Baking & cooking

From our family kitchen · Pancakes 01

Pancakes 01 — Grandma’s Yeast Pancakes

Remembering Grandma Maruška. With plum butter and real whipped cream.

We love pancakes, and I make them regularly in three ways: with yeast, American-style with baking soda, and with banana. But I usually make the yeast ones when I want to remember my beloved Grandma Maruška and have time to spare. And plum butter with whipped cream? Those are a must.

So here are our yeast pancakes. I don’t usually weigh ingredients in my recipes. Try letting go of the scales with me — play around and trust your judgement. :)

If the batter seems runny, don’t worry. It really should be thinner than other yeast doughs. Just leave it alone in a warm place for a good hour afterwards.

What you’ll need

I measure the flour by eye: 3 large mugs, or 3½–4 regular mugs. Keep the batter runny enough to scoop and pour into the pan.

  • ½ block of fresh yeast — preferably a little more
  • 1 litre milk
  • 4 heaped tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 large mugs of Czech semi-coarse flour (polohrubá), or 3½–4 regular mugs
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • clarified butter for frying

To serve

  • plum butter (povidla)
  • 33% whipping cream — to make real whipped cream
  • for the children, also good jam, chicory syrup (chocolate is their favourite) or cinnamon sugar

How to make them

  1. Warm the milk gently until lukewarm, not hot. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl, add the sugar and a little milk, and stir to dissolve the yeast.
  2. Add the remaining milk, eggs and a pinch of salt. Gradually stir in the flour. You want a smooth, fairly runny batter, not a firm ball of bread dough. Add the flour a little at a time and judge by the consistency.
  3. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place to rise for about an hour. Give the batter space and time: it should expand and become full of bubbles.
  4. Heat a little clarified butter in a frying pan or pancake pan. Scoop in small portions of batter and cook over medium heat until golden on both sides and cooked through.
  5. Whip the cream. Serve the pancakes with plum butter and a generous dollop of whipped cream — or let everyone choose their own toppings.

Allow about an hour for rising in a warm place. These pancakes are for days when we’re not in a hurry.

Baking & cooking