PAW: Swedish Pannkakor

We started off a new week with a new pancake. This morning we sampled Swedish pannkakor, which are very similar to crepes except they have more eggs which makes them a bit custard like in the center. Traditionally eaten with lingonberries, which are similar to cranberries, they were delightful, even with egg replacer instead of eggs. I ordered some lingonberry preserves so that we could experience the authentic flavors of the dish and am pleased to say that they are very yummy. The pannkakor disappeared nearly as quickly as I could make them.

This was our last official Pancakes Around the World experience. We have sampled at least one international pancake every week this summer. Matthew and Malia go back to school tomorrow with Daniel and Nathan not far behind, so our summer is over. We still have some recipes we want to try, but it won’t be an every week kind of thing. It has been so fun to try so many different kinds of pancakes. There have only been a few that we really disliked, and there were some that were crowd pleasers all around. When I asked my crew which were their favorites, everyone voted for the impossible to pronounce Polish apple pancakes and the Greek tiganites which tasted like scones. Malia loved the Russian oladi and both she and Nathan mentioned the Australian pikelets as favorites as well.  Matthew was also a fan of the oladi and really liked all the crepe like ones, of which there were a variety. We come out of this summer with quite a few new pancake options, both sweet and savory. My kids have become better at trying new things, and that has been fun too. While they don’t know it yet, I’m planning to continue some international experimentation, but not limit it to just pancakes. There is a world full of wonderful flavors out there, many of which we have yet to experience. I’m excited to try them.

Pannkakor Rating: five thumbs up and a fond farewell to PAW

 

PAW: Russian Blini

Yes, we did indeed eat pancakes twice today. The kids go back to school soon so I’m trying to cram as many pancakes into these last few days as I can.

This evening’s meal consisted of Russia’s version of crepes-blinis. We ate them filled with beef and mozzarella cheese (except for Matthew, of course) and seasoned with garlic and dill. Then they were pan fried until crispy on the outside and served with a dollop of sour cream. The dill was too strong for Malia and Matthew, although he liked them besides that. Kev wanted a stronger cheese (he always wants more cheese). Nathan and I really liked them. We all agree that we will give them another try with some adjustments to the seasonings.

Blini Rating: Three thumbs up with one thumb sideways and one thumbs down for too much dill

PAW: Hawaiian Mochi Pancakes

Because my mom grew up in Hawaii, our menu was peppered with a combination of Chinese and Hawaiian food. I’m a huge fan of mochi, gau, and rice flour dumplings. As such, I expected to like these pancakes. But guess what? I really didn’t. The flavor was just fine, but the texture was what got me. They were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside but not chewy enough to be mochi and too chewy to be a proper pancake. It was actually very confusing for my palette. My kinfolk felt the same way. We all ate them, but we wouldn’t choose to eat them again.

Mochi Pancakes Rating: four thumbs sideways with an “Aloha” in farewell to this recipe

 

PAW: Scottish Pancakes (aka. Drop Scones)

One thing that has been interesting to me as we have tried so many different kinds of pancakes is how similar the recipes can seem, but one different ingredient or one change in the mixing or baking method can create a very different pancake. The Scottish pancakes, or drop scones, that we tried today was one of those surprising recipes. The ingredients are the same as those you would find in an American pancake, but the slightly different proportions and slightly different mixing technique created a pancake that was actually very different. They were delicious and both Nathan and I felt that the flavor was familiar, but we couldn’t quite place it. Matthew took one bite and declared that they taste like rolls, the super rolls recipe from my mom that I always use. He was exactly right. We love those rolls and we love these drop scones.

Here’s a bit of history about this particular recipe. Apparently, Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1959. During his stay, the queen used a family recipe to make drop scones for her guest. In a letter written after the visit, she shared the recipe with Eisenhower. The blogger who posted the recipe found it in the national archive and felt it was worth sharing. As a result, I can honestly say that today we ate like royalty. 😉

Drop Scones Rating: Five thumbs up with a nod to Her Majesty, the Queen of England

