Pönnukökur fylltar með afgangskjöt

Stuffed pancakes with leftover meat

So to speak, “Kebab in Icelandic”: If there’s anything left over from Sunday’s roast lamb, these filled pancakes are a great way to use up the leftovers the next day!


Ingredients

2 onions
60 g dried mushrooms
1 Tbsp butter
Leftover lamb
4 Tbsp sour cream

240 g flour
150 ml milk
150 ml water
4 eggs
1 tsp coarse sea salt
2 Tbsp melted butter

some oil for the pan


Preparation

First prepare the filling:

Place the dried mushrooms in cold water and soak for about 10 minutes, then drain.

Peel the onions, halve them and cut them into thin rings.

Heat a pan, add a spoonful of butter and briefly fry the onions and mushrooms.

Cut the cold meat into thin slices and briefly add it to the pan.

Then put everything in a fireproof dish and keep it warm in the oven at 200 °F (100 °C) upper and lower heat.


Now for the pancakes:

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the eggs, milk, water and salt thoroughly until you have a nice, liquid dough.

Add the melted butter and stir in.

Heat the pancake pan, add a little bit of oil if necessary and use a small ladle to fry the pancake batter in portions in the pan on both sides. Stack the pancakes on top of each other and keep warm.

Finally - fill the pancakes:

Then spread a little sour cream on the freshly baked pancakes and top with 1 - 2 tablespoons of the filling.

Fold the pancakes together, cut them in half...

...and serve directly with fresh salad.

[Translated from here.]

Fylltar pönnukökur með marengs

Stuffed pancakes with meringue

Here is a recipe for pancakes filled with skyr cream, which are then baked in the oven with a layer of meringue on top. “Simple pancakes” can quickly become a delicious dessert!


Ingredients for 4 persons

125 g wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
250 ml milk
1 Tbsp melted butter

1 organic orange
1 Tbsp honey
100 g vanilla skyr

3 egg whites
100 g sugar
1 pinch of coarse sea salt


Preparation

In a bowl, mix the flour with the baking soda and sugar.

Add egg and milk and mix everything into a smooth dough.

Finally stir in the melted butter.

Let the dough stand briefly while you prepare the filling:

Grate the peel from the orange and then squeeze the orange thoroughly.

In a second container, mix the vanilla skyr with the grated orange peel, 3 tablespoons of the freshly squeezed orange juice and the honey. (Save the remaining orange juice, you'll still need it!)

Then fry the pancakes on both sides in a small pan over medium heat.

Spread the filling thinly on the pancakes directly from the pan,...

...roll up...

and place them next to each other in an ovenproof baking dish. Pour over the remaining orange juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites with the sugar and sea salt until stiff and then pour the stiff mixture lengthways over the pancakes.

Bake the filled, rolled pancakes with the egg whites on top in the oven for about 15 minutes until the meringue is golden brown on top.

Then serve the filled pancakes warm as dessert.

[Translated from here.]

All about Pönnukökur

Pancakes as part of the Icelandic soul

Panna and Kaka

The word "panna" (plural: "pönnur") means pan, the word "kaka" (plural: kökur") means cake. Icelandic "Pönnukökur" are literally "pancakes". By the way, a single pancake is called "Pönnukaka".

Incidentally, in terms of their structure, Icelandic pönnukökur are much more reminiscent of thin French crepes than of thick pancakes.


What's special about Icelandic pancakes

A special feature of Icelandic pancakes is that you add melted butter to the dough at the end, so you don't need any or only a little fat for the pan to bake and the pancakes are particularly delicious without dripping with fat. This way you can bake the Pönnukökur particularly thinly.


Pönnukökupanna

In Iceland there are even special pancake pans - I also have a cast iron "pönnukökupanna" that my husband gave me for Christmas three years ago at my very special request and that I love dearly and cherish. The pancakes turn out much better than in any other pan...

Pancakes as part of Icelandic identity
- no celebration without pancakes

Icelandic pancakes are "connected with our national identity", I recently read from the Icelander Alda Sigmundsdóttir in her book "The little book about the Icelanders in old times" - and I found this sentence very apt.

