POLL: What's your favourite pancake topping?

Lemon and sugar pancakes.

Shrove Tuesday has been celebrated by Britons for centuries, with pancakes traditionally eaten to use up rich, indulgent foods like eggs and milk before the 40-day fasting season of Lent.

• Let us know your favourite pancake topping in our poll at the bottom of this page

Confusingly, the date for Pancake Day changes every year, and is determined by when Easter falls and is always celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the starts of the Lent fasting, while the name Shrove Tuesday comes from the word shrive, meaning absolve.

Making and eating pancakes isn't the only way we celebrate.

In some parts of the country, people still hold pancake races, where people run while flipping their pancakes in a frying pan. It is believed the tradition began in the 15th century when a woman in Buckinghamshire rushed to church to confess her sins while mid-way through making pancakes.

Races are normally entered by women, who must wear an apron and flip continually during the race. Men sometimes enter, but are normally expected to dress up as housewives.

Rhubarb compote with crème fraiche

Many enjoy pancakes simply with lemon and sugar, though others treat making scrumptiously mouth-watering and different crepes as an art form. But to make the perfect pancakes, you must first get the basics right.

For those delicious treats, all people need is plain flour, eggs, pinch of salt, milk and butter.

And it seems more people are willing to venture away from the traditional lemon and sugar topping.

At Ultimate Cafe at Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley, they are serving a diverse array of novel pancakes including popular gluten-free variations. Savoury pancake options include chicken and creamy mushroom, ham and cheese and smoked salmon with rocket and cream cheese.

People with a sweet tooth can enjoy flavours such as Nutella, maple syrup, peanut butter and banana and toffee.

Director Andrea Edwards added: "Pancake Day is a fantastic opportunity to have some fun and try out our famous pancakes. In addition to enjoying our signature flavours, we are also encouraging our customers to get creative and devise their own unique topping combinations. Here's to a flipping fun day."

At Cannock Shopping Centre today from midday, shoppers will be invited to put their pancake flipping skills to the test in a bid to raise vital funds for Beacon Centre for the Blind.

Natal Chapman, centre manager, said: "We are really looking forward to our pancake flipping competition, it'll be a lot of fun and is a great way to get the local community all together whilst raising vital funds for such a worthy charity."