can make several things with one block of chocolate
Kath – You are one up on me, I still haven’t tried Vahlrona. I think I really ought to just take a deep breath and stick a bar in my basket next time I see it.
Issy – with Willie?
Nic – used to do a lot of team kitchen work, but the kitchen we have now is a galley kitchen with a very small galley and we have found it generally more harmonious to matrimonial relations if we only have one person in there at a time! With the odd exception of course.
Suelle – you’re right, lemon, chocolate and clotted cream don’t sound an ideal combination, but strangely it seemed to work with the pancakes Yes I have got my eye on the cloud forest cake you have made. I’ve been tempted to get the book for ages and I can feel I’m getting nearer the point when I shall finally succumb..
Suelle says
I’d have been tempted to use cherry jam in those pancakes rather than lemon – I’m not convinced about lemon and chocolte together. It sounds a good use of Willie’s Cacao, while you’re looking for a recipe to make good use of it. I love this product, although I only buy it for celebratory occasions such as birthdays and Christmas. It’s far too expensive for everyday use, unless you restrict yourself to a sparing use of it. You should try some of his own recipes for it, as it’s not that easy to adapt other chocolate recipes to use it!
nic @ nipitinthebud says
just goes to show that the finest ingredients go a long way in the taste department. Like the kitchen team work too :o)
Issy says
I’m in love!
Kath says
Well I can tell you that I have eaten some chocolate in my time! I would love to say Vahlrona, but I can never (or should I say rarely) quite bring myself to spend that much money on a bar of chocolate. At the moment I tend to use Lindt 70% cocoa when I cook. Like you I have noticed that the quality of Green & Black’s has diminished a lot, but I didn’t realise the reasons for it until I read your post about it. Now I am worried about how obsessed I am with chocolate!! Worry, worry worry.
mangocheeks says
Thats so funny Choclette.
When I was in Edinburgh, I saw blocks of Willies cocoa and then saw the price. I was still going to get this gourmet product, but then decided against it – the reason like yours what was I going to with with it!?
But pancakes, yeah what a great idea with clotted cream, even better.
e says
Very nice blog…I came over from Mangocheeks after noticing a comment you made about having a librarian’s practised eye…
Nice to meet another librarian!
Lucie says
I have not heard of Willie’s Cocoa, perfect way to use it. Looks yummy.
Choclette says
Kath there’s enough worrying to do about chocolate without feeling bad about that. Like what you enjoy and be proud of it. What chocolate would you recommend?
Kath says
A very nice way of eating your shrove pancake. Hard to beat I should say. I am a bit ambiguous about Willie’s chocolate. I have tried a few varieties now and I find them to be a bit grainy. Maybe it’s just me though. I feel bad not loving them as I feel I should.