Every Recipe You’ll Need for a Truly Decadent Pancake Day

If you hadn’t noticed from the smell of burnt Teflon or sudden influx of squashed crepes on your Instagram feed, it’s Pancake Day: the last day before Lent when we’re all meant to give up Mars bars and think about Jesus getting lost in the desert. Or something.

Also known as Shrove Tuesday (from the word “shrive,” meaning to obtain absolution for one’s sins through penance and confession. Fun!), Pancake Day was traditionally celebrated in Britain as a way to use up rich foods like eggs and butter, before fasting in the 40 day lead-up to Easter Sunday.

You might not be giving up dairy for several weeks but who says you can’t partake in a big, battery blowout? Matty Matheson’s best ever pancake recipe is a good place to begin. Made with eggs, butter, and buttermilk, these fluffy babies say goodbye to earthly gastronomic pleasure in style.

Alternatively, you could start on the whole penance thing a little early. Forgo the demon white flour and try Julia Ziegler-Haynes’ recipe for buckwheat pancakes. Of course, you’ll still have to add bittersweet chocolate and douse the whole thing in berry coulis and whipped cream. No one likes a Sanctimonious Sally.

Still got animal fats lurking in your kitchen? Combine butter with maple syrup and honey for a decadent honeycomb topping, and dollop on a stack of Ken Addington’s brunch-favourite ricotta pancakes. Garnish with blueberries and enjoy while mulling over your imminent month of penance.

But if you want to get really lardaceous before Lent—as in: all-out, sex, drugs, ‘n’ extra oil luxuriousness—then look no further than red velvet pancakes with Cadbury’s Creme Egg sauce. You’ll have to endure 40 days of hard fasting to make up for these food colouring and condensed milk-infused treats but trust us, it’ll be worth it.