Palacsinta

 

Jonathan said this should be subtitled: How to efficiently make a vast quantity of palascinta to make your family happy.

This recipe is for the thin pancakes that we Hungarians call palacsinta (pullah-cheenta) - similar to the French crepe, Jewish blintz, or thin Swedish pancakes.

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter for frying.

Jam, lekvar (prune butter), or cinnamon sugar for filling.

I double the recipe to make about 26 8" palacsinta.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a stick blender, or in a regular blender. It is very helpful to have everything arranged for easy cooking - I set things up like so:

I ladle the batter into a measuring cup to make it easy to pour from, and set it on a saucer to catch the inevitable drips. Since I make a large batch and have hungry people waiting, I use two frying pans to keep things moving. I have my butter close by, and a plate to put the finished palacsinta on. Usually people come up and grab them as I make them and fill and roll them for themselves.

Over medium-high heat melt a small dab of butter in the frying pan (or pans if you are using two). Pour in some of the batter - it will be thin, not like regular pancakes. The dollop of batter should be about like this much-

Then you pick up the pan and swirl it around to get the batter to cover the bottom of the pan like so-

Let it cook until the surface looks rather dry-

Then flip it over to cook the other side -this is where my second pan comes in - I flip it over right into the second pan to finish cooking. Then I go ahead and pour my next palacsinta in the first pan. This works out as an efficient system for me to keep them going and feed the family.

Continue to add a tiny dab of butter to the frying pan after each couple of palacsinta.

Spread the finished palacsinta with a thin layer of jam or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar-

 Roll it up and feed it to waiting hungry child-

Alternatively, for cheese filling mix up 1 pound cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spread filling generously on palacsinta, roll it up, and place in a buttered baking dish. Bake in oven for about 20-30 minutes until filling is cooked. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top or dollop with sour cream if you want to be fancy.
 

Comments

[Lise]

Kimberlee, what a delight to see your Hungarian Pancakes, as we called them. My Hungarian Grandmother made these when I was little. She spread them with jelly, apricot and raspberry, rolled them up and put them in a baking dish. Then she spread a generous layer of sour cream on top and baked until the sour cream was set. Oh they were delicious! Thanks for the memories!
~Blessings