Hoito Pancakes

 

Not living in Thunder Bay means missing out on some really good local food.  Along with missing Coney Dogs, and Panzerotti we also miss Finnish Pancakes.  We have eaten many at the Hoito and at Kansas Sauna over the years and they continue to be fairly common for a weekend breakfast here at home….so far from Thunder Bay…. Be warned, to get them nice and brown…you need a generous amount of butter and a nice hot pan.  I have made them on an electric fry griddle but have over the years changed to using a nonstick pan on the stove.  What ever you use, the pan needs to hot enough to brown the butter before you add the batter.

Finnish Pancakes ( recipe makes two  large pancakes enough for 1 adult…scale up the recipe to make more)

1 large egg beaten

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup milk (whole or 2% work fine)

1/2 tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Butter for frying (not margarine)

Add half of the milk, all of the flour and salt and sugar and whisk smooth.  If you don’t get every little lump out it’s no big deal.  Add remaining milk and mix it in.

Heat your pan with a good  teaspoon or more of butter and let the butter melt, bubble, and brown.  Once the butter is browned…pour in half of your batter (it will be quite thin) into the centre of the pan.  You may need to add less if your pan is small.  Only add enough batter so that it does not start pooling thicker. So only enough batter that it reaches the outside edge of the pan and no more. Once the bottom is browned (you can check under an edge to have a peak) the top should no longer have flowing batter, it should be firmed up….then you can flip your pancake and it should finish cooking in about 30 seconds.  Remove to a plate and add more butter to cook the next pancake as you did the first.  You may need to adjust the temperature down slightly after the first pancake especially if you are using cast iron a it holds the heat very well.  Serve with maple syrup, or table syrup, or strawberry sauce with whipped cream, or with apple stroop.