Ingredients )
1/2 cup white flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon oil
Juice of 1 lemon, kept separate
Mix the dry ingredients. Make a little well in the bottom and add the eggs. Add just a bit less than 1/4 of the milk to the eggs and start beating, slowly at first. If you are making single or double quantities, a wooden spoon works fine. If you are making more use an electric beater. You must get the batter smooth before you add too much milk. As you start combining the dry ingredients into the batter, it will get quite thick and sticky. If it gets too dry to continue mixing, then add a little more milk. Don't let it get too liquid until the lumps are all out, or you'll never get them out. Gradually add more milk and speed up the beating until it's all in. Add the oil, and beat in.
By now you should have a nice smooth batter, almost as runny as whipping cream. Heat an 8 or 10" pan, preferably a non-stick one, on medium heat. Just before cooking, I always put a little bit of oil in it, and spread it around with a paper towel folded up and wedged into a wooden salad fork.
Take a 1/4 cup of the batter in one hand and the hot pan in the other. Pour the batter and tilt the pan to spread the batter so the entire bottom of the pan gets covered in one pass. This takes some practice, something like patting your head and rubbing circles on your stomach at the same time. You can fill in little holes by going back over them with the dripping cup.
Let the pancake cook until the edges turn golden brown. Get a spatula under the edge and turn the pancake over. Let it cook for another 15 seconds or so, and don't get distracted because they burn fast on the second side. Don't leave an empty pan on the element too long because it will also scorch.
Slip the pancake out of the pan onto a warm plate. Sprinkle generously with white sugar, and pour a little lemon juice over it, just enough to wet the sugar. Then roll it up. Sprinkling more sugar on the top lends a nice traditional touch, but these days it seems excessive. Cutting it up is optional for kids; they like to eat them like sausages.
Although they are sometimes served for dessert, they make a wonderful breakfast with tea, much better then with coffee! We have them every second weekend or so, and wouldn't want to go too long without them.