Russian Pancakes Recipe (time consuming but worth it)
If anyone out there is an ambitious cook, I really recommend you try this recipe for Russian Blini, they are so good. And right now its the pancake festival,
Maslenitsa. This recipe requires a lot of time, but it makes about
30 blini which reheat nicely. Plus blini can be eaten sweet with honey or jam, OR with savory things like smoked fish. Let me know if you make them. This recipe makes the real deal, crepes are just not equivalent to real blini.
Russian Pancakes
Blini
4 1/4 cups milk
5 teaspoons sugar
2 packages active dry yeast
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons light vegetable oil, plus additional for frying
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, separated
1 small potato halved (this is for greasing the pan)
1) In a small saucepan, scald 3 cups of the milk over low heat. Transfer to a large bowl and cool to lukewarm.
2) Add 1 teaspoon of the sugar and the yeast to the milk, stir, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
3) Whisk in half the flour until smooth. Place the sponge, covered, in a warm place until doubled in size, about
1 hour.
4) Beat in the remaining flour, the salt, 2 tablespoons oil, the butter, and the remaining sugar. Set aside to rise, covered until doubled in bulk, about
45 minutes.
5) In a saucepan, bring the remaining 1 1/4 cups milk just to a boil, remove from the heat, and beat into the batter.
6) Beat the egg yolks well and stir into the batter.
7) In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and fold into the batter.
8) Let rise once more in a warm place, covered for around
45 minutes.
9) Dip a potato half into oil and rub over th bottom of a 5- or 7- inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet Heat the pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan and very quickly tilt and rotate the pan so the batter covers the entire surface in a very think layer. Cook until the underside is golden, about 1 minute. Turn and cook for 30 seconds more.
*Be sure to taste the first blin since this is a good time to make adjustments. Add more milk if the batter seems thick, or more flour if its too thin. You can also add more sugar or salt.
10) Repeat with the rest of the batter, greasing the pan with the oiled potato before making each blin and sliding each as it is made into a heatproof deep serving dish. Keep the cooked blini covered with aluminum foil, in a 275°F (135°C) oven.
Recipe by Anya von Bremzen