pancake means, to a western European or an American, a flat cake made from a batter of flour, eggs, and milk, and fried in a shallow pan or cooked on a greased griddle. It may be eaten flat, sprinkled with sugar; or rolled around a sweet or savoury filling, for example in many French crêpe dishes. Some pancakes of other regions fall neatly into this category, such as the Russian blini and Hungarian palacsinta. With others the distinction between a pancake and a griddle bread is not so clear.
Most pancakes or crêpes are thin. However, the excellent Scots pancakes and their counterparts in other Celtic areas (all treated under drop scone) are thicker, and so are Schmarren (mentioned below).
