Heavenly Pancakes

I love pancakes, especially the thin European pancakes.  I use them like I would use a flatbread and put my salad on top of it for a quick lunch. I make pizza pancakes or fill them with leftovers; if I have a sweet tooth, I use my jams or fruits.

Rolled up with homemade Strawberry jam

I use the same basic recipe since I started cooking, but somehow they pancakes turned out differently, and it startled me. How could that be? Sometimes I had a fluffy and light pancake, other times a heavy pancake -still eatable, but different! I didn’t change the ingredients, so there had to be a logical explanation. I made the flour responsible for the consistency of the pancakes, or the eggs -something had to get the blame.

 

I found an old, handwritten note from my Grandmother in a cookbook that she left me, turns out I was to blame, not the ingredients.

 

The Pancake Rule:

The ingredients have to be mixed in the right order!

MILK – FLOUR – EGG = light and delicious pancakes!!!

The flour can swell in the milk, the fat of the milk separates the yolk from the egg white.

EGG – FLOUR – MILK = tough and heavy dough!!!

The flour absorbs all the liquid, the yolk and egg white will not separate.

Life can be so simple!

Basic Recipe for European pancakes

• 400g flour
• 750 ml   2% milk
• 3 Egg
• A pinch of salt
• A Splash Mineral water (Carbonated Water)
• Butter for frying
• Sugar = optional -only for sweet pancakes

Combine the flour, the milk, the eggs and the pinch of salt with a mixer until smooth, then let the dough rest for about half an hour in the refrigerator.

Take the dough from the refrigerator, add a good splash of mineral water and stir the batter again.

Pour a little pancake batter into the hot pan -the pancakes should be much thinner that American pancakes. Tip the pan and spread the batter evenly, the edge should be crispy and uneven. Cook to desired darkness, then flip the pancake over. Fill and roll up, or serve flatbread style.

Please, don’t add butter or syrup is not added, that would destroy the taste!!!

Enjoy~!

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Published March 2015 on my kitchen blog “Bringing worlds together in my kitchen”