Souffle Pancakes are super thick, spongy, and fluffy pancakes. Egg whites are whipped with sugar until stiff peaks and then folded into the batter.
As everyone knows, a pancake is a thin and flat cake, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter. It is usually fried and turned in a frying pan and served with topping, syrup, or jam.
What’s the essence of a truly excellent pancake? People are obsessed with thick, spongy, and fluffy pancakes as they masterfully absorb more butter and syrup. Japan takes the pancakes to the new level with their Souffle Pancakes. When you search videos of Japanese souffle pancakes on social media, you will find super thick, pillowy, and jiggly pancakes on display.
Souffle Pancake vs Regular Pancake
Some pancakes contain a raising agent to make pancakes rise while cooking. Most pancakes usually use baking powder, although some are also made using yeast or fermented batter. The ingredients for Souffle Pancakes are similar to regular pancakes. It is just to make your Souffle Pancakes stand even taller and lighter, they use a meringue.
Therefore, egg yolks and egg whites in Souffle Pancakes are separated, and the whites are beaten until stiff peaks form (meringue), then it is folded into the rest of the batter. Whipping egg whites traps the air bubbles in them and increasing the volume of the batter. As the result, Souffle Pancakes are extra fluffy and airy like souffle.
Tips on Making Souffle Pancakes
1. Don’t over mix the egg whites
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. At this point, the whipped egg white will be thick and glossy, and when you turn the whisk upside down, those peaks will point straight up. The egg whites should not droop or fall of the whip. As soon as the whites have reached this stage, immediately fold them into your batter. To do this, add a third of the egg whites to the batter and fold them in gently with a spatula. This is to lighten the batter initially and prepare it for the rest of the egg whites. Fold the meringue properly by gently scooping under the batter and bring the spatula up the side of the bowl and plunge it down in the center of the bowl. By doing so, you will cause as little deflation to the whites as possible.
2. Cook on lowest fire with the lids on
As the thickness of the Souffle Pancakes is tremendously taller than regular pancakes, we need to make sure to cook the inside properly. You don’t want to eat raw pancakes, do you? For that reason, we need to cook Souffle Pancakes longer, and cooking with the lowest fire will make sure you don’t burn the pancakes. Meanwhile covering the pan with the lids on will lock the heat and moisture inside the pan, so that you will end up with well-cooked pancakes. Please be patient and make sure one side of the pancake is well cooked before flipping to prevent any unwanted leakage.
3. How to make the pancakes thick
Based on my observation on how to make Souffle Pancakes, there are two ways to make the pancakes super thick. Firstly, they stack the batter 2-3 times with a ladle, keeping it high. If you want to make the pancakes uniform and perfectly round, use the second method by pouring the batter into ring molds like my recipe.
Souffle Pancake
Souffle Pancakes are super thick, spongy, and fluffy pancakes. Egg whites are whipped with sugar until stiff peaks and then folded into the batter.
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp cake flour (40 gr)
- 1 1/2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter (15 gr), melted
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, cold
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Instructions
- Separate egg yolks and egg whites into different bowls.
- In a medium bowl, mix cake flour, milk, and melted butter. Whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla extract until the batter is smooth. Set aside.
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream tartar and granulated sugar. Continue to whip the egg whites until glossy and stiff peak.
- Using spatula, fold one third of the meringue to the egg yolk batter. Once the meringue has been incorporated, add in another third. Repeat for the last third of the meringue.
- Grease the frying pan and the 4-inch round cookie cutter. Set the cookie cutter in the middle of the pan. Heat the pan in lowest heat. Once the pan is hot, fill it 2/3 full with batter, allowing some room to rise. Cover the pan with lid.
- Cook the pancake for 10 minutes, until the top is pretty firm to flip. Release the pancake from the bottom of the pan with a spatula, then carefully flip them over, making sure not to spill any batter. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Serve the pancakes with vanilla ice cream and homemade Strawberry Jam.
Max says
this recipe is really great