Pancakes: savoury, sweet and exotic

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di reston

Sous Chef
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
805
Location
Calosso, Piemonte
I recently looked at the thread about desserts, in which I said that my favourite dessert is Crèpes Suzette, and it prompted me to send the following:

The pancakes that I make are:

Crèpes Suzette, Hungarian Pancakes with apricots, and savoury pancakes French style. The recipes for the pancakes are somewhat different from the ones you make over, the main difference being that over here the pancakes tend to be very thin, whereas yours are thicker. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Here are the three recipes that I usually use for the pancakes:

Recipes only:

1) Hungarian pancakes with apricots:

For 14 pancakes:

3 eggs
1 teacup of milk
5 tbsp soda water, freshly opened
4 oz sifted flour plus 1 oz pizza flour
3 tbsp castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 - 3 oz butter
apricot jam for the filling
6 oz finely chopped walnuts
Icing sugar to dredge

Melt 1/2 oz butt in an 8-inch frying pan, or a special pancake pan. Mine is cast iron, seasoned with butter. When the subsides, ladle in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan, and tilt it to distribute the batter evenly over the pan. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, or when the lightly browned on the bottom side, then turn over to do the same on the other side. When this is done, spread your apricot jam and roll the pancakes loosely. When you have finished doing the batch, scatter the chopped walnuts and then the icing sugar, and serve.



Savoury pancakes French style:

This batter is called pancake batter 'à la règle de trois', in other words, the ingredients come in thirds:

The essential element of this batter is, as the above, that ingredients come in thirds.

For 15 pancakes, the batter should be

300g flour (for this I also add a tbsp pizza flour, given that these pancakes will have sauce over them before serving)
3 eggs
75cl milk
3 serving spoonsful melted butter

Beat the ingredients to a smooth batter, leave to one side before using.

I use this for savoury dishes that require a sauce over, i.e. chicken livers, prawns, etc.

Now for the Master recipe: Crèpes Suzette:

For the Pancakes:

4 1/2 oz flour, 4 plain flour, 1/2 Pizza flour
1 3/4 oz sugar
pinch salt
2 eggs
1 tsp orange flower water
1 small glass brandy
1 1/2 butter
1/2 pint milk
Butter for frying.

Make up the batter in the usually way, and let it stand for an hour or more.

I have a cast iron pancake pan which is permanently buttered, with cling film on top, and I never put it in anything like a dishwasher, or any detergent. To clean it, I put it over a gas hob, clean it with kitchen paper, and then it's ready to use again.

Keep the pancakes on standby until you are ready to roll.

To finish the dish:

16 lumps of sugar, 8 rubbed with orange peel and the other 8 with lemon peel.
3 oz butter
juice of 4 oranges (medium size)
sugar to taste, but don't be too mean
2 thin slices orange
2 thin slices lemon peel
orange liqeur + brandy to taste, but not over the top
orange flavoured butter (butter and grated orange peel, with some orange juice;

Make up the batter in the usual way, but add the cognac and orange flour water, the butter and cold milk, and stir carefully for a long time.

Have your pancake pan warm and add the butter a little at a time, for each pancake. Pour the batter and swirl round the pan to get an even spread, and cook on a high flame. Turn over to the other side so that the pancake is evenly cooked each side.

For the filling, mix the sugar lumps with 3oz softened.

Presentation: If you have a copper pancake pan (otherwise stick with what you have!)caramelise the sugar lightly with thin slices of lemon and orange peel, then pour the orange juice and sugar mixture, and bring to the boil.

Fold the pancakes into four, still in the pan. adding gradually a little orange butter and a little brandy. Serve while hot. You can flambè with a little cognac if you like.


This is not an expensive dish, and neither is it too complicated. You just have to have your ducks in a row before you start. Timings are important
though.
 
Yes. I love pancakes. They can be simple, impressive, awsome, but for me, they do the job! - and inexpensive too, unless you put something like white truffles with them. By the way, I should have a recipe for pancakes with truffles somewhere around here. I'll post it when I find it.

di reston
 
One combination I made up and love:

Crepes filled with
duck breast slices poached in Chartreuse
toasted unsalted pistachios, chopped
creme fraiche

Yum!
 
Thanks! I shall do it, if you would kindly send the whole recipe! Actually, can't wait to do it, but please send the full recipe! Regards from Italy.

di reston
 
If pancakes are your thing, and if you haven’t already, you must try a Dutch baby! It’s not only delish, it’s also a very impressive looking pancake!

Here’s the recipe I used: www.bonappetit.com/recipe/apple-dutch-baby, but there’s about a million different recipes.

Joel
I’ve made Dutch babies a couple of times in the past but I really want to try the recipe you linked to. I’m betting yours will replace the recipe I have been using.
Thanks,
 
Joel
I’ve made Dutch babies a couple of times in the past but I really want to try the recipe you linked to. I’m betting yours will replace the recipe I have been using.
Thanks,
Curious to know why you think the recipe I linked to may better than the one you have.

I’m making another one this morning. This time I’m using frozen cherries for both the pancake and the syrup. I’m spicing the syrup with cardamom, ginger, and vanilla, and adding a splash of ruby port for that “adult” flavor!
 
Joel, your recipe is similar to the one I have but I like the idea of adding the apple to the batter with the addition of the cider syrup topping. That’s one I’m going to have to try. It sure sounded good.
 
Joel, your recipe is similar to the one I have but I like the idea of adding the apple to the batter with the addition of the cider syrup topping. That’s one I’m going to have to try. It sure sounded good.
I haven’t made the apple cider syrup yet, because I haven’t made the apple version of the recipe yet! It does look intriguing though...
 
I've made apple cider syrup. It's delicious! It takes a while to boil it down, though. Pick a day you can babysit the pot that isn't humid. Boiling off the water adds lot of humidity to the air.
 
Some of the best pancakes I've eaten use ricotta cheese in the recipe.
If you'd like to to try it it goes like this:

1 cup Ricotta Cheese

3/4 cup Buttermilk

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 cup Flour

4 Tablespoons Sugar

3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt

Butter for skillet or griddle (will depend on size)

Mix ricotta cheese, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until combined.

Fold flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in and wisk until just combined.

Heat skillet on the medium heat setting. Add some butter to the skillet and wait for it to bubble. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter in and cook until golden brown on each side.(depending on the size of our skillet or griddle you may get 3 or 4 cakes at one time)
 
Corn and bacon waffles/pancakes made with whey strained from homemade yogurt.

Cheese and potato blintzes
 
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