Pfannkuchen Recipe

By request, via PM, in response to this thread:

4 beaten egg yolks
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup lukewarm milk
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon

Mix all above until smooth, then fold in 4-5 egg whites that have been beaten until stiff.

Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a 10-inch skillet. When butter is melted, pour in cake batter, and cook for about 5 minutes on low/medium heat, partially covered. Alternatively, leave it on the stove just until the batter sets, then put it in a 400 degree oven with no lid. Ought to take about seven minutes.

When it's done, it should be puffed and lightly browned, but it will probably fall when you take it out.

Serve with the condiment of your choice...

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Aaron,

Though I wasn't the one who requested you post this recipe, I'm glad someone did. It's worthwhile just as a recipe but also interesting to consider alongside actual German tradition.

There are lots of variations on the Pfannkuchen theme in German cooking (the same must be said for pannekoeken in the Low Countries, and so on for other Kulturgebiete across Europe). In my older German and Dutch cookbooks, there are many different recipes with regard just to the composition of the batter (i.e., leaving aside all the additional sweet and savoury elements). The recipe you give from JoC doesn't really match exactly any of the recipes in my copy of the German 19th century analogue to JoC, but it does fit into the overall range of variations and is clearly a take on the Pfannkuchen von Stärke, 'pancake of starch'. This JoC offering is then just one of a bunch of different kinds of German Pfannkuchen (some of which are also known by distinct names).

Antonius Germanicus

One of the things I love about the old Joy of Cooking (mine is 1964) is the brief anecdotal introductions given to many of the recipes. Not sure if this is preserved in the current editions, but I hope so.

The above recipe is introduced thusly:

Henriette Davides, the German counterpart of the fabulous English Mrs. Beeton, says that the heat under this pancake must be neither "too weak nor too strong," that it is advisable to put "enough butter in the skillet, but not too much" and that the best results are obtained in making this simple great pancake with not more than 4 eggs. Henriette's recipes make mouth-watering reading. But only a strongly intuitive person on speaking terms with his imagination has a chance of success. Firming up Henriette's rule, will you try our version of this large pancake?

Another example of this tome's characteristic cheek is in the next recipe, for Austrian Pancakes (Nockerln), which produces "Four Small Servings---If You Are Not Very Hungry."

In any event, the above introduction, along with the more familiar range of recipes that fall under the umbrella of "pancakes" in this country, certainly support your point.

If you happen to have the recipe of Frau Davidis, I'd love to see it in its entirety. Um, in English, if possible.