Easy Easter pancake toppings

Make your pancakes following your favourite pancake recipe. At this point you can make a chocolate sauce using our simple chocolate sauce recipe, or use a shop-bought one.

Microwave the broken mini eggs on a low heat in 10 second blasts until they are as melted as you like. Spoon them onto the pancakes and top with flaked almonds, cocoa nibs, and lashings of chocolate sauce.

Hot cross pancakes

Makes enough topping for two stacks of pancakes.Spoon 1 heaped tbsp lemon curd into a clean plastic sandwich bag and squeeze it into one corner, securing with an elastic band, as you would with a piping bag. Set aside.

Combine a small handful raisins and a small handful mixed candied peel in a pan, and gently warm through on a low heat. Take the pan off the heat and add ½ tsp cinnamon, mixing well to cover the fruit.

Make your pancakes following your favourite pancake recipe, stirring in the zest of ½ lemon. Before flipping each pancake, sprinkle over a few raisins.

When ready to serve, snip the corner off the plastic sandwich bag to create a small hole. Use this as a piping bag to pipe a cross on each of the pancakes. Arrange on plates and top with the spiced fruit mixture and drizzle with honey and an extra dusting of cinnamon, if you like.

Creme Egg pancakes

Makes enough topping for two stacks of pancakes.To make the sauce, heat 2 Creme Eggs on a low heat in the microwave for 10 seconds. They will start to melt slightly – use a fork or spoon to mash them together. Be careful not to burn them – don't heat for longer than 10 seconds at a time before stirring well. Heat for another 10 seconds on low and stir again, repeating this until the mixture becomes smooth, glossy and toffee-like, while still being very thick and sticky. Allow to cool slightly while stirring, then add 2 tsp semi-skimmed milk. It will require quite a lot of effort to comine the two, but will eventually form a toffee-like sauce. Transfer this to a clean plastic sandwich bag and squeeze into one corner, securing it with an elastic band, as you would with a piping bag. Set aside.

Make your pancakes following your favourite pancake recipe. When ready to serve, stack them on two plates and top with a dollop of unsweetened Greek yogurt or whipped cream. Place another two Creme Eggs in the microwave (not touching or they'll stick together) and microwave on low for 10 seconds, until just slightly softened. Split each Creme Egg open and place one on each stack, on top of the Greek yogurt or cream, allowing the 'yolk' to ooze out. Take the sandwich bag and snip off the corner to create a tiny hole, then drizzle the sauce over each pancake stack.

Carrot cake pancakes

Serves 4

Grate one medium carrot using the smallest grater that you have - the pieces need to be really small and fine. Squeeze the grated carrot to get out as much water as possible. Set aside.

To make the cream cheese frosting, whip 300g cream cheese with 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp icing sugar. Taste and add more sugar if desired. Leave in the bowl if you want to dollop it onto the pancakes, or if you want to pipe it, place into a clean plastic sandwich bag and squeeze it into one corner, securing with an elastic band, as you would with a piping bag. Set aside.

Separate three large eggs into two mixing bowls, putting the yolks in one and the whites in the other. To the yolks, add 115g plain flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger, the zest of ½ orange, 1 heaped tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp golden caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 140ml milk. Blend together until it forms a smooth batter.

To the egg whites, add a generous pinch of salt, then whisk with a hand-mixer until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter until well combined.

Heat a good non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and melt some butter in it, then fry the pancakes in batches. For each pancake, add two tablespoons of batter to the pan, then sprinkle over a few pinches of grated carrot (not too much in each pancake or it will add too much moisture – you may have some left over), before topping with another spoon of batter to cover the carrot completely. When bubbles start to form, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden on both sides and cooked through.

When ready to serve, arrange the pancakes as you like and top with the cream cheese frosting, some chopped walnuts, and maple syrup or extra golden caster sugar.

What are your favourite kind of pancakes? Leave a comment below...