It was so called because it was cooked via flat hoe blades. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes.

During the early history of pancakes in America, the nokehick and other cakes were called Indian cakes. In 1740 similar cakes from buckwheat were made by Dutch who lived in America. The first eaten pancakes by settlers were also called “Indian cakes”. In the mid 1750s, the hoe cake became popular. The early settlers transmuted this word into “no cake”. The pancake has a very long history and featured in cookery books as far back as 1439. It was called nokehick (translated as “no cake”). It is known that the first pancakes were made and eaten by ancient people. Pancakes eaten by ancient people didn't look exactly like the pancakes we know today. They were called “buckwheat cakes”. It was as early as 1607 and these “Indian cakes” were made from Cornmeal. A pancake is a thin, flat cake, made of batter and fried in a frying pan. During the 1700s, the Dutch popularized the buckwheat cake. A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately.

Ancient pancakes were called ' Alita Dolcia ' what in Latin means 'another sweet' and were simple, fried concoctions of eggs, flour , milk and spices.