Pancake Day provides the perfect opportunity to enjoy some quality time with the kids. They love the idea of customising their sweet treats with their favourite toppings, but this year, why not take the fun up a notch with some simple but highly effective kids pancake art?
Whatever their age, why not invite a pancake elephant round for tea this Shrove Tuesday? Or pick them a fruit-packed flower pancake? Intrigued? Spatulas at the ready, here are some of our favourite pancake ideas for kids.
Did you know that most babies can start to recognise a face from approximately 3 months old? We’ve come up with some roaring animal pancake ideas that will delight children of any age as their favourite furry friend stares back at them from their plate.
Banana and Yoghurt Elephant
Slice a banana lengthways and add either side of a medium sized pancake to make ears. Add eyes using a small scoop of natural yoghurt and pop a raisin in the middle. Remember to give him a trunk with alternate orange segments and apple slices! You could even slice a strawberry to give him a little mouth too, then add a drizzle of honey or syrup to take this fruity face to new jungle heights.
Pineapple and Strawberry Teddy Bear
Chop a pineapple ring in half and place either side of the pancake to create some ears. Next, arrange seedless orange segments into a big smile, using a sliced strawberry to add a cheeky tongue. Cut up grapes to create bright, round eyes and don’t forget to finish off with a cute raspberry button nose and a dusting of icing sugar to make this creation cuddle-worthy.
Pancakes are typically round, but they don’t have to be! Get your squeezy bottles ready and try your hand at some fun pancake art designs instead...
Friendly Pink Panda
Separate the pancake mixture into 2/3 and 1/3. We suggest blending a handful of raspberries, strawberries and blackberries and mixing this in with the smaller portion of the pancake mixture. This should naturally turn it pink, but you can always add more fruit for a darker mixture. Put the two mixtures into separate squeezy bottles, making sure the tips of the bottles are thin and allow for a constant flow of liquid. Warm a non-stick frying pan until nice and toasty.
Begin by outlining the panda face by making a circle with the light mixture. Add pink ear outlines and then fill them in. Draw two small dots for the eyes before filling in a circle around each eye with the pink mixture. Add a nose, mouth and whiskers in pink, and fill in the space in the middle with the lighter mixture.
When your masterpiece is bubbling away, flip your pancake and cook on the other side. Once crispy and golden, plate up and dig in!
Fruity Flower Power
Add food colouring gel (or other alternatives such as brightly coloured fruits) to colour parts of your pancake mixture. We suggest having a large portion of green coloured mixture (try adding a dash of spinach for an extra green stem) and smaller batches of various colours for your petals.
Start with outlining and filling in the stem and leaves of your flower. Wait until this mixture is beginning to cook before adding the petals. We like to start with a circle and build our petals around it. For an extra flourish, add a scattering of edible glitter or sprinkles.
Top Tip: for some more challenging kids pancake art designs, try using a fried egg shaper or cookie cutter to keep your shapes in line.
These are just a few of our favourite kids pancake art ideas, but the possibilities are endless! Why not try some other easy pancake designs like superheroes, characters, letters or patterns? With special offers on tasty toppings and ready-made pancake mixtures, you’ll find everything you need for a flippin’ fantastic Pancake Day at your local convenience store.
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