Icelandic pancakes

Iceland brings these delicious, crepe-style pancakes to our World Cup cook-off table.

They couldn’t contrast more with the Japanese fluffy pancakes, but once again the judges awarded them a perfect score.

Thin, light-yet-crisp, Icelandic pancakes have a welcome lack of sweetness. There is no sugar at all in the batter, just a little sprinkle of caster sugar after they are cooked. I never buy strawberry jam, which is too often sickly sweet and artificial tasting.

Instead, I opted to slice a punnet of strawberries, sprinkle them with a teaspoon of sugar and simmer them to a jam-like consistency in a little saucepan while the pancake batter was resting, which took all of fifteen minutes.

I didn’t sweeten the whipped cream either, resulting in a pancake breakfast that was surprisingly light and fresh – even wholesome. Go Iceland!

The recipe is adapted from this one on the Guide to Iceland website.

Icelandic pancakes
(makes 8-10)

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups (500ml) milk
• 2 cups flour
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• a pinch of ground cardamom
• butter, for frying
• caster sugar, strawberry jam and  whipped cream, to serve

1. In a mixing bowl, stir the eggs and milk together.
2. Add the flour, baking soda and cardamom. Whisk until smooth, and leave to rest for half an hour.
3. Heat a small frying pan over a medium flame. Add a teaspoon of butter, turning the pan to coat.
4. Add enough batter to thinly coat the surface of the frying pan.
5. When the bottom is golden brown, flip the pancake and cook the other side.
6. Sprinkle with caster sugar, and serve with strawberry jam and whipped cream.

Family score: 10 out of 10

Tags: vegetarian