Holy Yeasted Pancakes Batman! Lordy me, I am converted. Although I am ever so slow to jump on the bandwagon (as usual) I am pretty sure I have a new favorite breakfast and dessert. Oh Fine, I'll be honest, this is the current favorite until something better comes along. Converted and loyal dontcha know!
So, how did it happen? Last year I was given a behemoth baking book called Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid who also wrote Hot Sour Salty Sweet, another one of my favorites if you are looking for a big read on Asian cooking.
Now, as you may know i've had some baking troubles lately and since I've got a new best friend I was on the hunt for a new baking project. In the process I spied this recipe for Russian Apple Pancakes and since Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) is imminent, I figured this was a good opportunity to get stuck into something new. Although there's no baking involved I'm giving myself a break as its a yeasted pancake recipe which requires starting the night before...an apt trade me thinks.
The recipe is a twist on the traditional Oladushki, if anything I would say its a French twist on the Russian classic as the apples are softened in the pan and the batter is poured right on top rather than grated apple mixed into the batter as is more traditional. The result is a pancake version of tarte Tatin, hello apple gorgeousness! The finishing touch is a cinnamon sugar crust flashed under the grill giving the recipe a more American dimension, we Americans put cinnamon sugar on anything right?
Oh, and the smell...like pancake apple pie! All of the beautiful aroma of pie, with far less work. Now that's what I call a RESULT!
Unlike Buttermilk Pancakes this is a more bread-like squidgy texture, as you might imagine from anything yeasted (duh Audrey). The texture is robust enough to stand up to the tart apples and yet still soft enough to be a pancake, rather than a fried bread. Its actually really versatile and incredibly quick, the only time consuming part of this recipe is the overnight resting time, in total there's maybe 25 minutes of active time including cooking, and with that an additional glorious 2 minutes (if that long) spent shoveling it in. The only thing I will do differently next time is add more apples, as you can see above I used two medium sized apples and I will use at least three tomorrow next time I make these.
You can serve this as breakfast, plain or with any kind of syrup, or maybe even a dollop of greek yogurt or creme fraiche if thats how you roll. OR you could serve it as dessert with ice cream, clotted cream, or (mmmmmm) creamy custard. I might even try this with other fruit; bananas would be perfect. Pancakes Foster Anyone?
So, if like me you are yet to try yeasted pancakes, I implore you to try this Tuesday instead of the standard lemon sugar affair! It is much much easier than standing over the stove for hours trying for the best crepe this side of the Seine, and I can promise you one thing, once you've tried these pancakes you won't be giving them up for Lent, or any other time of year, and that's a fact.
print
Russian Apple Pancakes
Adapted from Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
- For the pancake batter:
- 1 cup / 285ml plus 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water
- 1/2 teaspoon dried active yeast
- 3/4 cup / 98g whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup / 75g all purpose / plain flour
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1oz / 28g unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- For cooking:
- 1oz / 28g unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 large tart apples (I used Granny Smith), peeled and sliced
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon sugar (1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to 2 Tablespoons sugar)
The night before: Put the warm milk into a large bowl and stir in the yeast allowing it to dissolve and start working, then stir in the flour and the sugar. Whisk together for 1 minute and then let rest for at least 30 minutes but no longer than 2 hours. The recipe says 'whichever is more convenient', I love a recipe that works around me.
When you are ready, add the salt, egg, and melted butter and mix thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge. The next morning, take the batter out of the fridge at least 2 hours before you want to cook the pancakes.
The recipe also says you can leave it out of the fridge overnight but for no more than 8 hours and since I need more than 8 hours of beauty sleep on a weekend I opted for the fridge. Once rested, the batter will be lovely and bubbly and yeasty smelling.
When you are ready to cook, turn the grill / broiler on to medium heat.
Then heat a heavy 8-9 inch (I used a 7 inch and made 3 pancakes) skillet over medium heat and melt 1 Tablespoon of butter and approx 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. Sautee the apples until just softened about 2 minutes. Spread the slices evenly over the bottom of the pan (this is where more apples would've been better!). Pour on half of the batter (about a scant 1 1/2 cups) and spread it to the edge of your skillet. Use less batter if you are doing as I did and making three pancakes. Let cook for 1 minute at medium heat, then turn the heat right down to low and let cook for a solid 5 minutes, or until the batter is no longer a shiny liquid but more of a dull sponge. Be patient, this took mine about 8 minutes and even so it was still a bit liquid in the center. Don't worry about it though as it will finish cooking to perfection under the grill.
And here is where the recipe gives you a choice (these people are so PC) you can either sprinkle the sugar on the pancake and flash it under the grill / broiler OR use two skillets flipping the pancke into another skillet to brown the cinnamon sugar crust. I must've read the recipe at least ten times, and this didn't make any sense to me, the cooking method is fairly straight forward but the cinnamon sugar crust part of the recipe is very confusing. I found the wording to be most perplexing and I couldn't make any sense of what they are calling the top and bottom of the pancake. For the avoidance of doubt, I consider the top to be the apple side (as that is how you serve the pancake), and the bottom to be the spongy dull side.
So to simplify, I went with the grill method and instead of fussing around with flipping and all that other nonsense I actually went for the cinnamon sugar on the bottom of the pancake and it was definitely the right choice, it went crusty and bubbly and a bit flaky in places. The textural dimension was perfect giving a little bit of crunch to the sweet tart pillows of pancake.
Once you've grilled you pancake for a few minutes and when the cinnamon and sugar have melted and gone golden brown, cover the skillet with a plate and being careful flip the pancake over over to present it apple side up. Cut into slices if you are serving to pals, otherwise get yourself immediately stuck in.
@noteaafter12
Flickr
i’m undebiably drwan to this. it may very well be the heartiest, densest pancake i’ve ever seen and i want to souse it in syrup and eat every morsel. nicely done. :)
Looks delicious, like and apple dutch baby. Did you see Diners, Drive - ins and Dives on Food Network? They had a souffle pancake, looked amazing. Love your pic and thank you for the recipe :)
Thank’s guys, it was soo soo good. I’me pretty sure another batch is on the horizon this weekend! Tina - I didn’t see the Diners program on Food Networkd but I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it now. Souffle pancake, yes please!!!
mmmmm…. Yummy!
Holy cow bat woman! I agree! This sounds amazing! I think I’ll actually make it tomorrow morning. So Shrove Tuesday is pancake day huh? Learn something new everyday.
Oh yes, this is quite yummy I might make it again this weekend actually…or for lunch. hmmm. Yep Shrove Tuesday is actually pancake day here in England but they serve crepes with lemon and sugar, and all other kinds of variations too. It’s one of my favourite days of the year. ha.
We made these for brekkie this morning and they tasted very American! They were sooooooooooooo yummy!
I’m gonna have to make these for pancake day! The first time I tried them, they were delicious, but I’m going to add blackberries to the mix this time!