Tag Archives: pancakes

Sunday Breakfast: Oladushki

One of the most-viewed and visited posts in my blog is “oladushki”. For those of you who don’t yet know the meaning – it’s Russian name for small pancakes. Yes, it’s absolutely incorrectly to call them blini as many people do (blini are large and thin like crepes, look here), and how they are usually called in restaurants or sold in stores.

This is the perfect breakfast or brunch to spoil yourself with on the weekend, and it could be made in a short time. Russian housewives most of the time use soured or any leftover kefir to prepare these soft beauties. You can try to substitute with buttermilk, drinking but thick yogurt, or as I did – used laban (local dairy drink). Oladushki go well with many sauces: honey, sour cream, sweetened yogurt, jam or sweet condensed milk. You can also serve them as a savory breakfast: with cream cheese or sour cream along with cured salmon or caviar.

Few tips on how to make oladushki soft and fluffy (not only to add a baking soda for leaving):

you should sift the flour (add the air); do not over-mix the batter (it leads to tough texture);

let the batter rest for a half an hour and then do not stir it again (otherwise the bubbles will deflate);

carefully scoop the batter from the side of the bowl – do not dip the spoon into the center;

finally, when you flip oladushki over – do not press it with a spatula.

So, this or next weekend morning that you make these oladushki, make a few extra. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge. And next hectic morning you don’t need to skip breakfast: reheat them, sit down&enjoy and plan for a successful day. 🙂

Sunday Breakfast: Russian Oladushki

Servings: 2-3
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: easy
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I served oladushki with plum preserve and vanilla yogurt.

All ingredients should be at room temperature, so take them out of the fridge 1 hour ahead.

Ingredients

1 medium egg

a pinch of fine salt

1-2 tsp white sugar

250ml kefir (laban or buttermilk), warm

170g plain flour

1/3 tsp baking soda

sunflower or any other veg.oil for frying

Method

In a large mixing bowl, beat an egg with salt and sugar until fluffy. Mix in kefir.
Sift the flour with soda into the batter. Whisk gently until the ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix – it leads to tough texture.
Let the batter rest for a half an hour and then do not stir it again (otherwise the bubbles will deflate).
Preheat the frying pan (until a drop of water skitters across the pan), lightly coat with oil.
Carefully scoop the batter from the side of the bowl. When oladushki are dry around the edges and bubbles over the top – turn it over. Don’t press oladushki with a spatula!
Transfer to a large plate in a single layer, keep it uncovered (you may keep them in a warm oven), while preparing the rest.
The best eaten fresh with your favorite sauces. But they also can be covered with a plastic wrap and kept in the fridge until the next morning.

Enjoy!

Black Forest Pancakes

When I decided to make chocolate pancakes, I didn’t expect them turn out so good and delicious: a pure indulgence! I wanted to serve them only with a black-cherry jam. But when I stumbled upon a pack of mascarpone in my fridge, that I wanted to use somewhere else, the decision came itself – use it as a topping! Mascarpone worked perfectly as a cream and cherry syrup (I mixed jam with some water to make it thinner) sucked into pancakes very well, like into a sponge cake. All ingredients worked more than good together, dark chocolate and fresh cherry on top added a nice and charming touch as well. Plus, the taste reminds the famous cake – “Black Forest”. It’s my husband’s favorite cake, so he was on a nine cloud! Honestly, these are highly recommended pancakes!

Black Forest Pancakes

Servings: 3
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: very easy
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Ingredients

200g sour cream

250ml full-fat milk

2 eggs

2 tbsp white sugar

a pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

20g butter, melted

270-300g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

5-6 tsp unsweetened pure cocoa powder

40-50g dark chocolate (70%cocoa), chopped

sunflower or any veg oil for frying

For serving

200g mascarpone

2 tsp maple syrup or pure honey, optional

100g dark cherry jam

70ml warm water (or more to make it thinner)

1-2 tsp lemon juice, optional

Garnish

some chopped dark chocolate

fresh cherries, optional

Preparation method

In a large bowl, beat eggs with with sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk in butter.
Pour in milk and sour cream, stir all together.
Sift flour along with baking powder, soda and cocoa into a batter. Whisk until combined. Fold in chopped chocolate.
Heat large frying pan on a high heat, pour in some oil. Using large spoon, pour in batter. Cook each pancake until bubbles appear on top, then flip and cook on another side.
For cheery syrup, in a small saucepan, bring jam and water to gentle simmer. Simmer on a medium-low heat for few minutes. If it’s too sweet, stir in lemon juice. Add more water to make it more thin, if desired.
In a serving bowl, stir together mascarpone and maple syrup or honey.
Serve pancakes with mascarpone and cherry syrup.

Enjoy!

Savory pumpkin pancakes

Hello blogofriends and foodies! Hope your Sunday is going to be exceptional! May be you planning to go out for a picnic with your family or date out with your beloved.. Whatever you will choose to do today, firstly, do not forget to have a delicious and nourishing breakfast! 😀 Like this one – always favourite pancakes, but this time they are savory: with slightly sweet pumpkin, salty parmesan and aromatic spices!

