Saturday, January 30, 2010

Egg Cakes—a second-cousin-once-removed crêpe

There’s an old story in our family surrounding egg cakes. The story centers around a hired man – a man who worked hard all day on my Grandfather's farm, and sang songs all evening, accompanying himself on an old guitar. "Drifting along like a tumblin' tumbleweed. . ."; "I Don't Hurt Anymore" and other Hank Snow favorites.

One morning, so the story goes, this hired man with the squinty eyes, the slow drawl and the quiet manner, announced that he was going to make breakfast. Without looking at a recipe, he put together a mixture of milk (from the cow in the barn) and eggs (from the chickens in the coop) and produced what he called "Egg Cakes." Said they were like his mother always made. She was Norwegian.




My grandparents, as I understand, were enthralled and asked the hired man for his recipe. So here it is, copied from the hired man's instructions, into an old Hilroy notebook.


Recipe

Makes four large ones


1/2 cup flour
3 eggs
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup milk

Beat until light with egg beater and fry in greased pan.


Tasting Notes
Egg cakes are best eaten hot off the pan, buttered and rolled and then dipped into pure maple syrup. {It's finger food at our house!} They have a smooth, delicate taste. This recipe is similar, though not as sweet as Crêpes au sucre (Sugar pancakes).

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  • 17 comments:

    Michele said...

    Fantastic post, and thanks for sharing such a neat recipe!

    Jennifer said...

    I adore crepes so I know I'd love these! GREAT post, thanks so much!

    pigpigscorner said...

    The texture looks gorgeous!

    Anonymous said...

    I just love recipes that come with a story like that! How can I resist trying these, especially since this week has included french toast, scones, welsh cakes and oatmeal. I think I need to top off my breakfast bonanza with these for sunday breakfast!

    angela@spinachtiger said...

    Hi Shari
    I'm always looking for ways to make eggs and pancakes. Voila. Nice idea.I just saw also the cutest lace pancakes at not quite nigella that you might enjoy looking at.

    Y said...

    Yum, I love the sound of egg cakes! Love the story behind them too.

    Malak said...

    I love the light shining on the egg cake. Just gorgeous! And I love the finger food idea!

    tiny house said...

    Wow! What a cute egg recipe! I like it! Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe.

    Dolce said...

    And you are right in time for "la chandeleur" which is the day for crepes : tomorrow Feb the 2nd :)

    The Butcher Block said...

    Hot off the pan is right. That's how we eat at our house too.

    FoodTherapy4Me said...

    LOVE the story behind your egg cakes! Our family eats a korean inspired version we called rolled eggs. Included in the egg 'batter' are scallions and ham. Thanks for sharing!!

    strawberriesinparis said...

    These are just like my mexican pancakes!! So delicious!

    http://strawberriesinparis.com/2009/05/04/mexican-pancakes/

    laura kate said...

    this is nearly identical to the recipe passed down from my norwegian great great grandmother. eggcakes are comfort food for me.

    i've never heard of them being served with maple syrup though! always butter and sugar or maybe some jam in our family.

    great post :)

    Unknown said...

    I just got done making these and they are great! if you top them with a little powdered sugar and a splash of lime or lemon and they are incredible!

    katie said...

    Looks a bit more custardy. Almost asian...

    MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

    I'm sure the egg cakes are wonders (great photo by the way) but the story is just the best! Excellent.

    ode2eggs said...

    i just found your blog and I'm glad I did! This dish looks divine! Can't wait to try out. Awesome post! :)