IKEA everyday rituals
Sunday is pancake day
Denise and her family enjoy nothing more than Sunday morning pancakes. Sweet or savoury, there’s no better way to end the week - or cheer in the new one, than with a hearty stack.
Denise, a body piercer, and her husband Pedro, a tattoo artist, live in an apartment above their studio in the Portuguese seaside town of Parede, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Every Sunday, rain or shine, Denise and her family bring out the fancy tableware, heat up the pancake pan and get flipping. For lazy Sundays, it’s a full-on buffet with friends or visiting fellow tattoo artists, but for action-packed weekends it’s a simple stack with their favourite toppings. Even on camping trips, the pancake pan goes along too.
Denise and Pedro love savoury scrambled eggs and bacon served with honey or maple syrup, 11-year-old Petal likes sweet, fruity toppings with a dollop of yoghurt and her 8-year-old brother River – well, he just likes everything! This simple ritual has become sacred in their household. Growing up in a busy household in the UK with her mum and brothers, Denise recalls how conflicting schedules made family meals a challenge, “Life in England was quite hectic, so I just used to get something to eat quickly. It’s one of the things that I didn’t want for my family,” recalls Denise. Now she has her own family, togetherness is important, with mealtimes playing an important role. Although school runs disrupt breakfast plans, evening meals are when the family sits down together, “I just can’t imagine us all eating dinner at different times. I think It’s really important to chat about our day, maybe listen to music, just be together,” she admits.
When Denise and Pedro started their own family, Denise wanted to create a tradition that they could do together. That’s when her childhood love for pancakes was rekindled, “When I became a mum to Petal I just felt like this has to be a tradition, a ritual, we have to do pancakes all the time,” she recalls. Now that the kids are old enough, everyone chips in to help. Denise is in charge of the pancakes, “I’m usually on pancake flipping duty, because otherwise they’ll get burnt, but then everyone else gets everything ready. Pedro usually sets the table. Petal knows I like pretty plates, so she’ll go and get the best bowls and put everything into the right bowls so that it all looks pretty. Then River, he’ll try and steal half the food before it even hits the table, so that’s his contribution,” laughs Denise. English pancakes, American pancakes, even rainbow pancakes for birthdays; Denise has become something of a pancake aficionado. But what is the secret to the perfect pancake? “For fluffy American pancakes, the secret is to separate the eggs, make your egg whites fluffy, then add them to the batter,” reveals Denise. “Also, take your time, make them slowly, that helps,” she adds. Making pancakes slowly sounds like sound advice, but eating them slowly? That could prove to be too big a challenge.
Denise's Sunday pancakes
Ingredients 2 large eggs 125 ml milk 2 tbsp sugar 100 g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Separate the egg yolks and whites and whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks Add the milk and sugar to the egg yolk, then sift in the flour, baking powder and add the egg whites and mix.
Heat the frying pan and add a dash of oil, then pour in some pancake batter. When bubbles appear in the batter, flip the pancake over. When they're done, serve with your favourite topping!
