Whip up soufflé pancakes that are thicker and easier to make, resembling those from cafes. This recipe uses trehalose (a natural carbohydrate) to stabilize the air bubbles in the meringue, but you can substitute it with granulated sugar if unavailable. The pancakes will still be roughly the same thickness, but the texture might differ slightly due to the change in mixing timing for the flour.
Ingredients
For the soufflé pancake batter:
- Cream cheese: 18g
- Milk: 18g
- Unsalted butter: 8g
- Egg yolk (large): 20g
- Egg white (large): 80g-90g
- Granulated sugar: 15g
- Trehalose (or 5g granulated sugar if not available): 10g
- Dried egg white: 1/2 teaspoon
- Lemon juice: 1/2 teaspoon
- Light flour: 20g
For garnishing:
- Powdered sugar: as needed
- Maple syrup: as needed
- Fresh whipped cream: as needed
- Seasonal fruits: moderate amount
- Maple whipped butter: as needed
Tools needed:
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Frying pan
- Spatula
- Hand mixer
Preparation
- Combine cream cheese, milk, and unsalted butter in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap, microwave at 600W for 30 seconds, and then whisk.
- Add egg yolk to step 1 and mix with a whisk (you can leave some small lumps of cream cheese).
- In a separate bowl, combine all the "B" ingredients (egg whites to lemon juice). Use a hand mixer on low or medium speed to whisk. Avoid high speed.
- Preheat a frying pan over low heat. (*Note: Adjust when to start heating depending on your working speed.)
- Whip the mixture evenly and consistently, so that the texture is uniform without separation.
- Sift the flour into step 5, and mix well with a whisk until no flour is visible.
- Whisk the meringue in step 6 until it is firm and then mix with the flour.
- Add a scoop of the meringue mixture (step 6) to the egg yolk mixture (step 2) and mix well with a whisk.
- Return the mixture from step 8 to the meringue bowl, and thoroughly combine using a rubber spatula until no meringue is visible.
- Pour the batter into a preheated frying pan in small circles using a ladle or ice cream scoop.
- Continue to cook on low heat for 7 minutes.
- Carefully flip the pancakes using a wet spatula (to prevent sticking), add about 1/2 tablespoon of water, cover with a lid, and cook on low heat for an additional 7-10 minutes. If the water evaporates during this time, add another 1/2 tablespoon of water and repeat. The pancake is done when it doesn't stick to the edges and touching it doesn't leave any residue. (*Note: Overcooking will cause the pancakes to lose some volume.)
Garnishing
Serve the pancakes with your choice of garnishing, including powdered sugar, maple syrup, fresh whipped cream, seasonal fruits, and maple whipped butter. Enjoy your fluffy soufflé pancakes!