Lithuanian Pancakes

I am Lithuanian and I was not attending pre-school so I had the chance to live like a princess with my granny for a couple of years. We have a saying that parents are for being strict, giving morals and that grannies are our angels and spoilers. And that is so true!

What was Rima eating each day? Pancakes! Yes pancakes!!! We don’t have crêpes in Lithuania, all of these different thingies we call pancakes and we are creative and super serious about this meal.

If you would give me just 30 seconds I could list you at least ten types of pancakes that we eat in Lithuania. In this article I will present some of the most common ones and the ones I like the most and believe me it is just a few from the list! I will share one recipe too.

Oh, and I need to warn you, I hate recipes, I prefer just to list ingredients so that you can cook by the your own feeling as I am doing.

Let’s start…

1. Blynai širdelės (Heart Pancakes).
   These ones are the top pancakes in my list! The shape is nice, usually they are fluffy and crunchy and if they are served with homemade fresh raspberry or blueberry jam then it is just something that you can’t miss. The ingredients are so basic, just flour, eggs, a bit of salt, milk, vanilla sugar and butter/oil. The secret is to melt the butter and to separate the egg yolk and white, the white needs be whisked. But you can’t make them without a special pan, nowadays you can buy an electric version in many electronics shops.
2. Blynai su Obuoliais (Pancakes with Apples).
   I would call these autumn pancakes. Why? Because we can use our apple harvest from the farm. Again the recipe is so simple: flour, eggs, milk (it can be mixed with water), a bit of salt, sugar and cinnamon, oil/butter, apples cut in small pieces.. Everyone has different ways of serving. All of us in my family eat them how we prefer, for example my Dad eats them with sour cream and jam, my Mum uses just sugar and I like to put some more cinnamon mixed with a bit of sugar on mine.



3. Bulviniai Blynai (Potato Pancakes).
   Like many Nordic countries we use lots of potatoes and of course we have several pancake recipes made from potatoes. The most simple one is to grate raw potatoes, add eggs, salt, some chopped onions and a bit of flour, mix together and fry in a pan (or in the old fashioned way on cabbage leaves in the homemade oven) using pig fat/oil. I serve them with sour cream, but I know some people like to eat them with jam.
4. Bulviniai Blynai su Mėsa (Potato Pancakes with Meat).
   Yes, that is right pancakes and meat. These are similar to the ones before just a bit thicker. You can add some flour and well prepared minced meat to the potatoes – pork or beef as you feel, but I would recommend to mix it with some spices especially pepper and maybe garlic. I am not a meat eater, but people love them!
5. Blynai su Įdaru (Pancakes with Stuffing).
   Stuffing – cottage cheese, meat, spinach mixed with cottage cheese, mushrooms, bananas or what ever you wish (maybe not, but you know what I mean). Just make a simple pancake-crêpe, put your chosen stuffing in the middle, fold it and fry in the pan to warm it up and to have a crispy top, add some sauce or jam and there you go.



6. Žemaičių Blynai (Žemaičių Pancakes).
   I don’t really know why they are named like this. Žemaitija is one of the areas in Lithuania so maybe the pancakes have the title according to that, but some people call them Kėdainiai Pancakes – this city is in another area. I guess it doesn’t matter so much. Potatoes, potatoes, again potatoes, but this time we boil the potatoes, mash them and add some salt, flour and eggs, then again inside we put some meat. In my family we don’t like them with meat inside so we just leave them plain. The secret is a traditional very fat sauce made from butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. All You need to do is mix and melt everything together. Hmmm… I can feel the taste just by writing.
7. Blynai su Cukinijomis ir Morkomis (Pancakes with Zucchini and Carrots).
   Once again these are autumn pancakes, made after the harvest or maybe in late summer when we can already find fresh veggies. A simple recipe: flour, egg, water, grated zucchini and carrots, salt.These are healthy and delicious!!!  You can easily bake them in the oven or fry in a pan. Serve with different kind of fresh sauce.
8. Mieliniai Blynai (Yeast Pancakes).
   I remember these very well from my childhood, I just tasted them at my grannie’s. Al you need for these pancakes is yeast, sugar, milk, eggs, salt, and flour. The dough should look like sour cream. So, I will try to write a bit more like a real recipe below and maybe you can try them. 

Yeast Pancakes Recipe

Ingredients
Fresh yeast – 20g
or
Dried yeast – 10g
Sugar – 3tsp
Milk – 500ml
Flour – 300g
Salt – Just a pinch
(if the amounts are right then the batter will look like sour cream)

What to do

1. Mix the yeast with one teaspoon of the sugar and add warm, but not boiling, milk.
2. Whip the eggs and mix them into the prepared milk.
3. Add the rest of the sugar and the flour and mix everything together.
4. Cover the dough and store it somewhere warm until it has risen to double the size.
5. Heat up a pan with oil of your choice, add dough a spoonful at a time and fry turning once until they are golden brown.
6. Serve them with fresh homemade jam or even some fresh berries!

I could make a much longer list, but maybe it is enough for now! The next time I am going to write about pancakes, I will write about super healthy ones!!!