PAW: Welsh Cakes

Welsh cakes (aka. griddle cakes, tea cakes, miner’s cakes, bakestones) are a cross between a British style scone and a pancake. They are spiced with cinnamon and mace and laced with currants. In trying to describe them, we felt they were similar to Irish soda bread. They were delicious, but a bit on the sweet side. We are not a doughnut or pastry for breakfast kind of a family, so even though we skipped the traditional sugar coating, we felt like it was a decadent, occasional kind of a morning meal. Having said that, they were delicious. Eaten warm, the texture was tender and slightly chewy. We loved the currants which held the flavor of raisins but are smaller and more tender. The mace, which is from the same seed as nutmeg, was a delightful spice to discover. These little griddle-cooked quick breads were a lovely change from our normal fare, but one that we probably won’t eat often due to their sugar content. Although, I could try decreasing the sugar and see what happens…

Welsh Cakes Rating: five thumbs up for a breakfast that tasted more like a dessert

  

PAW: Repeat

Matthew liked the pikelets so much and was so grateful to finally be able to chew something that he requested the pikelets again for breakfast this morning. I remember the pain of having braces and was happy to comply. I was able to fine tune the recipe a bit and they were every bit as tasty, as well as a little fluffier, than they were yesterday. This is not the first time I’ve received a request to repeat a pancake recipe, but this is the first time I’ve made a particular pancake two days in a row. We are definitely going to have some new recipes to add to the pancake rotation when we tire of this round of experimentation.

PAW: Australian Pikelets

Unlike our awesome Polish apple pancakes two days ago, I can actually pronounce pikelets. Pikelets are a Australian mini pancake that is often eaten for a snack. Matthew’s teeth are a bit less sore today and I decided that they just might be tender enough for him to eat, so we made pikelets for lunch. The little bite sized beauties were very nice, delicious alone or with a bit of jam. Each one used only a tablespoon of batter, so they were perfect to pick up and eat with your fingers rather than a fork, which is the way they are traditionally eaten. I have a big two burner griddle and despite the fact that they cook very quickly, my kids were eating them faster than I could cook them. Matthew ate his own body weight in pikelets, but he has a great reason for that seeing that he is a fourteen-year-old boy who has not had a real meal since breakfast on Tuesday due to the brand spanking new braces. Kev and I loved them as well. I pretty much had to fight to get any, so the pikelets are definitely a success. They are also the cutest little pancakes ever. 😉

Pikelets Rating: five thumbs up, one attached to a blissfully full belly

 

PAW: Polish Racuchy Z Jablkami

As part of our pancake adventures, I’ve consulted the internet to learn how to pronounce the names of the various pancakes we’ve tried. I’m not an international linguist, but with google to help me, I can usually get at least a passable imitation. Today was the exception. No matter how many times I listened to the pronunciation, I simply could not wrap my brain, or my tongue, around the Polish “racuchy z jablkami.” I never intend to slaughter someone’s mother tongue, so I gave up my attempts and played the google translation pronunciation for my family.

The translation of “racuchy z jablkami” is “pancakes with apple.” They are a yeasted batter filled to bursting with lovely little chunks of apple. They are traditionally served with cream and dusted with powdered sugar. They taste a bit like a Utah scone and a bit like an apple fritter without all the sugar. All my crew, except for Matthew, enjoyed them immensely. In Matthew’s defense, he got his braces on yesterday and can’t really chew anything right now. We’ve made homemade dairy free ice cream twice this week and he ate some of the super tasty orange creamsicle ice cream for dinner. We did tuck some racuchy in the freezer so he can taste them when the pain has abated, and I suspect he will give them a positive rating. So while I can’t pronounce it, I can definitely cook it and I’m more than happy to eat it.

Racuchy Z Jablkami Rating: five thumbs up with one abstaining until a later date

PAW: Moroccan Beghrir

This morning’s pancake special was a mixed success. I say mixed because they didn’t turn out exactly as they should have but we all still loved them. Beghrir are only cooked on one side and a plethora of tiny bubbles is supposed to appear on top giving the finished pancakes a honeycomb appearance. As soon as my batter was mixed, I was fairly certain that it was going to be too thick to allow the bubbles to form. I was absolutely correct in my assumption and the first beghrir were bubble free. After consulting a variety of similar recipes, I added more liquid to the batter to see if I could remedy the problem and the next batch of pancakes did indeed have some bubbles. They still didn’t have as many as they should have, but that was also expected since adding more liquid meant stirring down the leavening. Despite the lack of bubbles, the beghrir were still very tasty. They were spongy and soft on the top and crispy on the bottom. Drizzled with the traditional warm honey butter in place of syrup they were an absolute delight. We will definitely be giving these another try to see if I can get them to turn out just right. And I know for a fact that my family is totally on board with my experimentations.

