To sugar or not to sugar the pancake batter, that is the question! First, you need to understand the difference between buckwheat pancakes and pancakes. If the former are usually prepared with wheat flour, eggs and milk, the latter are made up of buckwheat flour, eggs, and water. If salt is added to both preparations, it is customary to sweeten the pancakes with wheat flour.
For what ? It is customary to reserve the pancakes for “savory”, when the pancakes will be garnished as desired with spread, pistachio, chestnut cream, jam and other whipped cream. So “sweet”. Also, the pancakes, as soft as possible, can be enjoyed on their own, simply garnished with a little sugar. It is therefore common to flavor the dough with a little rum, orange blossom, citrus zest, vanilla, and even, we are told, a famous aniseed alcohol, dear to the South. Added to all these scents is that of melted butter and sugar. All these ingredients are perfect if you serve the pancakes “on their own”. Understand, the divine pancakes don’t need any tricks to get on the podium. The star is the pancake, period.
Can you fail your pancakes because of the absence of sugar?
Let’s be clear, to make your pancakes successfully, you only need three ingredients: flour, eggs, and milk. The rest is just for flavor, whether it’s a sweetening agent or an ingredient to replace refined sugar. The addition of another ingredient does not play a role in the success of the pancakes. If you add the milk gradually to avoid lumps and respect the dosages, there is no reason why your pancakes will fail!
Can we serve the crepes in a savory version?
Yes, yes, and a thousand times yes! If you prepare a dough with a rather “neutral” taste, neither sweet nor salty, you can perfectly garnish the pancakes with cheese and ham, but also with jam. The same dough can be used for both versions, no worries about that.
In any case, as always in the kitchen, you are the chef, and your choice will inevitably be the right one.
Happy Candlemas!
