How did I live this long without Swedish pancakes?
Cleaning out the attic this summer, Michael and I found some long-forgotten cast iron pans we’d inherited but never used. One was especially cute, with seven small, shallow circles cut into the surface. The back of the pan showed a maker’s mark: Alfred Andersen Co, Plett Pan, Minneapolis, Minn. A quick google search told me that plett is the Swedish word for pancake, and that these vintage pans sell for upwards of $100 in good condition! (Don’t worry, you can buy them brand new for under $20.)
It occurred to me that these plettar (I’m 90% sure that’s the correct plural of plett) would be the perfect vehicle for berries, and since it’s berry season, we’ve been making loads of plettar in my house. We started out serving them with black raspberries, then moved on to blueberries, and there’s no end in sight. Feel free to use any fruit that tickles your fancy.
This recipe for Swedish pancakes makes about 20 plettar, which feeds 3-4 people, depending on their appetites. I’ve doubled and tripled it for larger crowds of hungry eaters.
What You’ll Need to Make Swedish Pancakes with Berries
- 1 egg
- 1/3 + 1/2 cup milk (divided)
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- pinch of salt
- 7 Tbs. flour
- 2 tsp. melted butter
- additional butter for pan
- berries
What You’ll Do to Make Swedish Pancakes with Berries
Whisk together 1 egg and 1/3 cup milk, and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, salt and flour, then add the egg mixture and whisk to remove all lumps.
Add the remaining milk and melted butter, and mix well.
Heat the plett pan over medium heat, and grease each of the seven small circles by swirling a stick of butter around the circle. Pour batter into each circle, and watch carefully. When the batter has solidified enough to make each pancake flippable, use a small spatula or icing knife to flip each plett. You want the pancakes to be lightly browned. This will take 3-5 minutes for the first side, and 2-3 minutes for the second side.
Offload the pancakes to a plate, re-butter the individual plett indentations, then pour in another round of batter and cook. You’ll find that each round cooks more quickly than the one before, because the cast iron holds the heat so well.
Dust your pancakes with confectioners’ sugar and add your fruit, or if you’re feeling especially festive, add whipped or sour cream. Swedish pancakes are easy to make, low sugar, and perfectly complement any kind of fruit. They’re also very tasty with jam, if you don’t have any fruit on hand, although that kind of cancels out the low-sugar claim. And if (unbelievably) you have leftovers, a quick zap in the microwave brings the plettar back up to temperature, so you can enjoy them for breakfast the next morning.
You’ll wonder how you got along without them.
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