Beghrir Rating: Five honey-coated thumbs up

 

PAW: Chinese Cong You Bing

Although I’m half Chinese, I’m a Utah girl. My mom was born and raised in Hawaii. And there are a lot of regional foods in any country. So coming across Chinese food I’ve never eaten is not terribly difficult to do. I happened across a great Chinese food blog earlier this year and have enjoyed a number of their recipes. Today’s pancakes were one of them. Cong you bing are scallion pancakes. They are similar to a flatbread filled with green onions and cooked until crisp. They are served with a nice shoyu (soy sauce) based dipping sauce. My entire crew loved them. Nathan and Daniel grilled me about ingredients and the difficulty of creating the pancakes and decided they are an economical college/mission food option. Ingredient wise they are quite simple and while assembling them took a bit of time, it wasn’t extensive. I suspect my boys could have eaten two or three times as many as I made. I also suspect they are going to be requested again fairly soon. They were simple and delicious, a yummy addition to our dinner rotation. And I felt like I was exploring my heritage, so two birds, one stone.

Cong You Bing Rating: Six thumbs up, some double jointed, some not

 

PAW: German Pfannkuchen

Due to our vacation, we ended up eating traditional American pancakes last week. This week we are back on the PAW wagon and decided to try some German pfannkuchen. While searching for international pancake recipes, I discovered that the puffy, oven baked pancake we generally call a German pancake in the U.S. was actually created in America. The crepe-like pfannkuchen are a more traditional German pancake, one that was often eaten as a snack or light meal. The recipe I used is flavored with thinly sliced apples and dusted with cinnamon sugar. They are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and very lightly sweet. Delicious! We all liked them.

Pfannkuchen Rating: Five thumbs up

 

PAW: Icelandic Lummur

Icelandic lummur are pancakes made with leftover oatmeal. The recipe I used flavored them with cardamom. I’m not a fan of regular cooked oatmeal so I should have known that I wouldn’t like these, but I thought that they might turn out more like the American style oatmeal pancakes my family loves. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The texture was exactly like normal porridge style oatmeal, just slightly crisp on the outside. Apparently, none of us care for cardamom either, so we were definitely not fans of the lummur. This is our first complete pancake fail. While we disliked the texture of the cachapas, at least we liked the flavor combination. Lummur fail across the bar-unpleasant flavor as well as gross texture. Malia only took about two bites. Kevin, Matthew and I drowned ours in maple syrup to cover up the flavor. The extras went straight into the garbage can. We will not be attempting these again.

 

PAW: Greek Tiganites

This morning’s experiment was a complete win. Tiganites taste like little pioneer style scones. They are must easier to make though. A quick whisk to create the yeasted batter and then a rest for the yeast to do its magic. A drizzle of honey on top and breakfast joy was created. Everyone loved them. I ate far too many. Malia said they would make a good dessert pancake as well and I agree with her. Kevin’s approval was enthusiastic. I have a feeling we will be revisiting this recipe sooner rather than later.

Tiganites Rating: five enthusiastic thumbs up

 

PAW: French Crepes

We’ve eaten crepes before. Of all the international pancakes I’ve read about, I think crepes are the most well-known international pancakes in American culture. So yes, we’ve eaten crepes filled with fruit and whipped cream. In fact, crepes played a starring role in one of our very first emotional eating moments inspired by the COVID shut down last year. What we’ve never done is enjoyed crepes in a savory fashion. That is what we did today. We filled them with some delightful honey ham and lovely melted gruyere and draped them in a garlic cream sauce. They were good. Different from our usual dinner fare and as Nathan commented, a nice, light meal. I actually liked them better without the sauce as it allowed the ham and gruyere to shine. We all agree that they should grace our table again in the future. And due to their extraordinarily flexible nature (both literally and figuratively), the possibilities are endless.

