Blinis

Small, fluffy yeasted pancakes with a slight tang from the yeast and an earthy nuttiness from the buckwheat. Light and soft, Russian in origin, but completely adopted by the French for every occasion worth celebrating!

Prep20

Cook10

Total20

Servings

DifficultyMedium

Ingredients

50 gr plain flour
50 gr buckwheat flour
2 egg
150 ml whole milk
½ tsp salt
1 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp crème fraîche
25 gr unsalted butter for cooking

Equipment

Instructions

Make the batter

Sift both flours and the salt into a large bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir. In a small saucepan, gently warm the milk and crème fraîche together until just slightly warm to the touch, not hot (too hot kills the yeast). Whisk the egg yolks into the warm milk, then pour it all into the flour. Whisk to a thick, smooth batter.

First rise

Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warmish for about an hour. If your kitchen's cold, sit the bowl inside a larger bowl of warm water. After an hour it should look spongy and bubbly.

Add the egg whites

Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl to stiff peaks. Gently fold them into the batter, keeping as much air in as possible. Cover again and leave for another hour.

Cook the blinis

Melt the butter and tip it into a cup. Brush a thin layer onto the pan with scrunched kitchen paper before each blini. Over medium heat, add 1½ tbsp of batter per blini (one tablespoon, then another half on top). They won't spread much; you're aiming for about 10cm across. Cook 40 seconds, then flip and cook 30 seconds more. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat, buttering the pan each time.

Keep warm or make ahead

Once cooked and cooled, wrap in foil parcels (about 6 per parcel). To serve, warm in a low oven (140°C) for 10 minutes.

Notes

Don't skip the yeast. You could use baking powder, but you'll lose the tangy, fermented flavour that makes proper blinis special.
Buckwheat flour gives the earthy, nutty taste. Don't use 100% buckwheat unless you love it; the mix with plain flour keeps them soft.
Fold in the whisked egg whites for light, fluffy blinis rather than dense ones. Don't skip it.
Great for parties: make them earlier in the day and warm through before serving.
They freeze well: layer with baking paper, freeze in a container, and reheat from frozen in a low oven.

Made it? Leave a rating at obviouslyfrench.com@obviously.french