Today is Pancake Day, the one day of the year when eating an excess of pancakes is deemed acceptable. Freddy and Kizzy love pancakes and need no encouragement when it comes to consuming them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Making a big batch of pancake batter and cooking them up for the family is a tradition that we really enjoy. The kids wait patiently for each pancake to be tossed and served before adding their own topping.
This year we have taken part in the #MapleVLemon challenge with Clarks. I gave everybody a choice between traditional lemon juice and white sugar or maple syrup as a topping for their pancakes that we made for a lovely Pancake Day brunch.
Maple syrup contains 45% less sugar gram for gram than refined sugar, making it the healthier choice. But would it prove to be the most popular choice for my family?
I had both of the toppings laid out on the table and it didn't take long for both Kizzy and Freddy to choose maple syrup as their topping of choice, squeezing it liberally on top of their pancakes. In fact, the lemon juice and sugar option remained redundant. The children loved the taste, texture and sweetness of the maple syrup. And Freddy loved getting to squeeze it out of the bottle.
I think it is safe to say that in the #MapleVLemon challenge, my family definitely took the side of Team Maple. Both Ian and myself also opted for the maple syrup, which is an ingredient I use quite regularly in recipes.
Of the eight pancakes we made, the maple syrup to lemon juice ratio was 8:0. A resounding success for our Clarks Maple Syrup.
For some other ideas for pancake toppings and fillings, take a look at this blog post I previously wrote for Clarks Maple Syrup with recipe ideas for breakfast, dinner and dessert pancakes, all featuring maple syrup as an ingredient.
Posts written in conjunction with Clark's Maple Syrup but all opinions and recipe ideas are my own.