Maslenitsa is the sweetest and most satisfying week of the year. The main dish on her table is a golden, hot, delicious pancake. Round as the sun, and desirable as spring.
In the old days, it was believed that the more pancakes you bake, the more fun you spend the winter. And therefore they were prepared with respect and rank by rank. In the villages, on the eve of Maslenitsa, housewives went out into the street and, bowing, asked for help from the moon: “You are a month, a month, your golden horns! Look out the window, blow on the dough! Looked out did not look out – then how lucky. But the next day, the smoke in the hut stood like a rocker – they baked pancakes, prepared fillings, put cream, honey, jam and sour cream on the table. And the guests were greeted like this: “Maslenitsa is walking on ice, carrying a pan of pancakes. Accept the young – take it apart according to the pancake! So that you can be carried up to your elbows, and eat up to your throat! And don’t hesitate – that’s exactly what happened. They ate and praised the owners.
Baking good pancakes is not that difficult, but it has its own rules. The best pan for baking is cast-iron, “grandmother’s”, with a thick smooth bottom and low sides: it is more convenient to turn pancakes in this one. Her handle should be wooden – you will not jump around the kitchen in search of potholders and blow on burned fingers. The bottom of the pan should be ignited with salt and wiped with a dry, clean cloth: in this case, the pancakes will not burn. Don’t stand by the stove, don’t dream about strangers: pancakes love attention, and guests love delicious food. And most importantly – cook cheerfully and with love, with clean hands and thoughts. Experienced chefs say that this is the main key to success.
What kind of pancakes you will cook, it’s up to you. Lots of recipes to choose from! If you want – the most simple, “fast-thinking”. If you want – intricate “royal” ones, with orange filling and a scoop of ice cream on the outside. If you want – spicy and savory cheese. Dense and soothing potato. Thick and perforated millet. Alluring walnut or delicate linen.
But what can I say – you can write the most delicious treatise in the world about pancakes! But as noted by the great connoisseur of Russian life, the writer Anton Chekhov, “if we still don’t have scientific papers on pancakes, then this is simply because eating pancakes is much easier than racking your brains over them.” He, in his “Shrovetide Rules of Discipline”, punished: “Before Maslenitsa, go to the master and eat your stomach!” And, of course, he was right.
The tradition is unchanged: the holiday of seeing off winter is a holiday of the belly. And don’t think about denying yourself! Maslenitsa happens only once a year. Put pancakes on the table – lacy wheat, crisp buckwheat, brown rye and brown chocolate. Surprise with red pumpkin pancakes, lush, like a marriageable bride. Throw on the table jugs with fruit drinks, sbitnya and kvass. Serve with honey, butter, cream and jam. And remember: pancakes, like kisses, do not like bills.
“Rose” with caramel
For 10 persons: eggs – 1 pc., wheat flour – 1 cup, sugar – 1 tbsp. l., vegetable oil – 1.5 tbsp. l., milk – 450 ml, butterscotch – 20 pcs., 35% cream – 200 ml, soda – 1/3 tsp, salt
Heat 400 ml of milk to about 40 ° C, pour into a deep container, add the egg, salt and sugar, beat with a mixer until airy foam forms. Add the sifted flour together with soda in parts to the milk mixture, mixing the dough after each added portion. Pour into the dough 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil. It is good to heat the pan, grease it with vegetable oil, bake pancakes. When finished, take a detachable form with a diameter smaller than pancakes, put the largest pancake into it so that you get a “plate with a side”. Put the mold in the oven, heated to 180-190 ° C, for 5-10 minutes, so that the “plate” dries out and keeps its shape well. Put toffees in a saucepan, put on medium heat, pour in the remaining milk, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from fire and cool. Cool the cream, beat. With the mixer running, add the melted toffees, mix until smooth. 2-3 tbsp. l. leave the sauce, grease each pancake with the rest, roll them up with an accordion and put them in a circle in a “plate”. Drizzle the finished cake with the remaining sweet sauce and serve.
Pancakes with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes
For 17 persons: wheat flour – 1 glass, milk – 2 glasses, eggs – 2 pcs., vegetable oil – 2.5 tbsp. l., sugar – 1 tbsp. l., spinach – 0.5 bunch, curd cheese – 250 g, sun-dried tomatoes – 100 g, basil, salt
Sift flour, pour into a blender. Add eggs, milk, sugar, a pinch of salt, spinach. Beat at high speed until smooth, add 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, stir. Heat the pan, grease it with oil and bake the pancakes over medium heat (it is important not to overcook until the pancakes turn yellowish). Mix cottage cheese with dry basil. Stuff pancakes with sun-dried tomatoes.
