Swedish pancakes?

All -

Searched the recipe index and the swedish listing and didn't see anything revolving around making basic swedish pancakes.

I have been using a box mix from Jewel, but figure if i can find the ratios this should be pretty easy to make at home.

Anyone have a family recipe they could toss out?

Otherwise I will sift through the 147 recipes that were returned on cooks.com (ugh!).

I've been waiting years for this one, jpeac2!

I'll photodocument the making of these very soon. Until then, our recipe (for about 12) is:

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour*
2 1/2 cups whole milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbls melted butter

Try adding a little milk to the flour and mixing to make a paste to prevent lumps. Otherwise, mix everything together and (for best results) let sit for 30-60 minutes.

Fry in a heavy, non-stick (or well-seasoned cast iron) pan over medium-high heat. Flip when they start to bubble and curl on the edges (within about a minute or two). You may want to brush the pan with butter between pancakes to prevent sticking. If they fall apart when flipping, try adding either a little more butter and/or flour to the batter. Serve hot and with preserves (strawberry or bilberry/blueberry are house favorites) and whipped cream, applesauce or even a sprinkle of sugar + a squeeze of lemon.

* I generally mix in about 1/4-1/3 cup of graham flour to give the pancakes a little more structure.

Thank you Bridgestone, for your personal recipe. For years, my wife (100% Swedish decent from Minneapolis) has been craving Swedish pancakes the way her great Aunt made them - large (plate size), crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. This is her aunt on her father's side so with the recipe nonexistent, even her mother can't replicate them. I've been playing around with the technique and method more than the ingredients. I've used the Lund's brand of pancake mix (and another from Finland) and they're not bad.

I use my Great Grandmother's cast iron skillet which is actually better than my non-stick skillet. Through my efforts, I've had a few observations:

1. They are best right out of the pan an onto a plate. This is the way they were served by my wife's great aunt.
2. In order to get a nice crispy edge, you'll have to have a hot pan but butter can burn in a hot pan so I'm wondering if she used just straight butter on a lower temp or clarified butter. I've tried adding a small amount of veg oil to my melted butter and it helps prevent the butter from burning but I don't think this is traditional.
3. My technique for adding batter is similar to making crepes. Add a ladle of batter to one side of the pan and tilt the pan to disperse the batter. This seems to achieve the proper thickness.

I'm getting close (says my wife), so much so that she's requesting that I make them for the family on Christmas morning. No pressure there.

I'll have to try your recipe and I'll look forward to your future posts.

Are Swedish pancakes traditionally sweeter and thinner? It seems most I have had leave those two characteristics in my head, but it is possible I have not been exposed to the "true" swedish pancakes.

Sorry for any confusion my quick recipe post may have caused.

Here's an old photo for reference:



Swedish pancakes are indeed thin and crepe-like. I'll ladle about one deciliter (or, say, 1/3 of a cup) in our pan and swirl it around in the hot pan to coat the bottom entirely. Of course, depending on the diameter of your pan, you'll need to adjust the amount of batter you use.

The thin nature of these pancakes make tears and sticking a problem. Sometimes they tear as you flip which I generally find is due to either: 1) too little flour in the batter (it should have the consistancy of heavy cream), or 2) not having the pan hot enough (the butter in the pan should be smoking when you pour the batter in). I tend to brush the hot pan with a little butter immediately before pouring the batter into it. It may smoke and darken but it's really not in the pan long enough by itself to really badly burn.

As far as how sweet they are - I don't really consider the pancakes themselves to be very sweet. We normally (and non-traditionally) make a few savory (cheese, tomato and ham) pancakes before switching to normal ones and don't find the batter to be noticeably sweet when used with savory toppings. Of course, jam, sugar, and applesauce are all sweet.

One traditional twist on the recipe that is worth trying is "Fläskpannkakor" or, pork pancakes. Simply add a few tablespoons of finely diced bacon (smoked or unsmoked) to the pan before pouring the batter in. Let it fry and brown for about 20 seconds and make a pancake. The added fat of these actually make them easier to make than normal pancakes.

