Pancake World Records
The Original Pancake House: A Scrumptious Array of Pancake World Records
Pancakes are more than just a delicious breakfast staple. They're also fun! It's almost as easy to create pancake art with the batter as it is to make it. Maybe that's why this easy breakfast treat is so popular among people looking for creative ways to set a world record.
The world's largest pancake
Have you ever made a colossal pancake? You know, the kind of pancake that would probably lap over the edges of a turkey platter... If you could get it out of the pan! Sadly, it's pretty hard to produce the world's biggest pancake using an ordinary household griddle and flipper.
For those monster pancakes that can feed a town, pancake makers resort to specialized tools and pans. Like a 50' steel pan, a tanker to pour the batter, and a pair of giant cranes to flip it. Yep, that's what it took to make the monster that holds the Guinness world record for the largest pancake ever. This massive morsel was 49'3" across, an inch thick, weighed 3 tons, and took hours to cook!
The Co-operative Union Ltd organized this amazing engineering feat in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England on August 13, 1994. Once it was finally done, it was divided into 15,000 portions and sold off to benefit local charities.
Other pancake world records
Surprisingly, the 'world's largest' isn't the only pancake listed as a Guinness World Record. People have gotten really creative at figuring out ways to elevate this humble breakfast staple into world record stardom.
The largest serving of pancakes
JSC MAKFA (a Russian flour company) set this record on February 25th, 2017 to celebrate Russian pancake week. An astonishing 12,716 pancakes were made from batter prepared the evening before. It took 16 professional chefs nearly 8 hours to set this record!
The tallest stack of pancakes
Chefs James Haywood and Dave Nicholls made and stacked 213 pancakes to create a tapering tower that reached 3' 4" high. They completed their pancake tower on February 8th, 2016 in Rufford, Newark, England. Hope they had a few gallons of syrup on hand!
The longest line of pancakes
Kenwood Ltd lined up 429' 3" of pancakes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London to set this record on February 25th, 2020. They even signed their name (in pancakes, of course!)
The highest pancake toss
The highest pancake toss took place right here in the States at the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, on November 13th, 2010. Dominic Cuzzacrea beat his previous record by 11'8" with a mighty toss of 31' 1".
The most tosses of a pancake in one minute
Australian Brad Jolly managed an astounding 140 tosses at Martin Place in Sydney on February 21st, 2012.
Most people tossing pancakes
The University of Sheffield in Sheffield, England organized this event that took place on February 15th, 2012. A total of 930 people participated but 40 of them were disqualified because they either dropped their pancake or didn't finish in time. That still leaves a respectable record of 890 pancake-tossing people.
Set your own record
You may not be quite ready for a world record, but you can certainly set a personal record for how many of our deliciously fluffy pancakes you can eat! Set it by the hour, day, week... We'll happily help you meet your goal when you visit the Original Pancake House.
Hint: Use our Yelp waitlist to save your spot. There's no use wasting valuable pancake-eating time waiting in line. Especially when you have a record to beat!
The Fascinating History of Crepes
Ooh, tender, delicate, delicious crepes... Just the idea of eating these enticing morsels is enough to start your mouth watering! There are types of crepes suitable for every meal but breakfast crepes are obviously the best.
We all know how delicious crepes are, but where did they come from originally?
The origin of crepes
Where do crepes come from? The history of crepes dates back to 13th century Brittany, France. It seems a housewife there accidentally dribbled some thin porridge onto a hot, flat cooktop. Since people back then weren't inclined to waste even their smallest cooking mistakes, she ate it. The rest, as they say, is history. Of course, this might just be the French equivalent of an urban legend but it does make for a pretty good story.
Another interesting history of crepes concerns hearty, earthy buckwheat crepes. Like the other story, thin buckwheat porridge spilled and became a thin, crispy crepe instead. What a delightful change in texture that must have been!
Traditionally, buckwheat crepes are served with savory fillings while the more delicately flavored wheat crepes are served with fruit and other sweet fillings. Want another interesting historical fact about crepes? Whenever milk was in short supply during the Middle Ages, intrepid crepe lovers used a mixture of wine and water as a substitute!
A crepe by any other name
These delicate pancakes are known as 'crêpes' in France. Their name comes from Old French 'crespe' which traces back to the Latin 'crispa' or 'crispus' which means curled. This probably refers to their often slightly ruffled edges. A French café that specializes in crepes is known as a crêperie. In Brittany, they still prefer crepes made with local buckwheat flour and use the slightly derisive 'crêpes de froment' to refer to crepes made with white flour.
The day of the crepe
In France, that day translates to 'le jour des crêpes' and it occurs every February 2nd. Historically, this day was known as the Virgin Mary's Blessing Day or La Chandeleur ('the return of the light') and celebrated the coming return of spring. Now, it's best known as the day when everyone eats crepes!
In case you want to emulate the French, make sure you fold your crepes rather than rolling them like we do in America. Folding your crepes keeps the toppings inside where they belong. That's important since there are as many street corner crepe vendors in France as there are hot dog vendors in America!
Sweet, savory, or plain?
Lemon and sugar were the traditional simple filling used in sweet crepes. Now, you'll find them with an amazing array of fillings. Nut spreads, jams and preserves, berries, nuts, cream cheese, whipped cream, ice cream, salted caramel, and poached pears drizzled with dark chocolate are all popular fillings. At Original Pancake House in Denver, we particularly like cherry Kijafa, fresh strawberries, or banana crepes with a warm pecan praline sauce. Yum!
The traditional ham, egg, and cheese filling in savory crepes is still popular. However, now you'll also find asparagus, avocado, spinach, mushrooms, bacon, chicken, smoked salmon, steak, turkey, Swiss cheese, goat's cheese, and a variety of other vegetables, meats, and cheeses filling crepes.
Of course, a plate of paper-thin and elegantly simple plain crepes are also delicious in all of their not-so-humble glory. They are still crepes, after all! That's why we offer them for our customers who enjoy the simple goodness of perfectly prepared crepes.
The next time you're in the mood for breakfast crepes, head on over to The Original Pancake House. Use the Yelp waitlist to save your place in line so you can dig into our delicious crepes as soon as possible. Bon Appétit!