Lace Heart Pancakes

Nothing says "I love you" like slaving over a hot oven creating intricate lace heart pancakes. Find out how to make them below.

Pancake art

In 2016 pancake art was a big deal. You couldn't scroll down your feed on Facebook or Instagram without seeing intricate portraits being drawn out with pancake batter and a squeezy bottle. Not long after the pancake art craze had really kicked off The Great British Bake Off made the contestants cook intricate lace pancakes as one of the challenges. I was never going to be able to draw a face out of pancake batter but a lace heart sounded achievable. From that point on I knew I had to give it a go.

Over six months later and here I am. I had intended to give these a try on Valentines Day - after all they are in the shape of a heart and a bit of a labour of love - but as ever work got in the way and so the idea for this post went back on the back burner. I finally got a chance to perfect my technique yesterday and after two hours of making and eating pancakes I finally got to snap my lace heart pancakes to share with you on the blog!

Tips for achieving perfect Lace Heart Pancakes

I'm not going to pretend that making these pancakes is super easy. Although you could probably make the batter blindfolded the piping does require some level of skill and as always practice makes perfect.

These 3 tips will help you get the perfect Lace Heart Pancake every time! (After the initial duff one!)

Draw out your design prior to piping

It helps to have a rough idea of what you are trying to achieve before you put squeezey bottle to frying pan. Try to keep your design simple and make sure there are big gaps so the batter doesn't bleed and run.

Get the pan super hot then take the pan off the heat while you pipe out the design

A super hot pan is essential for making pancakes but if you're a little slow at piping you will want to take it off the heat otherwise the start of your design will be burnt when the end is raw!

Use a squeezy bottle to pipe rather than an icing bag for greater control

You could pour your batter into an icing bag and if that's all you've got to hand then you should be fine. But to reach pro level you'll need a sturdy squeezy bottle.

The recipe

There's nothing all that special about this recipe. It's very similar to the batter used for a traditional thin "crepe" like pancake the only change being a spoonful of sugar for extra sweetness!

Serve with...

The simplest serving suggestion is simply a light dusting of icing sugar.

You could also drizzle them with lemon juice as you would with a traditional English pancake. This is definitely my favourite way of enjoying them!

If you're looking for something a little more decadent why not serve with hot fudge sauce, a salted caramel drizzle or even some whipped cream?

Of course there's also always fruit...

More pancake recipes

If you're looking for EVERY pancake recipe on the blog, including both sweet AND savoury recipes then check out my pancake recipe round up.