g's little kitchen: Pannkakku - Finnish Oven Pancakes

It's a little chilly in Finland in November!

In 2008 husband took a business trip to Helsinki, Finland. Since he was gone over Thanksgiving, he cashed in some of his frequent flyer miles and got a ticket for me to spend Thanksgiving with him. This was one of my more memorable Thanksgivings. It was my first time flying internationally by myself (such a long flight) and the first time I had to navigate my way from the airport to a hotel in a country where I couldn’t even begin to comprehend the language. That cab ride was so interesting. The Finnish language is filled with double consonants so looking out the cab’s windows at all the signs was almost dreamlike. Thankfully, every person I encountered was very kind and spoke English so I didn’t have any problems getting to where I needed to go.

Finnish cuisine isn’t so different from the traditional food found in our area of the country. Lots of meat, potatoes, pickled vegetables and yummy breads. Husband has stayed close with a few of his coworkers in Finland and each year at Christmas they send us some of the ingredients we need to make glogi (a to-die for boozy warm drink) and a box of chocolates. Like I said, these people are amazingly kind!

Fill my plate with pannkakku mama!

The other day I stumbled across a recipe for Finnish pancakes. I easily get stuck in breakfast food ruts and this looked like just the recipe to add a little variety into the weekend. The ingredients are all simple and are things that we always have on hand. What really got me excited was that this recipe can work as a sweet food or a savory food. I tried out the sweet version and I was very happy with it. For the savory version leave out the sugar and vanilla. And if you have a little free time while your pancake is baking, be sure to turn the oven light on and watch the pancake rise. Once the pancake has been in the oven for about five minutes you can actually see it rise. The edges go first then the middle. Little one thought it was hilarious that I sat on the floor in from of the oven and kept bringing me toys so I would play with him.

Enjoy!

4 T butter

4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch salt
4 T sugar
Splash of vanilla

Heat oven to 400. Place butter in a 8in cake pan and place in oven until melted but not browned.

In a blender, mix remaining ingredients on high until smooth. Pour mixture in the hot cake pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pancake has puffed and is a deep golden color.