Alda writes that she doesn't know any Icelander who doesn't appreciate Pönnukökur - not only because the pancakes taste delicious (oh yes, they do!), they are also associated with the beautiful times in the lives of Icelanders: "Icelandic pancakes are, above all,... baked when there is something to celebrate."


Pönnukökur recipes

So there are few dishes that get to the core of what Icelandic cuisine and Icelandic identity are as much as pancakes. For this reason, my absolute favorite Pönnukökur recipe was chosen for the first recipe that we are allowed to present in the magazine “Zauber des Nordens" (= "Magic of the North").

In addition to the classic Pönnukökur recipes, in which you sprinkle the Pönnukökur with sugar and cinnamon or spread it with jam or cream, roll it up and then serve it cold, there are of course many other variations, sweet and savory.

On the occasion of our premiere at "Zauber des Nordens" I would like to introduce you to a few more unusual Pönnukökur recipes here in the blog this week: various sweet versions and also two hearty recipes.

Just let yourself be surprised!

[Translated from here.]

Skyrís með lakkrís

Liquorice Skyr Ice Cream

After trying out licorice Skyr for a few days, I happily processed the leftovers into licorice Skyr ice cream. It really tasted really good and had a really great, creamy consistency!


Ingredients

3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp sugar
350 g licorice skyr
2 tsp licorice syrup
1 pinch of ground vanilla



Preparation

Mix the egg yolks with the sugar until foamy .

Add the licorice skyr...

...the licorice syrup...

and the ground vanilla and whisk everything together until smooth.

Then put the ice cream mixture into the ice cream maker and let it freeze for about 80 minutes.

(Alternatively, you can of course fill the ice cream into a suitable mold and let it solidify in the freezer for about 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.)

I decorated the ice cream with a few chocolate-licorice sprinkles and fresh mint and then enjoyed it well chilled.

Mig langar í ís - now I'm hungry for ice cream again!

[Translated from here.]

Lakkrís skyr

Liquorice Skyr

In Iceland you can easily buy licorice skyr in the supermarket. Which we did - and were absolutely thrilled with the taste. (However, it was the first Skyr where every drop leaves clear white marks on the fingers or around the mouth - I actually didn't know anything about Skyr before.)

In order to be able to recreate the taste experience at home, I experimented a bit!


Ingredients

350 g pure Skyr
2 Tbsp table sugar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
2 tsp licorice syrup


Preparation

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl...

...mix until a smooth mixture is formed...

...and then enjoy!

I garnished my Lakkrís Skyr with some raw licorice powder and a few mint leaves. After all, your eyes eat too!

[Translated from here.]

Lakkrískaka

Liquorice cake

Here's another recipe for a chocolate-licorice cake - which, by the way, is wonderfully fluffy and fortunately not as "heavy" as it might look!


Ingredients

180 g melted margarine
200 g brown sugar
200 g white sugar
2 eggs
500 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
100 g baking cocoa
2 tsp licorice powder
100 g hot water
250 g sour milk
2 tsp licorice syrup

2 Tbsp jam

200 g powdered sugar
120 g melted margarine
4 Tbsp baking cocoa
2 Tbsp licorice syrup

Liquorice sprinkles / fruit as decoration


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the melted butter with the white and brown sugar,...

...then add the eggs and mix vigorously.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, baking cocoa and licorice powder and stir.

Then add the hot water and stir.

Finally add the sour milk and the licorice syrup...

...and stir briefly but vigorously until a uniform dough is formed.

Pour the dough evenly into two springform pans of the same size (approx. 24 cm) lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 20 minutes. The cakes are ready when nothing sticks to the wooden stick when you test it with the stick.

Then let the cakes cool briefly, carefully remove them from the tin and spread one with jam.

Then place the other one on top and let it cool.

For the cream, mix the powdered sugar with the melted margarine, the baking cocoa and the licorice syrup...

...and pour over the licorice cake, carefully smoothing it out.

Decorate with licorice sprinkles or fresh fruit or similar to taste.

Let it set in the fridge for at least 2 hours and then serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]