Pancakes
Marks & Spencer Golden Pancakes
4.99 for 275 grams, €18.15 per kg
Highs: These very flat crepes are made in the traditional style, although they are a little more perfectly browned then you might manage at home. Remarkably for a store-bought product, they taste home-made, with a hint of lemon added to the mix. If you have no time to whip up some batter, these will be for you. Just make sure to dump the rather elaborate packaging.
Lows: There is a lot of packaging to dump, far too much of it. Compared with the competition, and given the cheap ingredients in the average pancake, these are horrendously expensive. Reheating them in a microwave means they lose the crispness round the edges and if you leave them in for a second too long, they might end up a little rubbery.
Verdict: Price could leave you flat
Star rating: ***
Ma Raeburns Pancakes
1.99 for 600 grams, €3.31 per kg
Highs: These taste pretty good but it is the price that makes them stand out. They are much cheaper than the M&S offering and, with the two "free" pancakes, are even better value. They reheat well and the packaging allows you to eat some and save the rest. They are thicker than you might expect a pancake to be, which might appeal to some.
Lows: The thickness does mean they can be a little on the chewy side, however, not to mention a bit tricky to fold. They lack crispiness but that might be intentional on the manufacturer's part. The surface of each pancake is marked with air bubbles, making them look a little like outsized but anorexic crumpets.
Verdict: Good value, grand taste
Star rating: ****
Tesco Raisin and Lemon Flavoured Pancakes
0.89 for 288 grams, €3.09 per kg
Highs: These stack pancakes are done in the American style and can be eaten hot or cold. They smell divine, although it is open to question how natural the lemony scent is. They can be reheated in a toaster, which cuts down on the amount of washing up you'll be required to do later. If you're a fan of dried fruit, the raisins will prove to be a welcome addition. They are also the cheapest pancakes of the bunch.
Lows: What's the point of these? The whole point of Pancake Tuesday is not to eat any old cake but to gorge yourself on flat, home-made pancakes, which these simply are not. They will never be mistaken for anything other than a mass-produced pancake.
Verdict: Cheap but cheerless
Star Rating: ***
Odlums Pancake Mix
1 for 500 grams, €2 per kg
Highs: If you're going to be bothered with pancakes at all next week, you might as well make them yourself. This Irish-made mix makes the pancake process slightly easier than starting from scratch. You can tailor-make them, flip them and generally have a bit of craic in the kitchen while you're burning the bejaysus out of the undersides. You should get more than 25 pancakes out of this packet, if you follow the recipe, which makes them the cheapest of the bunch by a wide margin.
Lows: Washing up is rarely much fun and it's even less so when you forget to do it straight away and have to scrape hardened pancake mix from the bowl, the spoon and the counter first thing in the morning. This isn't entirely unlike plain flour and you can't help thinking you're paying a little more than necessary just to have the word "pancake" on the packet.
Verdict: Cheap and loads of fun
Star rating: ****
