Monstrously Good Pancakes with a Hotel Transylvanian Twist

Hotel Transylvania 2 is now available to watch on Digital HD, and will be available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray on February 15th, and to celebrate its release, Sai Pancakes has made some monstrously good pancakes based on the characters.  Take a look at the pancake art in this video - it is genius! Drac, Mavis, Wayne, Dennis, Mummy and Blobby all get the pancake treatment and the results are excellent.

       

Using this as inspiration for our own Pancake Day treats, we have had a go at making some monstrous pancakes of our own! I'm under no illusion that I would ever be able to create something as wonderful as the Hotel Transylvania 2 pancakes in the video, so I decided to come up with a easy to make, wholesome, savoury pancake with a fun Hotel Transylvanian twist.

I used Blobby as the character for our pancake design. Using defrosted chopped frozen spinach in the recipe, we created a green batter which still has chunks of leaf in it, making the end result resemble Blobby after he has gone through bushes, getting greenery stuck in his jelly body! Instead of making a round pancake, I let the batter settle in an irregular blobby shape in the pan and finished him off with some cheese and raisin eyes. A blood-like tomato ketchup 'Blobby' written on the plate completes the dish, making a healthy teatime treat that the kids will love. Perfect to eat while watching Hotel Transylvania 2!

Hotel Transylvania 2 picks up the story after vampire Mavis and human Johnny's wedding. The loved up couple soon add to their family with the birth of their new monster/human baby Dennis. The red haired little lad seems to take after his dad's side of the family, and isn't showing any signs of his vampire blood, making Drac a bit concerned. So when Mavis and Johnny go on vacation to the human world, Drac enlists his monster friends to help bring out the monster in his grandson. When old school vampire and human hating Great Grandpa Vlad pays the family a visit for Dennis's birthday, things soon get out of hand. With the family under threat we get to see everyone's true colours!

We loved this sequel! The mix of hilarious, madcap monster action with some very emotional and touching family moments, makes this a great movie. The characters are fun, the humour is spot on, there are some great observations on family (and humanity as a whole) and there are some genuinely moving scenes. The cast of actors bringing their voice talents to the film include Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Adam Samberg and Mel Brooks. We loved that Nick Offerman and Megan Mulally (from Parks and Recreation) play Mike and Linda, who are Johnny's parents. The film is 89 minutes long and is a certificate U, perfect for family viewing.

Hotel Transylvania is out now on Digital HD and on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray & DVD 15th February.

#MapleVLemon - The Pancake Day Challenge

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.

Banana and Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Syrup and Walnuts Recipe

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, which meant one thing....pancakes!

This year we got a bit more inventive than just serving them up with lemon and sugar, and here is one of the recipes I came up with for a dairy free banana and blueberry pancake, served with warm maple walnuts and fresh fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup.  It was a delicious combination.

The pancake recipe itself is really quick and easy and involves no weighing of the ingredients.  It can easily be scaled up to serve more people. 

Banana and Blueberry Pancake with Walnuts and Maple Syrup

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup milk (we made them dairy free using Alpro Almond Milk)

1 free range egg

1 mashed banana

handful of blueberries

groundnut oil

walnuts, strawberries, blueberries, sliced banana and maple syrup to serve

Method

Mix the milk and egg together and gradually add to the flour to make a smooth, thick batter.

Stir through the mashed banana.

Heat a little oil in a pan until hot.

Spoon in a ladle of the batter.

When the underside is set, sprinkle over a handful of blueberries and turn briefly to cook through.

Meanwhile pop the walnuts in the pan with a squeeze of maple syrup and heat through.

Serve the pancake with extra banana slices, blueberries and strawberries and the warm maple walnuts.

Drizzle over more maple syrup and enjoy!

This recipe makes about six medium pancakes.

Pancake Day with Lyle's Golden Syrup

If you are looking for something sweet and scrummy to serve with your pancakes on Shrove Tuesday then look no further than these easy to squeeze Lyle's Golden Syrup bottles in Original Golden Syrup and Maple Flavoured Golden Syrup varieties. Priced at just £1 each you can find them in supermarkets ready for Pancake Day!  Just squeeze over your freshly cooked pancakes and enjoy! 

