Clueless Brits can't cook pancakes

New research* shows that Brits find pancake-making a real challenge – and it’s not just the predictable flipping and tossing catastrophes that happen on Shrove Tuesday. Ripping, sticking, burning and lumps are also the cause of many pancake traumas and 75 per cent of people don’t even know the ingredients needed for the basic pancake mix.

A third of those surveyed by British Lion eggs have experienced their pancakes ripping or falling apart in the pan and 30 per cent have suffered from them sticking. Around a quarter have produced a lumpy mixture or burnt them. And 13 per cent have problems with pancakes falling on the floor or sticking to the ceiling when they are flipped.

And it’s not just the cooking that people struggle with - few people even know what ingredients they need for the mixture before they start. Only a quarter could name all three essential ingredients – plain flour, eggs and milk.

Andrew Parker, Chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, said:  “Given that pancakes are really easy to make, basically just an egg, some flour, milk and a little ‘elbow grease’, the survey results did take us by surprise.”

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday as it is more traditionally known, has been celebrated for hundreds of years and was the traditional Christian feast before the start of Lent - the 40 days leading up to Easter.

Notes to editors
The top problems encountered by those surveyed when cooking pancakes are as follows:
1.    33% they’ve ripped / fallen apart
2.    30% stuck to the pan
3.    25 % made a lumpy mixture
4.    24% burnt them
5.    14% still raw in the middle
6.    13% fallen on the floor or stuck to the ceiling when flipped / tossed

*GfK NOP research conducted on 1,000 consumers aged 16+, October 2010

For further information, please call the British Egg Information Service on 020 7052 8899