Golden saffron pancakes on a sunny Sunday morning

We always have pancakes for breakfast on Sunday mornings. I don't know if we can call it a tradition yet, as we've only lived together for just over six months (I moved in with K. upon my return from Scotland in mid-October), but we've surely had loads of pancakes during that time. If we're not having pancakes at home, we enjoy them at either my parents' place or at K's mum's place. Not having pancakes for Sunday breakfasts seems almost wrong.. I wonder if "Sunday pancakes" might be an Estonian thing, as I know many-many other families who start their Sundays with pancakes and some jam. Any thoughts?

But there's a pancake confession I need to make: I'm not very good in making pancakes. Althought I can make small, fat pancakes (dropcakes), I'm utterly useless in making thin crepe-style pancakes. K., on the other hand, enjoys making pancakes in all shape and form. Thin ones. Thick ones. Small dropcakes. Large crepes. Pancake batter made with milk, with buttermilk, with whipping cream, with curd cheese. You name it. So it's usually him making pancakes on Sundays, to my great delight. This morning he woke me up with a batch of saffron pancakes, served with freshly made rhubarb jam a la Moominmamma. I had bookmarked both recipes to make myself, but when K. offered to make these himself, I didn't complain. After all, it meant I could lie in bed for half an hour longer :)

These pancakes - a cover recipe of the 3/2007 issue of the Finnish food magazine Glorian Ruoka & Viini (see left) - caught my eye with their gorgeous golden colour. And it wasn't just a trick photography - in our kitchen the pancakes had a deep amber hue, and a definite whiff of saffron. The original recipe accompanied them with a jam made from berries (f. ex. raspberries, strawberries, cherries, apricots or such like), vanilla, star anise and rhum. That sounds good, but I've got loads of rhubarb just now, and I knew these would go well with Moominmamma's rhubarb & ginger jam. I was right.

Saffron pancakes
(Safranipannkoogid)
Source: Glorian Ruoka & Viini, Numero 44, 3/2007
Serves 4



400 ml plain flour (240 g)
2 tsp baking powder
0.75 tsp salt
4 Tbsp sugar (70 g)
2 Tbsp water, boiling
0.5 g saffran (a very scant pinch!)
300 ml milk (low-fat is fine)
3 medium eggs
50 ml butter, melted and cooled

butter or oil for frying

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar) in a bowl.
Pour boiling water into a measuring jug, add saffron and mix, until the water has coloured. Add milk and pour the mixture onto the dry ingredients.
Add the eggs and the melted butter and mix until combined (do not overmix). Add a bit more milk, if the batter feels to thick.
Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium heat, add a bit of butter. Add a small ladleful of batter and fry pancakes for couple of minutes on both sides, until golden brown.
Keep pancakes warm under a piece of foil, while you bake the rest.
Serve warm with some home-made jam.

Other pancake recipes @ Nami-nami:
Buttermilk pancakes with sliced bananas, toasted nuts and warm maple syrup (March 2006)
Wild strawberries on pancakes (July 2006)