These pumpkin pancakes are bursting with autumn flavours, plus you can use pumpkin or squash leftovers! Even if the morning is not your favourite part of the day, try to start it with a smile on your face, and you will feel the difference throughout the day! And of course, brighten up the morning with this wonderful breakfast! 🙂

Savory pumpkin pancakes

Servings: 2
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from Jamie Oliver magazine

Ingredients

Pancakes

200g pumpkin/squash puree

1 egg

250ml full-fat milk

150g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

a pinch of fresh nutmeg

1/2-1 tsp chilli flakes

1 sprig rosemary, leaves finely chopped

30-40g finely grated parmesan

olive or sunflower oil for frying

Extra for serving

some grated parmesan

chopped fresh parsley

sour cream, mixed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, S&P

few oak leaves lettuce or any other, optional

In a bowl, mix pumpkin puree with the egg and milk. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, chilli, rosemary, parmesan.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan, spoon some of the batter to make a pancake. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden. Serve with extra parmesan, if desired.

Enjoy!

Sunday Breakfast: Syrniki with fresh blackcurrants

Syrniki are Russian cottage cheese pancakes, that are made thick and have a roundish shape. I love having them on breakfast, topped with a sweet condensed milk and some fresh or frozen berries. I already posted the recipe once (click here), today recipe is similar to the previous one but with a delightful touch: these syrniki were prepared by my mum during my summer holidays in Russia. 🙂 My suggestion was to add a special ingredient – fresh blackcurrants, which were picked up that day in parent’s garden. So, we mixed in lots of fresh and juicy blackcurrants. Blackcurrants have enough natural sweetness, and we didn’t put sugar at all.

If you haven’t still made syrniki you should immediately go to your kitchen and cook them! Really! They are so delicious, plus cottage cheese contains lots of calcium, which is great for bones.

Syrniki with fresh blackcurrants

Servings: 4-5
Difficulty: easy
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If using frozen blackcurrants do not defreeze them, add straight from the freezer.

Ingredients

600-700g tvorog/cottage cheese (I used 0% fat)

2 medium eggs

2-3 tbsp white sugar (or as much as you like), I didn’t put sugar this time

150-170g fresh blackcurrants

100g plain flour

icing sugar, for garnish, optional

some fresh blackcurrants, sour cream/sweet condensed milk, for serving

Method

In a large mixing bowl, mix cottage cheese with a folk. Add eggs and sugar if using, stir to combine.
Sift the flour into cottage cheese mixture, mix to combine. If the mixture is too wet, add a bit more flour.
Sprinkle fresh blackcurrants with flour, carefully fold into cottage cheese mixture.
Sprinkle working surface with flour. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and shape flat patties (approx 6cm diameter).
Arrange syrniki on a greased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 200C oven for 30 minutes or until golden.
You can also fry them. For that, in a large frying pan heat sunflower oil, add syrniki and fry for 2 minutes on each site.
Sprinkle with icing sugar, if desired. Serve warm with sour cream or sweet condensed milk and berries on side.

Enjoy!

Buckwheat pancakes with pike caviar

Good morning! I guess, pancakes is the most wanted breakfast on Earth. 😀 No matter how you call them in your country, whether you like thick or thin pancakes, sweet or savory – they are all delicious! Today, I’d like to share the recipe of Russian buckwheat oladushki (small pancakes). In Russia we like buckwheat grain and consume it in enormous amounts; it is not only the tasty grain but also very healthy (it contains no gluten, and a good source of protein). So buckwheat flour is also popular and widely-used in preparation of various pancakes, vareniki or cakes.

The flour is a bit heavy itself, plus I used wholegrain one, and as you can see from the photos: my pancakes turned out not very thick. But if you like them thicker and fluffier, add less buckwheat and more plain flour.

These pretty dark and so-healthy pancakes go great with a dollop of fresh sour cream and slice of homemade cured salmon! I brought a can of pike caviar from Russia, and garnished pancaked with it. It’s not very salty and suits perfectly here. Of course I understand that it’s not easy to get pike caviar (at least find it Russian store), but you can substitute it with salmon or any other fish caviar you like, or a thin slice of smoked salmon is another awesome option.

Buckwheat pancakes with pike caviar

Ingredients

100g buckwheat flour (I used organic wholegrain)

100g plain flour

1 egg

200g sour cream (20% fat)

3 tbsp full-fat milk

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1/3 tsp baking soda

1/3 tsp salt

sunflower oil, for frying

Garnish

sour cream

pike caviar (sub it with salmon caviar or cured salmon slices)

chopped chive, optional

Method

In a large bowl, whisk egg with salt, milk, sour cream and oil. Sift plain flour, add buckwheat flour and soda. Mix all ingredients to combine.
Heat a frying pan or skillet of a high heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil, if needed. Using a ladle or cup, drop some batter on a pan until desires size of pancake is reached (I made 7-8cm). Cook until edges begin to look dry and bubbles start to form, about 1 minute. Then flip the pancakes and cook 1-2 minutes more on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream, top with a few teaspoons of caviar and sprinkle with chive if desired.

Enjoy Russian Breakfast!