Stories
Pancake Day 2023
The tastiest day of the year is here and at Useful Vision we’ve curated some tips and tricks for mastering perfect pancake stacks.
Our friends at the RNIB have a whole host of tips and resources to make cooking accessible to those with a visual impairment, including:
Adapted equipment: From talking scales and measuring jugs to adapted peelers and colour-contrast chopping boards, there is a wide variety of adapted equipment to assist visually impaired people in the kitchen and around the house.
Labelling: Braille labels can be created to use on food products and containers or you could try tactile markers. For example, you could label items with elastic bands by using one elastic band round tins of chopped tomatoes, two bands round tins of baked beans and so on.
Organising: Kitchen organisation is key to successful cooking. Perkins recommend grouping similar items together, storing them close to where they are used, always returning items to the same place and store multiples of items one-behind another.
You can find more cooking and kitchen tips here.
Once the kitchen is sorted and you’re confident to cook – it’s time to crack on with the pancakes!
Here’s our quick and easy batter recipe to make 8 classic pancakes – you will need:
- 100g plain flour
- 300ml milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp oil of choice
- A pinch of salt
- Toppings of your choice, such as lemon, sugar, golden syrup, and fresh fruit.
Recipe
STEP 1: Mix the flour, salt and egg in a large mixing bowl and whisk.
STEP 2: Slowly add the milk to the bowl while continuing to stir. Once your mixture is smooth it’s ready to cook!
STEP 3: Pour a 2-3 table spoons of mixture into a hot, oiled frying pan and cook for a 1-2 minutes. (Always supervise children when cooking!)
STEP 4: It’s time to flip and repeat on the other side.
Flipping can be the trickiest bit of pancake making, try a non-stick pan and thin spatula to get perfectly tossed pancakes. Alternatively, Blindingly Good Food suggest a cooking tip to enjoy these tasty treats without splatting batter on the floor… put your frying pan filled with pancake batter into the oven to ensure an evenly cooked delicious pancake, avoiding flipping altogether! You could also try a hinged flip pan, which aims to cook items on both sides and great for other food too such as eggs, bread and omelettes.
STEP 5: Plate up your pancakes, add your favourite toppings and enjoy!
At Useful Vision HQ, we’ve been daydreaming about tucking into some tasty pancakes when we get home. We asked the staff what their favourite toppings were:
‘Chocolate and strawberries!’ – Sophie, Team Leader
‘It has be banana!’ – Lorna, Activities Coordinator
‘I’m quite traditional, I just love maple syrup on my pancakes!’ – Rebecca, Trustee
‘I actually don’t like pancakes that much, I much prefer savoury food, but if i had to choose it would be Honey.’ – Judith, Administrator
‘I can’t wait to get home and have pancakes for tea! I just love the classic lemon and sugar combo on a super thin crispy crepe.’ – Caitie, Communications Officer