If you are looking fpr a super simple pancake recipe to serve up with your Lyle's Golden Syrup, here is a video of Kizzy making No Recipe Pancakes.  Great for the kids to make as all they need is a cup to measure out equal parts flour and milk, then add an egg and mix together.


                                

Pancake Pile-Up Game Review

Pancake Pile-Up! is a great way to enjoy Pancake Day this year (and it's completely calorie free!) 

It is a fun relay race game where you stack 'em high and serve 'em up according to the illustrations on the order cards.  Using their spatulas, little ones race to find the right pancakes in the right order and stack them on the paper plate topped with a pat of butter, to win the game.

We were sent the game to try out together.  I loved the pancakes which are soft to touch and decorated with strawberries, bananas, choc chips and blueberries.  They sit well on the spatulas ready to race.  The game comes with order cards and the idea is for the players to collect the pancakes in order to make up the required stack as quickly as possible. The bottom of the box doubles up as a griddle for the pancakes throughout the game, which is a nice touch. It's fast, it's fun and can be played with two players or teams.

This is a game of speed, co-ordination, concentration and sequencing.  It enhances memory skills and children can practice ordering.  Children learn to pay attention and take turns if they play in teams.  Balance and hand-eye co-ordination is enhanced and gross motor skills are developed.  Kids are up and active as they race to complete the order in this physical game.  It is a great activity for rainy days or for when Freddy has friends round to play.

Freddy loved playing the relay race with his sisters, but he also loved using the game for role play.  He enjoyed serving us up stacks of pancakes matching the orders to the cards.  We talked about all the different flavours of pancakes available and he practiced his counting skills as he served up our pancakes. So the play value of this game goes way beyond the rules!

The game is suitable for children aged 4 and up.  Freddy is 4 and it was perfect for him. It really is a lovely game which doubles up as a short order chef play set!

Pancake Pile-Up! can be purchased online from Learning Resources priced at £14.95 + VAT.

February In Pictures

Pancake Day!

I have eaten my body weight in pancakes.  Chocolate pancakes with Nutella and Scotch pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream.  What a lot of stodgy, batter-y goodness!  I've over indulged but my belly is happy...it's the little pleasures that make life worth living!

Pancakes with Maple Syrup

I love getting in the kitchen with the kids and getting our pancake production line in full swing: mixing, frying, tossing, topping and eating!  Fred wasn't too impressed with his pancake, but I think he was expecting cupcakes making the flat little offering a disappointment!

However, the rest of us had his share!

Pancakes!

I hope you had a good Pancake Day and enjoyed your own carb-laden treats today, however you enjoyed them!  Next stop....Lent!

Pancakes are Flipping Great!

Get Shrove Tuesday off to a cracking start with Aldi's range of great value pancake goodies.  Whether you go traditional and opt for lemon and sugar, or if you prefer a sweeter, stickier topping of Golden Syrup, Aldi has a fabulous selection of treats to top your pancake.  They also have pancake mixes or ready made pancakes to make things as simple as possible on Pancake Day!

Special Buys on sale from 16^th February for as long as stocks last:

Classic Pancakes – 99p, 480g (pack of 8)

Classic Pancake Mix – 69p, 232g (10 servings)

Fiddes Payne Vanilla  Sugar – £1.09,

Golden Syrup – £1.19, 680g

Lemon Juice – 29p, 200ml

Available in stores nationwide all year round:

Dairyfine Milk Chocolate Buttons – 35p, 70g

Grandessa Pure Canadian Maple Syrup – £2.99, 250ml

Grandessa Hazelnut Chocolate Spread – 99p, 350g

We had a trial run for Pancake Day using the Aldi goodies and we had a go at their  Flipping Good Fun Pancake Challenge.  Take a look at the Aldi Video to find out more and take part for yourself!

Here is our Pancake Challenge video...see how I got on!  How many flips did I do?

Find out more about Aldi's offers at Aldi.co.uk.

I hope you have Flipping good fun on Tuesday!!