I adore Swedish pancakes and found you this recipe: Ingredients

2 eggs
2 C. milk
1 C. flour
1 Tbs. butter
1-2 Tbs. sugar
dash of salt
lingonberry jam
whipped butter (or cream)
Directions

Blend all ingredients. Heat good nonstick skillet to medium-high temp. Add 1/3 to 1/2 C. of batter to pan, depending on pan size, and roll to cover pan evenly. Cook until one side is dry and bubbly. Carefully flip and cook other side until slightly browned. Serve with lingonberry jam and whipped butter (or cream.)

It's also great to add fresh fruit, cinnamon and sugar, cottage cheese, etc. to the filling.

Of course, my favorite are the ones from Walker Brothers: http://chewonthatblog.com/2007/06/28/id ... re-please/

Bridgestone wrote:One traditional twist on the recipe that is worth trying is "Fläskpannkakor" or, pork pancakes. Simply add a few tablespoons of finely diced bacon (smoked or unsmoked) to the pan before pouring the batter in. Let it fry and brown for about 20 seconds and make a pancake. The added fat of these actually make them easier to make than normal pancakes.

Pork...pancakes...

Mhays wrote: Pork...pancakes...

No, no, no. You're thinking good ol' U. S. of A. maple-syrup pancake pancakes. Don't. Think savory crepes. Think very thin breakfast burritos, if need be. Get the notion of sweet, breakfast-y things entirely out of your mind!

So sorry, that didn't come across as I intended - it's not a negative emoticon - it's supposed to be drooling with anticipation. I'm thinking I have to make these for Christmas Day!

Bridgestone's Swedish pancakes are very close to what we called "German pancakes" when I was growing up in order to distinguish them from ordinary, American flapjack-style pancakes. I've had Swedish pancakes at Swedish restaurants here, and at Walker Bros., and they do taste a bit different from what my mother made at home. I like them all--in fact, there are few pancakes I don't like.

My mother learned to make "German" pancakes when she was a young girl from a maid her family had in pre-Hitler Berlin. My kids love them as much as I do. They're very simple.

For each person, use 1 egg, 1 coffee cup of flour and 1 coffee cup of milk. (I don't know why a coffee cup--that's the way the recipe is. The point is that you start with almost equal amounts of flour and milk.) Beat until smooth. Usually you need to add more milk to make the batter quite thin--heavy cream is an excellent analogy. I like to add a pinch of salt, a bit of sugar, and a little vanilla extract or vanilla sugar. I use a ladle and pour the batter in a circle and then tip the pan to cover thinly. I fry them in a very hot large non-stick pan, although we used a heavy regular frying pan when I was growing up. My Mom always used Crisco to fry because you can make the pan really hot that way. I do manage to keep the pancakes warm by piling them on a plate over a small pot of simmering water. The first one is never that good, but the rest are great. Serve with jam or syrup.

For a long time, I have used Mark Bittman's recipe.

Today I switched to 3-2-1:
3 eggs
2 cups of milk
1 cup of flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

The restaurant video cited above makes their batter the day before. I had impatient people to deal with who fortunately slept late. My batter had an hour to sit. There were still some lumps, so I used the immersion blender to knock those out.

I have an aluminum griddle purchased at a rummage sale for a dollar. I always wonder whose grandma owned it before me. I wonder if the family now regrets giving it away. I know I would have kept it, well I have, haven't I?

My parents ate their pancakes with cloudberries from IKEA and cranberry sauce, which is close to lingonberries. I ate mine with a skim of sour cream and sprinkle of sugar.

Each one of us received a plate to fill. I guess someday I should improve on presentation. By the time food is finished, so am I.

Swedish pancake lovers:

I have a Swedish wife. She's from the U.P. of Michigan. Her father is very proud of being a Swede. He makes a baked pancake of sorts, and the family pretty much goes nuts for it.
A few of the family members give us grief, because he goes for long periods of time without making it, but he will always make it when WE come to visit, so we get grief (jokingly) since we are obviously "special." It's called "Krepsua" or "Krupsua." It's like a wetter pancake, baked. Plenty of butter used in his. I'm a fan. Never heard of it until I met him. I think the first step of his recipe (tattered index card, probably 40 years old) is: "Melt one stick of butter." Usually, recipes that start with one stick of butter turn out to my liking. Anyhoo - just sayin - if you are looking for something new while sheltering, web up a recipe for Krupsua. It's nothing exotic or anything. Just a baked pancake with a decent amount of butter and a fancy Swedish name.

