Sunday, February 3, 2013

Pannukakku - pan-cake, but not pancake :)


My daughter was asking for pannukakku, another Finnish cake..
I have a kinda so-so relationship with it, not overly excited about, but good for a dessert every now and then, especially when I didn't have to make it. Well, I have to make it now :). If you speak Finnish, just go ahead and visit my friend's friend's blog here Ullan Leipomuksia.
If you don't, here is the recipe translated for you.
I like the crispy top so I adjusted the quantities a tiny bit to my tray, which is a bit smaller (20cmx30cm) than the average Finnish tray, to make a thinner pannukakku.
It is a less labor intensive alternative to palacsinta, crepes.

Ingredients (serves 6-8, preparation time 50 min, active 10 min)
3 dl cake flour
1 dl sugar
1 flat tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar (add essence in US)
1 flat tsp salt
6 dl milk
2 eggs
75 g butter, melted

Mix the dry ingredients and start adding milk, whisking to get a smooth dough. If I add half of the milk to the flour and whisk well, only then add the rest, works fine for me, it won't be lumpy.
In a separate bowl whisk lightly the egg whites (no need to beat them, just have them lightly white to brake down the viscosity of the whites), add the egg yolks, and add the eggs to the batter.
Last whisk in the melted butter.
Let it kinda mature together, just like "palacsinta" batter, for 15-30 min.
Poor the batter in a deeper tray,  ~1 cm thick layer should be on the bottom of the tray. Thicker is good, as well, it will however have a thicker layer of white, more dense batter in the middle and might need slightly longer baking.
You can choose whether you use the tray as is, or water it and "stick" a parchment paper to the bottom. You can use a wider wooden spatula to get the pannukakku out, so whichever you choose don't worry about scratching the tray.
Preheat the oven to 225 C (435 F) and bake on a middle shelf for 30-40 minutes (depends on the size of your tray) until the top is light golden-brown..
It will rise 'till almost (or 'till) the top of the tray, and when you remove it from the oven will collapse to about its original size. Don't panic, that's how it should be :).
Look for a lighter top than the one on the pic, my hubby managed to over bake it while I was at the girl's party downtown :).

Enjoy cold or while still slightly warm with:
strawberry marmalade
whipped cream/whipped vanilla cream
fresh berries
ice cream
a combination of the above

Original recipe for a standard Finnish tray
Ingredients
4 dl cake flour
1.5 dl sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp salt
8 dl milk
2 eggs
100 butter, melted

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