Savory Crepes Rating: six thumbs up

PAW: Dutch Pannenkoeken

After our excursion to South America earlier this week, we made our way to Europe. Destination: the Netherlands. We sampled Dutch pannenkoeken for breakfast this morning. Pannenkoeken are thicker than a crepe but thinner than an American pancake. They are spread with whatever toppings you like, then rolled up and eaten. My batter was a bit too think at the onset which resulted in thick, kind of gummy pancakes, but once I thinned it just a touch, the results were much nicer. Kevin ate his plain which was not a surprise. Tortillas are one of his basic food groups and pannenkoeken are basically a Dutch breakfast tortilla, so he rolled it up and ate it just the way he eats tortillas. Matthew and Malia chose strawberry rhubarb compote.  The recipe I used included a bit of cinnamon, and I found that apple butter was a nice match. Nathan followed my example and spread apple butter on his as well. We definitely like these better than the cachapas. I don’t like them as much as the oladi, but they are tasty and I think we’d eat them again.

Pannenkoeken Rating: five thumbs up.

Paw: Venezuelan Cachapas

Today’s experiment was a Venezuelan breakfast staple-cachapas. They are a corn pancake served with melted queso de mano melted inside. Mozzarella is a really close substitute and much easier to find, so we used that. Due to their savory nature, I decided we would try them for dinner, so they comprised our evening meal. We added some chorizo on the side since Matthew can’t have the cheese. As it cooked, we started calling it taco sausage since that is exactly what it smelled like.

The corn and mozzarella were actually a really good combination. The chorizo was a great flavor match. But the texture. Let’s talk about the texture. The outside of the cachapas was golden brown, nice and crispy. It led us to believe that the interior would also be on the firm side. However, that lovely exterior led us astray. The interior texture was very soft, like creamed corn but thicker and more glue-like. It was pretty off putting. Nathan and Malia couldn’t even eat it. They ate the peripherals and then Malia supplemented her pancake with some chicken nuggets.

Overall, we liked the combination of flavors but not the texture. We want to use the chorizo and mozzarella again, maybe in a crunchy taco shell so we can have the same flavors with a much better texture. Despite the lack of love, we all agree that the experiment was still well worth our time. Matthew says he is excited for the rest of the summer. Now I get to decide what to try next!

Cachapas Rating: five thumbs sideways and one thumb very decidedly down. (Daniel is usually here for dinner but not for breakfast. So breakfast pancakes generally have a total of five thumbs to be counted and dinner ones have five or six depending on which of my adult children are working.)

 

PAW: Hoe Cakes

As part of our pancake experience, I thought I’d throw in some pancakes from different regions of the U.S. Hoe cakes are cornmeal pancakes popular in the south. They were also common pioneer food. They are thick and crispy, delicious draped in butter and maple syrup. Kevin, Nathan and I like them. Matthew said they are not his favorite but are good. For a kid who doesn’t like cornbread, that’s high praise. And he ate multiple pancakes so that’s a good sign that he does actually think they are good. Malia thought they were weird but ok. Pretty much everything new she tastes gets the “weird” moniker, but she ate them so that must mean they are at least palatable.

Hoe Cakes Rating: three thumbs up and two thumbs sideways, slightly tipping up. 

 

Pancakes Around the World, AKA. Paw: Russian Oladi

With the late start and sporadic school attendance associated with Flex Fridays being a thing this school year, Fridays have become pancake day. Now that school is ending, the flex Friday schedule is a thing of the past…sort of. Next year will see occasional flex Fridays, but we’re not really sure how all of that will work and with three months until we have to deal with it, we’ve all put it on the back burner. Anyway, I’ve liked pancake day and have decided that I want to continue celebrating my love of the griddle cooked delights. But being who I am, I’ve decided to give it a twist for the summer. Instead of just making traditional American pancakes in the many delightful flavors that we’ve come to enjoy, I’m going to feed my fam traditional pancakes from a variety of cultures. As I’ve searched out recipes, I’ve found a delightful assortment of both sweet and savory versions that are enjoyed in various spots around the world. So this summer we are going globetrotting pancake style. I’ve dubbed our adventure Pancakes Around the World which gives us the acronym PAW.

This morning we began our adventure with a taste of Russian oladi, a buttermilk pancake that is quite similar to the pancakes we already know and love. The difference is the smaller size and the fact that they are traditionally served with sour cream. Malia thought the sweetened sour cream was weird and Matthew couldn’t eat it, of course, but Nathan and I thought it was delightful. Add to it a sweet burst from some fresh raspberries, and we had a winner. The leftovers were consumed cold as snacks and that was tasty too. I’ve already told the kids we can make these ones again.

Our first stop on the PAW trip was a success! I can hardly wait to try some more!

Oladi Rating: four thumbs up