Today’s pancake journey takes us to Jolly Old England. I promised you week of international pancakes and I am trying deliver; thereby proving that all nations– indeed all cultures, have some version of a pancake in their food traditions. Great Britain is certainly no exception. This is Toad-In-The-Hole and it is DAY 2.

I chose this pancake because it is classic pub food. It has the oddball name though, and I'll admit that is part of its allure to me. It is traditionally made with pork sausages (bangers) and a rich batter of flour, milk, and eggs. As this batter bakes, it gets puffed up, Yorkshire pudding style. The result is a beautifully browned, raised crust that encompasses the meat.

Do you ever hang out in pubs? I don’t know about where you live, but updated versions of the classic pub are popping up like toadstools all over Los Angeles. I was recently in one of the self-proclaimed “gastro-pubs” and noticed Toad-In-The-Hole being served.

Now I have a confession, until that day I had a very mistaken idea of what a true-to-the-Brits Toad-In-The-Hole actually was! I’d always called the egg that is fried in the hole in the middle of a piece of bread by the moniker Toad-In-The-Hole. But that’s incorrect. That dish is properly called Chicken-In-A-Basket, or Eggs-In-A-Basket. So when I saw a proper version of Toad-In-The-Hole being served my first shocked thought was, that looks nothing like a toad to me!