Buckwheat pancakes “Princely”
For 6 persons: buckwheat flour – 1.5 cups, eggs – 2 pcs., vegetable oil – 80 ml, kefir – 2 cups, sugar – 2 tbsp. l., salt – 1/3 tsp., soda – 0.5 tsp.
Beat eggs with sugar and salt. Separately heat kefir, add soda to it. After the mixture foams, add it to the beaten eggs, mix with a mixer. Sift the flour and knead the dough. At the end, add vegetable oil. Bake pancakes in the usual way, in a hot frying pan. Ready-made pancakes can be greased with butter and served with greens, fish, meat or cottage cheese.
Pancakes with meat
For 12 people: milk – 1 liter, eggs – 4 pcs., soda – 0.5 tbsp. l., sugar – 1 tsp., flour – 2.5 cups, minced beef – 230 g, onion – 1 pc., cumin – 0.5 tbsp. l., butter – 1 tsp., vegetable oil, salt, ground black pepper
Crack 3 eggs into a bowl of warm milk. Add soda, sugar and salt, stir with a whisk or mixer, add flour and mix well again. Pour 0.5 cups of vegetable oil, scoop the dough a couple of times with a ladle and set aside for 15 minutes. Peel and finely chop the onion. Heat the pan, pour 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, put the minced meat, chopped onion, add cumin, black pepper and salt. Stir, fry for 5 minutes, add some water, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Beat the egg with a little water, add the mixture to the meat, mix well, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Heat a pan for pancakes, grease with vegetable oil and bake pancakes. Lubricate each pancake with butter, fill with meat filling, wrap in a tube and serve.
Rye pancakes with fruits
For 4 persons: milk – 0.5 l, melted butter – 25 g, salt – 0.5 tsp, sugar – 1.5 tbsp. l., rye flour – 250 g, eggs – 2 pcs., sunflower oil – 2 tbsp. l., curd cheese – 9 tbsp. l., strawberry jam – 3 tbsp. l., strawberries – 250 g, blueberries – 200 g, powdered sugar
Mix all liquid ingredients, then add salt, sugar and sifted flour. Stir until a homogeneous mass is formed, without lumps. Heat up a frying pan. Bake pancakes. Prepare the filling: mix cream cheese with jam. Wash blueberries and strawberries. Peel strawberries from sepals, cut into quarters. Ready-made pancakes stuffed with curd filling and strawberry slices. Serve sprinkled with icing sugar and garnish with blueberries.
pumpkin fritters
For 4 persons: peeled pumpkin – 500 g, flour – 150 g, vegetable oil – 50 ml, eggs – 1 pc., sugar – 2 tbsp. l., baking powder – 1.5 tsp., salt
Cut the pulp of the pumpkin into 2-3 cm pieces, put in a saucepan, pour boiling water so that it almost covers the vegetable, cook for 15-20 minutes until soft, then put it in a colander. Mash the cooled pieces of pumpkin with a blender or pusher into a puree. Add the sifted flour, mixed with baking powder, sugar, salt to the puree, beat in the egg and knead a homogeneous dough, resembling thick sour cream in consistency. Heat the oil in a frying pan, spread the dough with a spoon, forming small pancakes, fry over medium heat on both sides for 3-5 minutes so that they are browned. Place cooked pancakes on paper towels to remove excess fat and serve.
Chocolate pancakes with maple syrup
For 10 persons: milk – 500 ml, dark chocolate – 80 g, butter – 4 tbsp. l., wheat flour – 1 cup, cocoa powder – 1 tsp., eggs – 3 pcs., powdered sugar – 4 tbsp. l., salt – 0.5 tsp., vegetable oil – 1.5 tbsp. l., hazelnuts, maple syrup
Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave and mix. Heat 250 ml of milk to the temperature of the chocolate-butter mass, mix with it and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, salt and cocoa. Mix. Beat the eggs, pour into the dry mixture, mix, add the remaining cold milk. Gently introduce the chocolate-milk-butter mixture, mix well, let the dough brew for an hour. Before cooking, add to the dough 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil and bake pancakes in a well-heated pan. Before serving, stack the pancakes in a pile, drizzle with maple syrup and garnish with hazelnuts.
Surprise bags
For 6 persons: milk – 500 ml, flour – 210 g, eggs – 2 pcs., spinach – 75 g, vegetable oil – 35 g, sugar – 25 g, salt – 6 g, cream cheese – 180 g, smoked salmon – 120 g, chives – 6 feathers, balsamic cream
Blend spinach with a little milk until smooth. Replace the dough by successively adding eggs, flour, vegetable oil, salt and sugar. Bake 12 pancakes in a hot skillet. Fold the bags: arrange pancakes in pairs one on top of the other, put cream cheese, a slice of smoked salmon in the middle, roll up and tie with onions. Can be served with sour cream and vegetables.
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