According to the renowned historian of Russian cuisine William Pokhlebkin, pancakes appeared in Russia in pagan times, even before the ninth century. They were cooked as offerings to the gods and for funeral wakes and feasts. Pancakes were once made for weddings and christenings, but nowadays the main reason is to celebrate Maslenitsa (Shrovetide). Pancakes symbolize the sun and are associated with the coming of spring and merriment.
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Mountains of pancakes get baked during Maslenitsa, with all kinds of sweet and savory toppings and fillings. An alternative to a stack of pancakes, however, is a pancake cake. Roman Palkin, chef of Ladurée à-la Russe restaurant in Moscow, shared his recipe for pancake cake with salmon.
“In this dish, classic Russian cuisine resonates with French,” says Roman Palkin. “This pancake cake recipe is good because the layers of pancakes do not dominate the other ingredients — there’s more salmon and cream in the cake, which creates a nice balance.”
Pancake cake with smoked salmon
For 4 people
Ladurée à-la Russe restaurant
Ingredients for thin pancakes:
10-12 pcs, 24 cm in diameter
- Eggs 2 pcs
- Milk 400 ml
- Boiled water at room temperature 200 ml
- Flour 220 g
- Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
- Sugar 1 tbsp
- Pinch of salt
- Butter 20 g
Ingredients for mousse:
- Cottage cheese 250 g
- Cold smoked salmon 250 g
- Shallots 2 pcs
- Butter 25 g
Garnish:
- Red caviar 150 g
- Dill 1 head
Preparation
Pancakes: Crack the eggs into a bowl, add sugar and salt. Whisk until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk, water and vegetable oil, and mix. Add the flour spoon by spoon, beat until no lumps remain. Heat a frying pan, grease with butter and fry each pancake on both sides.
Mousse: Chop the onion very finely (into crumbs) and sauté in butter until tender. Mix with the cottage cheese and put through the blender until smooth. The lion’s share of the mousse will go in the cake, 1/5 can be left for garnish.
Assembly
Lay the pancakes, mousse and salmon slices layer by layer. Leave to stand in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours, then cut into portions. Put a slice of cake side up on a plate, add a teaspoon of mousse, garnish with caviar and dill.