Award-winning cafés share their top tips for making perfect pancakes

Crepes or American style? Sweet or savoury? How do you eat your pancakes?

Flavia Popa opened Our Coffee Shop on Spital Road in Autumn 2018 with the community embracing the family business and “weaving a tight-knit bond”.

Last year, the popular place scooped Wirral’s Best for Dessert and Best for Afternoon Tea honours making Flavia a double award winner and perfectly placed to dish out some dessert advice when it comes to pancakes.

And Aroma Irby took home our Best Café or Coffee Shop title in 2023 with the Pyle family celebrating the win.

Who better to ask for some top tips on Pancake Day?

Flavia, who was born in Romania and has lived in Wirral for the past seven years, said: “We have lots of delicious pancakes on the menu both sweet and savoury – courgette pancakes with homemade berry compote and crème fraiche and vanilla pancakes with honey or maple syrup, mixed nuts and crème fraiche.

“Our Pancake Day special toppings will include Lotus Biscoff, strawberries and cream, double chocolate, Kinder Bueno and bacon and maple syrup.”

Pancakes topped with bacon and maple syrup (Image: Our Coffee Shop)

Here are Flavia’s top three tips:

1. First of all, they’re top secret! But my first piece of advice would be to make each one as if you were making them for your own children. This is what I do in the coffee shop and I make sure they’re made to perfection.
2. Always use the best ingredients – free range eggs, fresh milk etc
3. A splash of carbonated water – this is a secret ingredient and makes the fluffiest, most melt in the mouth pancakes.

Husband and wife team Victoria and Andrew Pyle opened the coffee shop – Aroma Irby - on Thingwall Road 13 years ago and their children Hannah and James have helped in between their studies.

Aroma Irby was crowned Best Café or Coffee Shop in our Best of 2023 awards so Victoria is perfectly placed to hand out some advice about the popular dessert – or breakfast – of choice on Pancake Day.

Victoria said: “Aroma Irby will be serving the pancake menu all day and we’ll be open for an after school treat right up until 4pm.

“Our pancake menu offers both sweet and savoury options so we can cater for all tastes and appetites.
“If you like yours with bacon and eggs – no problem – or we have the popular Oreo and Biscoff pancakes along with fresh fruit flavours.

“The sweet pancakes are all finished off with cream or ice cream and available for eat in our takeaway.”

Chocolate or strawberry or both? (Image: Aroma Irby)

Here are Victoria’s top three tips:

1. Mix the liquid ingredients together first forming bubbles and then add the dry ingredients.
2. Let the batter rest for five minutes
3. Always make sure your pan is hot and evenly heated.