Blinis

[Graye]

My wonderful Polish Grandma Leah was chatting to me the other night and I was saying how much we miss crumpets here and that I had been making them.

"Make yourself some blinis," she said, "they're lighter and bigger, and and you can wrap them around things." So she sent me the recipe and they were delicious. So I thought I would post it here for crumpet fans to try. They're thinner and less doughy, perfect with butter and syrup, cream cheese or even salmon etc. I like them just with a thin spread of butter.

500g plain flour (you can use strong if you like)
625ml milk
50g butter
3 eggs
25g yeast
1 heaped tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Heat half the milk until just warm, careful not to make it too hot or else it will kill the yeast. Dissolve the sugar in the milk (off the heat) and whisk in the yeast. Cover this and leave it for a few minutes, allowing the yeast to start working. Pour this into a large warmed mixing bowl and while stirring, sift in enough of the flour to make a batter the consistency of yoghurt. Now leave this in a warm place to rise, covered with a tea towel.

Once the mixture has risen to around double, separate the eggs. Heat the remaining milk,and melt the butter. separately. Add the yolks, milk, butter and salt to the batter, along with the remaining flour. Stir this in well. The batter now needs to rise once more in a warm place.

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Ensure your whisking bowl is fat-free (essential when whisking egg white) by cleaning and drying it thoroughly, then running a slice of lemon over it. Carefully fold the egg white into the batter, using a knife or spatula. It needs to be mixed through evenly, but without losing too many bubbles on the way.

Heat some butter or oil in a non-stick or heavy pan, until the fat is hot, but not smoking. Cook large ladlefuls of the mix at a time, turning after a minute or when you see bubbles forming on the top. I like them about 6" in diameter but you can make mini ones as well, like dollar pancakes. The trick is to keep the pan hot and cook the blini quickly. The tradition is that the first one never turns out, so don’t panic!

Blinis are best served immediately, but can be stacked with greaseproof paper and kept in a low oven until required. Serve them (rolled or flat) with whatever you have. They freeze and you can just pop them in the toaster to heat up.

[DeneciePie]

Thank You! Sounds scrumptuous!