Swedish Pancakes

When I was a senior in high school I went up to my friend's house outside of Burlington Vermont during spring break to go skiing. The skiing was a complete failure. My friend, who had learned to ski at age two, took me up to the top of a mountain and I cried and fell and fell and cried all the way down. In addition to memories of abject humiliation I've never managed to forget the delicious pancakes her mother served us for breakfast before I went out to face my day of cold and snowy torture.

My friend's mom would serve up a little stack of six thin round pancakes - about half-dollar sized (if anyone can remember what half-dollars looked like). These pancakes were more like flat, warm custards than any traditional pancakes that I'd ever tasted. Each piping hot minature stack was served up with warm Vermont maple syrup and in my golden memory we could have as many stacks as we could eat before we were sent out to face the day.

I've often thought of those pancakes over the years and wondered what the secret was to making them. I'm happy to report that after all of these years I have the recipe in my hands and the pancakes really are as wonderful as I remember. The reason they tasted custard like is that they are mostly eggs and milk with just the smallest amount of flour to help them hold together. I use a regular 12-inch non-stick frying pan to make these, but if appearances really matter at your house you may want to invest in a swedish pancake pan to ensure uniformly round cakes. I can fit about six tablespoon sized pancakes in one batch. One key point to make here: the pan has to be hot enough so that the pancakes don't spread out too much, but not so hot that they burn. Even with a carefully calibrated frying pan the pancakes were irregularly shaped, but everyone was so busy eating them they didn't seem to notice what they looked like.

Make sure you heat up the maple syrup too in a small pitcher - 30 seconds in the microwave should do it. Warm syrup makes all the difference.

If you prefer, mix these pancakes up in a blender - it is a little less fussy and comes out just as well.

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Swedish Pancakes
adapted from The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne

1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3 cups milk

clarified butter for brushing the pan

warmed maple syrup for serving (or lingonberry jam if prefered)


1. Beat the eggs lightly until a uniform yellow and then add the milk and beat to combine.

2. In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar and salt and mix thoroughly with a wire whisk to combine.

3. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and beat until smooth. If you can't get all the lumps out by beating you can pour the whole batter through a sieve.

4. If you have time, let the batter sit for 2 hours before cooking this allows the flour to expand and thicken the batter a little. If you don't have time don't worry it will still work.

5. Heat a non-stick skillet or a Swedish Pancake Pan over medium-high heat and brush with clarified butter. Pour one Tablespoon of batter at a time. Turn each pancake over once and then stack them on a plate and serve immediately.

Makes enough pancakes for 5-10 people

Cornmeal Pancakes

I seem to have developed a grudge against regular ol' pancakes. I don't know what it is, but they just seem so blah, so plain, so not interesting to me these days. So the other day it was crepes for breakfast (lunch or dinner) and today it is cornmeal pancakes. I love 'em.

I do my best to use whole grain cornmeal because it is both healthier and tastier - and really, how often do you get to find those two things in the same sentence? The downside to whole grain cornmeal is that it is not shelf stable because the germ of the corn kernal contains oil which can go rancid over long periods of time. Don't let a little thing like that put you off. If you want to buy whole grain cornmeal I suggest buying it at Whole Foods where you can buy just what you'll use from their Buy-In-Bulk aisle. Also, I store my cornmeal in a ziplock bag in my freezer to keep it fresh. If you read all that and just think "what a bother" go ahead and use regular shelf stable cornmeal that you'll find in the baking aisle of any supermarket.

I like thin pancakes made small. So this batter is very wet. I measure out about a Tablespoon on the griddle for each pancake so that I get tiny ones... and when they are all done I prefer mine spread with raspberry jam. The rest of my family sticks with maple syrup on theirs, but I don't hold it against them.

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Cornmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Fanny Farmer


Ingredients

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of sugar
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup milk

> Put the cornmeal in a mixing bowl and pour the boiling water over, stirring briskly until well blended. Pour in the melted butter and stir thoroughly to combine. Let stand on the counter to rest and cool while you measure and prepare the other ingredients.

> In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder with a wire wisk. Set aside.

> In a small bowl (or in your liquid measuring cup) combine the beaten eggs and the milk and beat together briefly. Add the egg mixture to the cornmeal mixture and stir to combine.

> Mix the flour mixture into the cornmeal mixture and beat the batter until it is completely mixed.

> Heat the griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat (do not use as high heat as you would use for white flour pancakes). Film the griddle with butter or oil when it is hot. Using a Tablespoon to measure out each pancake. Cook until bubble break on top of the pancakes and turn them over. Cook another few minutes, or until the bottom of the pancakes are lightly browned and set. Serve hot.

Crepes for breakfast

There are so many reasons to prefer crepes for breakfast over regular American pancakes. Just so you know, crepes are pancakes - just very thin flexible ones. They are easy to make, taste great and go with a huge assortment of condiments and toppings. They taste great rolled up and dipped in maple syrup, but they also can be spread with jam or Nutella, or sprinkled with sugar. You can even roll up a slice of turkey or ham inside a crepe for a savory take on a breakfast wrap. Once you've made the batter, it will keep for days in your fridge, so that if you are in the mood for a dessert crepe after dinner you can whip one up with almost no effort.

The best part, for me is that I can throw crepe batter together in the blender and not have to get out (and get dirty) several mixing bowls and assorted other items. You can buy yourself a crepe pan - the authentic blue steel one I have was only about $15 and is wonderful to work with - but you certainly don't need to. Any small frying pan can be used. If you are going to go with the melted butter rather than the heart healthy canola oil, just melt the butter in the pan you plan to cook the crepes in- since you'll be putting a little butter in there anyway to keep the crepes from sticking - it will save you one less item to clean.

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons canola oil (or melted butter)
1 cup flour

If using melted butter, put 2 Tablespoons butter into the pan you will be using to make your crepes and melt on low heat. When melted, take off heat and let cool.

Pour 1 1/4 cups milk into the blender (don't bother dirtying a liquid measuring cup - just use the measurements on the side of the blender container). Crack the two eggs into the blender. Add salt. Blend on high for 30 seconds or until a uniform color.

Add one cup flour to blender and blend until smooth. You may need to stop the blender and scrape down the sides if any flour got stuck to the sides. With blender running on low speed slowly pour in the oil or butter. Blend on high for 30 seconds more.

When you are ready to cook, heat up the pan you will be using on med heat. Once it is warm spread a thin layer of butter in the pan. When the butter has finished foaming you are ready to cook. Depending on the pan you are using you may only need to add this butter for the first crepe or you may need to add it between each crepe - it will vary based on the cooking surface.

You don't want to pour the batter into the center of the pan - even though it might sound like a good place to start. Instead, holding the pan in one hand, pour a slow steady stream of batter off to one side of the pan and then tilt the pan with your wrist to twirl the batter across the entire surface of the pan. This part is a little tricky, and it might take some practice crepes before you feel confident, but don't psych yourself out - it isn't hard and you'll get the hang of it after a few tries. I've found that it is easier to get the entire surface of the pan covered if I add more batter. Don't fret about having too much batter in the pan, if you end up with too much - no worries. Just pour the extra back into the blender.

The crepe will start to pull away from sides when it is ready to turn. We flip ours and then count to 5 (one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc.) And that's it they are done. If you don't feel like being a short order cook at breakfast then just make them all ahead of time and stack them on a plate in a warm oven.