It will all come together one day - maybe through pancakes. I can still smell the butter and sugar when my grandmother made me "lace" pancakes for breakfast.
And now it's up to me: our little boy Davídek calmly wakes me up at five in the morning and says: "Mom, I'm going to have a party!" And I fly because I know...
...that the kind of lace that my great-grandmother was able to bake after a round of pancakes could be fatal.
I will tell you about an ancient wedding veil, which was supposedly already lying over my cradle, where they laid me, tied in a swaddling cloth. It must have touched my face even then, because I remember the smell of the finest fabric... A beautifully embroidered veil, ancient and also memorable - I only found out about it after the ordeal. My grandmother and I made it, as my great-grandmother was called in Humpolec.
Every morning during the holidays, she would make me semolina porridge for breakfast, in which I would make rivers of butter and save the best for last: the middle island, which had the most chocolate and sugar. However, as soon as my grandmother told me that pancakes existed, I quickly abandoned wading through porridge. A new breakfast stage in my life began: pancakes.
Every morning, Grandma would step up to the stove in an ironed apron and scoop out a beautiful pancake with a ladle. Each pancake had a hem around the circumference like a lace skirt. Before rolling it up, Grandma would spread it with endless variations of fillings: jam, cottage cheese, pribináček, nutella from West Germany... And then she would roll it up so that there were rich, layered skirts at both ends. That's when it happened.
I flew to the closet, where deep behind the damask curtains, lay a lace veil hidden in a transparent box. I spread it out next to the plate of pancakes and tried to roll up a skirt from its edges, like the one my grandmother's pancakes wore. It wasn't very easy. So I took the Masha doll and rolled the lace around her body. "Ditunka, that would be a beautiful skirt, wouldn't it?", said my grandmother, and I brought the scissors. My grandmother always, always fulfilled everything I wished for. Before I could tell her. So she spread the veil out into a squiggle, sewed in an elastic band, and the skirt suited Masha perfectly.
Only the tears in my mother's eyes when she saw that "beauty" did I understand many years later. She just said at the time: "It was supposed to be your wedding..."
I got married without a veil. And with an eternal love for pancakes with a lace skirt.
These pancakes have the power of a lifesaver. They are sweet and sour, thin and filling. It's as if someone was stroking my hair in bed in the morning and saying: it will get better! It definitely does.
In a food processor or by hand with a whisk, I first beat the eggs with milk, add the flour, sugar and salt and beat again. Finally, I mix in the melted butter. I put the prepared dough in the refrigerator and let it rest for two hours.
I heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and melt about a tablespoon of clarified butter in it. If I don't have any, I use regular butter. I pour the melted butter from the pan into a small bowl and lightly brush the pan with a butter brush before each pancake.
I take the batter out of the fridge, mix it thoroughly again. I pour one ladle of batter into the pan, swirl it around to spread it all over the pan, fry for about 2-3 minutes, then flip the pancake and fry for another minute on the other side. I do the same with the rest of the batter.
I dust the finished pancakes with sugar and drizzle with lemon juice.
These are festive for me. I'll wait for the moment when I can surprise someone with them, enchant them, or simply make them happy. And it works. Try it!.
12 pancakes
Preparation 20 minutes
Let sit for 20 minutes
Toasting 20 min
For the caramel sauce:
First, I make the caramel sauce. In a small saucepan, I pour the cream, add the butter, sugar, and salt, and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. I increase the heat, bring to a boil, and cook for 8–10 minutes until the caramel sauce is thick. I remove from the heat and let it cool a bit.
In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and ground ginger. In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk and cream and then gradually beat in the flour, sugar and ginger mixture. Let the smooth pancake batter rest for 20 minutes.
I lightly grease a non-stick pancake pan with vegetable oil or clarified butter and let it heat up over low heat. I pour one ladle of batter into the pan, swirl it around to spread it all over the pan, fry for 2-3 minutes, then turn the pancake with my fingers and fry for another minute on the other side. I do the same with the rest of the batter. I stack the pancakes on top of each other and cover them with a clean towel so they don't cool down.
For the vanilla whipped cream, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla seeds until almost stiff.
I spread each pancake with whipped cream, fold it into a triangle and drizzle it lightly with caramel sauce.
I haven't known this recipe for a long time. I just succumbed – and gladly – to the talk about how food "does" the body and soul. And also a good mood and feeling. Yes, it does, I know that now. They should be called Merry Pancakes..
For homemade Nutella:
I start with homemade nutella. I spread the nuts and almonds on a baking sheet and put them in an oven preheated to 180° C. I bake them for 10-15 minutes, until they start to brown slightly, stirring them a few times during baking. I transfer the nicely roasted nuts and almonds to a clean towel, wrap them nicely in it, and rub them until I remove almost all the skins.
I pour the coconut sugar into a large pan and let it melt over medium heat, stirring occasionally. This takes about 5–10 minutes.
Then I add the nuts and almonds to the pan, mix them so that they are nicely coated with the melted sugar, pour them onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, spread them evenly, and let them cool.
I put the nuts and almonds in the food processor, add the softened butter, coconut oil, salt and mix until smooth and creamy, this takes 8-10 minutes. I add the cocoa and mix until fully incorporated. Finally, I briefly mix in the vanilla extract.
I transfer the finished Nutella into jars with lids and store what I don't use right away in a dark, cool, dry place, where it will last for several weeks. In the refrigerator, it will even last for several months.
For the pancake batter, I mix milk with egg yolks, flour, and salt. It will form a liquid batter, which I put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Then I whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and carefully fold them into the batter.
I lightly grease a non-stick pancake pan with vegetable oil or clarified butter and heat the fat over low heat. I pour one ladle of batter into the pan, swirl it around to spread it all over the pan, fry for 2-3 minutes, then turn the pancake with my fingers and fry for another minute on the other side. I do the same with the rest of the batter. I stack the pancakes on top of each other and cover them with a clean towel so they don't cool down.
Finally, I spread each pancake with homemade Nutella, roll it up, and sprinkle with coarsely chopped roasted nuts.
When you ask me what men dream about, I will answer you with this recipe. It contains all the ingredients that can satisfy desire and make dreams a reality. Isn't that the best?
I mix the milk with the eggs, add the buckwheat flour and salt, mix and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning I take the dough out and let it come to room temperature.
I lightly grease a non-stick pancake pan with vegetable oil or clarified butter and heat it over low heat. I pour one ladle of batter into the pan, swirl it around to spread it all over the pan, and fry for 2–3 minutes.
When the surface of the galette is dry, I sprinkle it with cheese and crack an egg on top of the cheese. Finally, I add the shredded ham. I cover the pan with a lid so that the cheese melts and the egg white sets. I uncover the pan, fold the edges of the galette into the center, carefully transfer it to a plate, and sprinkle with pepper. I do the same with the rest of the dough. I stir the dough from time to time, as the buckwheat flour tends to sink to the bottom.
