Mom’s Palascinta (Hungarian Pancakes)

Julie Menin, Council District 5:
East Midtown: Turtle Bay, United Nations, Upper East Side: Lenox Hill, Roosevelt Island, Carnegie Hill, and Yorkville

Hungarian Pancakes, also known as palascinta, are very thin crepes either rolled up with jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar or as my Hungarian mother and grandmother used to make layered in a cake dish with approximately 20 crepes alternately between crepe and apricot jam and ground walnuts and with a top layer of powder sugar. You then cut it like a cake! You can also fill the palacsinta with any kind of jam such as strawberry or blueberry jam, chocolate sauce, or apple sauce with spices or make it savory with ham and cheese. My mother made this dessert every Thanksgiving so I now carry on that tradition. It is effortless to make a fun interactive recipe (great for kids!) and the pancakes consist of only 6 ingredients!

Directions

• Whisk the eggs in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of sugar and beat until smooth. 

• Slowly add some milk and some flour alternating adding each and mix well.

• When mixture is smooth, add the rest of the flour, milk, and sparkling water. Mix well.

• Place the pancake batter in the fridge for 20-30 minutes until cool. 

• Place a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add vegetable oil.

• When pan is fully hot, add a small amount of pancake batter to the frying pan to create a very thin pancake.

• Fry each side of the pancake for one minute until golden brown.

• Slide the pancake off and place in the cake dish.

• Spread apricot (or other flavor) jam.

• Add another cooked pancake.

• Spread a lawyer of ground walnuts.

• Add another pancake and alternate jam and nuts until you have 20 pancakes. 

• Sprinkle powdered sugar and let cool until room temperature. 

• Cut like a cake.