Herb has many fond memories of growing up in Germany with sweet dishes for lunch and dinner as the main course. One of his favorites are sweet German-style pancakes (Pfannkuchen). They are much larger than the typical American kind and almost as thin as Crepes.They are served cut into slices in soup, rolled with meats, vegetables and what not, but undoubtedly his (and our) favorite is the sweet kind, rolled up and filled with whatever tempts and pleases your sweet tooth!
Now that I have your attention, here is the recipe I use:
2 cups plain flour
4 eggs
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
1.5 cups milk
1/2 cup mineral water of soda water
1/3 pound clarified butter of vegetable oil
Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the center. Beat the eggs, sugar, salt, milk and mineral or soda water and pour some of the mixture into the well. Working from the center, combine the egg liquid with the flour, gradually incorporating the rest of the liquid and making sure that no lumps form. Heat some of the clarified butter or oil in the frying pan and add a thin layer of the pancake batter. Add a little more fat before turning the pancake. Fry until golden on both sides.
My tip: I use about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter in a 12 inch skillet. I would heat between med and low this way you have a little more time to spread the batter out.Serving suggestion: Serve with stewed fruit, cinnamon and sugar, maple syrup, fruit, Nutella, whip cream or anything else that catches your eye and imagination.
Enjoy!
It's definitely a cross between dinner and dessert. When we have them for dinner, Sophie calls it desner and I call it dinnert. Yum!
That recipe is almost exactly like the crepe recipe that I got from my French teacher. I haven't made them in a long time, but we would make a double batch. Then, we would have chicken and cheese crepes for dinner; and then we'd have crepes with chocolate, strawberries, and whipped cream for dessert. C'est magnifique! Sorry, I may have German blood running through my veins, but I have 6 years of French training in my head :c).
ReplyDeleteMy mother made a similar Norwegian Pancake. Erik makes them on all family vacations for all of us. My kids favorite filling is butter and a thin spread of Blackberry jam. I'm fond of butter and powdered sugar, myself. We'll have to try your German version and compare. I would never think of having them for dinner, though. Donnie believes that all dinner should include meat. I guess I could fry up some bacon (nitrite-free for him--one of his crazy food allergies) to go along with the pancakes.
ReplyDeleteOK, seriously, we need to get together with you guys to eat, if nothing else. I still remember that yummy dish you made us--thinly sliced beef wrapped around a dill pickle spear--many years ago.
i think i will make these tonight. they look delicious. i have good memories of my italian grandma making huge crepes in an iron skillet.
ReplyDelete