EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Hungary
Sweet and savory pancakes
Pancakes or crêpe. No matter how you call it, I am pretty sure, you know them very well. And probably like it a lot too. Nothing surprising. Sweet or savory, with multiple ways of serving it and with a lot of fillings. It is up to you, and up to your imagination how you prepare them. Use this imagination and create your perfect breakfast, or a light evening meal.
If you still do not have an idea how to make them and if you are curious about them at all, read the post with an attached recipe. Try it, and I promise, you will love them! But one thing! Do not expect to make a perfect crêpe straightforwardly. Be patient. Don’t give up, even if your first pancakes are not ideal, are not so fluffy, a little bit irregular or just coal-black! It is easy to make them, but still, it needs practice.
Probably, you have already eaten a lot of them. And you probably have a lot of wonderful memories attached to them. Come back to your young times when you had them prepared by your grandmother or mum. Or come back to the time spent in the kindergarten. Finally, go through all student times when pancakes were quick and cheap to prepare. And finish your dreams with pleasant moments spent in different places where, no matter where you were, you could have them and be sure you would not be surprised by the meal.
You probably had it served in a different way and with a different filling. Depending on the place, country or even the tradition, although the same, they were somehow different.
And do you know that pancakes can be used in multiple ways? You can not only eat them alone but make cakes!
Different ways of serving crêpes and their types
Crêpes can be prepared as a sweet or a savory dish depending on the filling that is inside. Apart from that, only a slight difference is made in the base recipe, so nothing complicated. While preparing savory pancakes, omit adding sugar to the batter. Easy, isn’t it?
Sweet crêpes or pancakes
This type of pancakes is usually prepared with a wheat flour and filled with jams, fruits, chocolate, hazelnut butter bread spreads or custard. You can also use a coconut or a rice flour if you are gluten intolerant. Finally, it is sprinkled with powdered sugar, served with whipped cream, ice cream or with sauces like a maple syrup, honey or even with some lemon juice. If you like it even more sour, cut lemon into thin slices and use it as a filling mixed with vanilla sugar or honey. Sweet crêpes are mainly eaten either as a dessert or for a breakfast, but actually, you can have it almost every time, as they are delicious. If you are looking for some ideas for a sweet crêpes filling, here I prepared a short list for you.
Sweet crêpes filling:
- Chocolate
- Nutella
- Snickers butter spread
- Banana slices
- Fruit jams
- White cottage cheese Philadelphia style
- Mascarpone
- Ricotta
- Steamed apple cubes with cinnamon
- Coconut flakes with chocolate
- Fresh fruits and whipped cream
- Banana and chocolate or Nutella
- Steamed apples with crushed nuts
- Berry fruits and custard
That is only a short list, but you can experiment and find your favorites. Make changes, mix different ingredients and toppings. Do not limit yourself!
Savory crêpes
This type of crêpes can be made with different types of flour. You do not have to limit yourself only to a regular wheat flour, but try other options like buckwheat, coconut or rice flour. When preparing the batter for these savory crêpes, do not add extra sugar or any sweetener. Just a little bit of salt. Using other types of flour, makes these crêpes suitable also for people with some food allergies like gluten intolerance. Savory crêpes are served usually during the lunch or for a dinner. Rarer for a breakfast, but still, you will wind a lot of places where savory crêpes with ham and cheese would be available in the breakfast menu. The most common filling for these crêpes is different types of cheese and meat like ham, bacon or sausages, eggs, vegetables and different herbs.
If you have no idea for a filling for a savory crêpe, here are some ideas.
Savory crêpes filling:
- Ham and cheese
- Bacon and eggs
- Bacon, onion, and mushrooms
- Ham and egg
- Eggs, mushrooms, and onion
- Ham, onion, and tomatoes
- Cheese and tomatoes
- Shrimps with Philadelphia cheese
- Chicken, mushrooms, and onion
- Minced meat and herbs
- Eggs and herbs
- Cheese and herbs
- Mozzarella and tomatoes
Crêpes variations
Although for many of you, pancakes mean a single crêpe (sweet or savory) with any kind of a filling, you can make with crêpes also cakes. Yes! Cakes! It is very easy. Just put one, unfolded and with no filling pancake at the bottom. Add on it some chocolate, Nutella, whipped cream, jams, custard or sliced fresh fruits. Then, put another pancake on it and add an extra topping. Repeat it for a couple more layers and garnish it with some whipped cream, nuts, chocolate, or fruits. Usually, a pancake cake has no less than fifteen layers. It can reach up to thirty, but it all depends on the filling and the thickness of the crêpe. Crêpes for pancake cakes should be very thin and very soft. That is the most important thing. In France, they call it mille crêpes, what literally means – thousand pancakes. Another very popular way of serving pancakes, especially in France and in Belgium, is to prepare it with a special sauce. Crêpe Suzette, as how it is called, are pancakes with a Suzette butter. This butter sauce is prepared from butter, caramelized sugar, little bit of a grated orange peel, orange juice and with an orange-flavored liquor. Usually used liquors include Grand Marnier, triple sec or Curaçao. When served, it is flambéed tableside. It is a really spectacular view and something completely different from all other crêpes.
France has also one more interesting pancake recipe. It is called crêpe dentelle. Generally speaking, crêpe dentelle is a baked pancake roll. It has nothing to do with a traditional pancake, apart from the naming. It is rather a crispy biscuit and definitively not a crêpe in a general meaning.
Then, in United States there is 49er flapjack. It is a little bit like a Swedish pancake. It is made with a sourdough and served either in a roll or open-faced. When served in a roll, it is filled only with butter and then sprinkled with sugar. The open-faced version is usually served with maple syrup.
Finally, we come to our lovely palatschinken (known also as palacsinta, palačinka, palacinka, palačinka or pallaçinka depending on the country and region.). These pancakes are extremely popular in different areas in the central Europe, so in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Czech, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and in the Balkan region. These palatschinken are served with a sweet filling. Usually that is chocolate, Nutella, jams, cottage cheese or fruits. Then, they are sprinkled with sugar, topped with some whipped cream, and served with sauces or honey. Sometimes they are served with vanilla ice-cream aside too. Romanian pancakes come in two variations – plăcintă and clătită. Romanian plăcintă is completely different from the Hungarian version of pancakes. This Romanian plăcintă is more like a bun or a cake and definitively not as a pancake in a classical understanding. These, known for us traditional crêpes are called in Romania clătită.
How to serve pancakes or crêpes?
Serve pancakes folded into triangles, wide rolls or open-faced. Depending on the filling you are going to use, some shapes might be more convenient than others. For crêpes Suzette with an orange-flavored butter and liquor, fruit jams, sweet quark, fresh fruits, banana slices or chocolate, use triangles. When served only with maple syrup or honey, put them open-faced. Pancake rolls are good also for a chocolate and a quark filling. Actually, that is all up to you and up to your imagination of how to serve it and what topping you would add. Sprinkle it with powdered sugar, add some whipped cream, or add some chocolate or caramel sauce on top of them. Then a vanilla ice-cream scoop would be a good idea too.
When preparing the batter for pancakes only basic ingredients are needed. Milk, water, eggs, flour, butter or oil and some salt and sugar.
Now, it is time to make your pancakes! Check our tips and recipes for a perfect crêpe. Read also about sweets and pancakes in Romania and about meals in touristic spots in Romania, where you will find some more ideas.