Krupsua is a Finnish word and there are many Finns in the UP. The oven version is called Pannu Kakku and it on the menu at the Suomi Restaurant in Houghton and the Kaleva Cafe in Hancock.

Meh -
Finns, Swedes, - same thing.

I'm KIDDING.

We actually had it at Kaleva last fall to try it from a restaurant. FIL's was better (lighter, and more buttery,) but Kaleva's pancakes are easily the best on the planet, imo.

Much thanks for the corrections. I thought about webbing up my accuracy before hitting submit, but...yeah...didn't happen. Thanks again!

I've used the Lund's Swedish pancake mix for years. Simple to make and the more butter and lingonberries, the better. https://www.marinamarket.com/groceries/ ... -mix-12oz/

CSD

Puckjam wrote:Krupsua is a Finnish word and there are many Finns in the UP. The oven version is called Pannu Kakku and it on the menu at the Suomi Restaurant in Houghton and the Kaleva Cafe in Hancock.

The Finns arrived to the UP to work the mines. The Finns have a variant of Pastie made with rye flour, but adopted the wheat flour variant after they arrived.

Debbie Vanni and her daughter Christina Vanni, from Libertyville and NYC respectively, are my go to sources for Finnish recipes. I was considering contacting Debbie, then decided to do a search. As I said all things Finnish circle back to Debbie, so I found this recipe for Krupsa on her website The Culinary Cellar.

The recipe calls for stick of butter oven browned in 9x13 pan. Knowing my family will finish whatever is presented, I made a half-recipe in an 8x8 pan. Plus I am not really encouraging leftovers when cooking is my main recreational activity.

Brown the butter in the oven, then stir the butter into the batter, pour the batter back into the hot pan and bake. Coming out of the oven, this is one beautiful pancake. This is a portion with some butter and cranberry sauce:



Thank you Seebee for a new addition to my knowledge of pancakes. This is a keeper!

Regards,
Cathy2

Very nice, Cathy! I think Saint Pizza and I will be trying that very soon based on your pics and description!

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:Very nice, Cathy! I think Saint Pizza and I will be trying that very soon based on your pics and description!

Glad I could return the favor!

CAthy2

Hi,

Day Two of Finnish Pancakes, but a world of difference -- and all good!

Oven Temperature Day one and two: 400 degrees F in a gas oven

Rack location:
- Day one: bottom rack with a heavy metal plate replicating a deck oven
- Day two: middle position on a wire rack

Batter both days: same ingredients, but:
- Day one: Butter on my faux deck oven melted very fast and browned
- Day two: Butter melted slower and only a little bit browned

Baking time:
- Day one: 40 minutes
- Day two: began at 30 minutes and extended to 35 minutes

Out of the oven:

Day One


Day Two


On the plate:

Day One


Day Two


The day one pancake was crispier. The day two was more cake-custard. Both were very good and certainly worthwhile doing either way.

I looked into doing this differently after Ann Fisher showed a picture of a Finnish pancake from a restaurant famous for producing these. For those familiar with Finnish pancakes, day two variant is more recognizable.

Day two is an outlier by Finnish standards, yet it is quite good as well.

I make mistakes, so you don't have to! Of course, some mistakes are so delicious, too!

Regards,
Cathy2

Holy Crap!
Cathy2 -
Not only does the Day1 (puffy, browned) look almost exactly like the FIL's (he sprinkles a tiny bit of plain white sugar on top, I think after baking,) BUT - I think the family has those blue dishes, too! They bust them out for fancy meals (like xmas breakfast with....Krupsua!)

Seebee,

I am really glad to get your feedback. I was impressed how the outcome differed by simply changing rack position. Of course, my steel plate on the bottom very evenly distributes heat.

Thank you again for bringing this pancake style to LTH, I never knew about it until you commented.

Regards,
CAthy2