CANDLEMAS. As the pancake festival takes place this Friday, February 2, are you looking for a pancake batter recipe that is both classic and tasty? This article is made for you !
[Mis à jour le 29 janvier 2024 à 15h40] This Friday, February 2, it’s Candlemas and foodies are already salivating! If this festival is of Christian tradition, for many it is an opportunity to eat pancakes. Flour, eggs, milk and butter: after gathering the basic ingredients, it’s time to get to cooking. Do you know the real recipe for Candlemas pancakes? If everyone adds their secret ingredient (a few drops of beer, orange blossom or cinnamon), the main actions are the same for everyone and ensure a successful snack.
“Easy as pancakes”
- Classic recipe (ingredients for 4 people) : 250 grams of flour, 0.5 liters of milk, 50 grams of melted butter, 4 eggs, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 pinch of salt.
- Preparation : First, put some flour in a salad bowl. Then add sugar, eggs and melted butter. Then beat everything, adding milk little by little: you will obtain a fluid and smooth dough. It is then appropriate to let rest the dough at room temperature for one to two hours. An ultra-important phase, which should not be avoided.
- Cooking : After preparation and waiting time, you can pour the batter onto a heated pan. Don’t forget to spread oil on the pan between each pancake using a paper towel. Without this, it will be impossible to blow it up, as required by Candlemas tradition. To make it fly, first loosen it slightly with a spatula, then shake the pan, to ensure that the pancake is well detached. Afterwards, a sharp, firm flick of the wrist should give the expected result!
- Trim : Depending on taste, the accompaniment varies: sugar, chocolate, salted butter, honey, caramel, jam, chestnut cream, lemon, fruit… In short, the toppings for pancakes are endless. And there are also regional particularities: calvados and apples in Normandy, beer in the dough in Alsace…
This pancake festival is not just limited to France. It is also celebrated in Switzerland, Luxembourg and even in Mexico, where it is baptized Day of the candelaria ! Mexicans gather around tamales, a type of pancake with South American sauce. The celebration resembles that of the three wise men, since during Candlemas in Mexico, a kings cake is eaten, in which a bean representing the child Jesus is hidden. Whoever pulls the bean is responsible for preparing the tamales. This practice was exported by Mexican communities who settled all over the world. It is part of the intangible cultural heritage in France.
In Luxembourg, crepes are not the only stars of Candlemas. As eagerly awaited as in France by schoolchildren, Candlemas intersects somewhat with Halloween in the country. Children, equipped with colorful lanterns, called Liichtebengelcher and generally made in class, wander the streets in search of a few coins or sweets. In the United States and Canada, where the crepe is replaced by the pancake, Candlemas has given way to “Groundhog Day”, which consists of waiting patiently for a groundhog to come out of its burrow. Like a prediction, depending on the animal’s movements, we could know if the winter will be long.
Christianity appropriated the date of February 2, at least from the 4th century, before the event was made official by Pope Gelasius. On this day, Christians celebrate the presentation of Christ in the Temple, 40 days after Christmas, the day of his appearance in the world. During the presentation of Mary’s son, Simeon would have recognized the “divine nature” of Jesus. It is this sacred fact which will give Christians the meaning of Candlemas, where we will celebrate the light brought to the Earth. Believers will then develop the practice of lighting candles. Hence the name Candlemas, which comes from the Latin “Festa candelarum”, “candlelight festival“.