It’s a gloomy Sunday morning. And while I usually dream for a sunny weekend, there is some comfort in being home with the person you love, staying warm, while watching the cold weather outside, drinking hot coffee, and of course preparing a cozy breakfast. I find the homemade breakfast is really vital for this type of situations. And in our home, nothing is more welcome for breakfast than pancakes. And that is true for any day, but Sundays … well we need it more than ever. Because Sundays are hard, with the weekend quickly going to an end, and the work week slowly immersing in our minds.
These pancakes are a bit different. First, when I say pancakes I don’t mean a tall stack of the small, puffy kind, I mean crepes. It wasn’t until recently, that I tried the American variation of the pancakes, and I really enjoyed it, but when I say pancakes, I mean Crepes. The others I call American pancakes. J
So, with these pancakes I went east from the Europe’s mainland, right into the heart of Russia, because they contain yeast, and are actually called Blini. But I like to call them Early Burd Pancakes, because…, well you know why. Yeast.
You should try them sometimes, because they are worth the one hour of waiting, Soft and tender, with more texture than the usual Crepe, these are perfect with sweet or savory filling. And to enlighten your cold and cloudy Sunday morning.
Blini
/makes around 24, with diameter 18 cm./
/adapted from Larousse Desserts/
- 480 ml. (2 cups) warm milk, I used 1.5% fat content
- 120 ml. (1/2 cup) heavy cream
- 8 gr. (2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 20 gr. (1 ½ tablespoons) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 350 gr. (2 ¾ cups) all purpose flour
- 2 large egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 60 gr. (1/2 stick) butter
- Warm the milk and cream in the microwave, or on the stove, until just lukewarm.
- In a large bowl, place the yeast and sugar, and pour a little from the warm milk to dissolve them. Add the remaining milk-cream mixture.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- Mix in the flour, little by little, stirring until fully incorporated.
- Cover the batter with plastic foil or damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for one hour.
- After the batter has risen and doubled, whisk the egg white and salt with a mixer, first on medium speed, and when they become foamy, switch to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold the egg whites to the batter, in three addition, mixing well after each addition.
- Place a large non stick pan on the stove over medium heat and add some of the butter.
- Using a ladle, pour some of the batter into the pan and with a small offset spatula, spread it to the desired size. Cook for approximately 2 minutes, or until the pancake is puffed and begins to set on the top. Then turn on the other side and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and cover while cooking the rest. Grease the pan with some butter again and repeat with the remaining batter. I find it easier, to remove the pan briefly from the stove, after each pancake, then add a little butter, pour and spread the batter and return to the heat.
- Use any filling you like to accompany your pancakes. If you decide to use a sweet one, don’t forget to dust some powder sugar on top.
