{recipe} Finnish Pancake with Raspberry Red Wine Sauce

And now I am going to tell you what to make for breakfast on Christmas morning. With a mere 5 ingredients, 5 minutes of prep, and 25 minutes in the oven, you can have a rich, custardy, puffy, wonderful breakfast on the table.

You may or may not know that I am part Norwegian. Now if you’re not Scandinavian, you might not realize what a big deal it is for a Norwegian to make and enjoy something Finnish. My grandmother was one of the sweetest, warmest, kindest women in the world, but as a proud Norwegian, she really had it in for the Finns (even worse than the Danes or the Swedes.) So it speaks volumes that this is a cherished family recipe despite its, er, unlikely origins.

Sometimes people eat this and think it’s the same thing as a Dutch baby, but in fact, they are a little bit different, and I feel that the Finnish pancake is superior. Probably because it has more butter in it. A typical Dutch baby recipe asks that you mix a lesser amount of melted butter into the batter, while the Finnish pancake requires that you melt a bunch of butter in the cooking pan then add the batter on top, creating an end result that’s more butter-coated, with small rivulets and channels of butter along the entire surface. And yet, the Dutch baby gets all the love. In fact, Finnish pancakes don’t even have a Wikipedia page! Oh, the injustice. (Update: commenter Nicole points out they do have a Wikipedia page, under Pannukakku, but it’s admittedly pretty lame.)

According to my grandmother’s recipe, you are meant to serve this with fresh berries, and whipped cream. I also like maple syrup on the side. If I’m feeling energetic, I’ll make a simple raspberry red wine sauce (recipe below.) You can whip up some cream to go with it–if I have creme fraiche on hand, I add a few spoonfuls to give the cream a slight tang. But hey, it’s Christmas morning, and you’re probably tired from playing Santa, so a can of squirt whipped cream and a handful of mixed berries will work just as well! It’s all about the pancake, anyway.

Ideally you would make this in a cast-iron pan, but any large metal oven-proof frying pan will work. It doesn’t need to be non-stick, because of all the butter. If you don’t have either of those, you can make it in a casserole-type dish, but it won’t puff up quite as much. It will still be delicious, though.

Recipe: Finnish Pancake
serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tablespoons butter (original recipe calls for twice that much, but I think 4 tablespoons is the right amount. If you really and truly love butter, like even more than I do, which hardly seems possible, you could go up to 6 tablespoons)
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup flour

• Put butter into a heavy, oven-proof skillet and place into the oven. Turn oven to 400 degrees F.
• Beat eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until foamy.
• Add milk and flour and beat until smooth and frothy.
• Pour batter into melted butter in heated pan. Place pan in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until pancake pulls away from sides, rises, and browns on top.
• Serve warm with fruit and whipped cream.

Easy Raspberry Red Wine Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 small baskets fresh raspberries
• 1 cup red wine
• 3/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)

METHOD:

• Before preparing the pancake, put all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan on the stove.
• Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Simmer 30-40 minutes, while you prepare and bake the pancake.
• Just before taking the pancake out, remove from heat and put into a pitcher or bowl. Serve warm.