Welsh Pancakes, aka crempogau, are delicious in their own right. Here they’re served with a savoury leek & mushroom chocolate sauce. But you can just as well drizzle them with maple syrup, a sweet chocolate sauce or fruit curd instead.
Occasionally, CT likes to explore his Welsh heritage. When we woke up this morning, he announced, “it’s the 1st of March, St David’s Day. Why don’t we have leeks?”. Well why not indeed. With Shrove Tuesday fast approaching, pancakes were on my mind and I’d been planning to make some for breakfast, so why not make them savoury. In fact, why not go one step further and make Welsh pancakes.
Welsh Pancakes or Crempogau
Crempog, as it is known in Welsh, is a small thick pancake resembling a Scotch pancake. It’s less sweet and fatty than its better known American cousin, but is normally served with sugar or golden syrup. Traditionally, Welsh pancakes or Crempogau are cooked on a bakestone, rather like Welsh cakes. Sadly, we don’t have one of those, so a frying pan had to suffice.
CT reckons that the French crèpes and the English crumpet might be derived from the same word as crempog. As it happens, people often serve them on St David’s Day as well as on Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day. Pancakes used to be made with yeast, but when bicarbonate of soda became widely available in the late 19th century, people switched over as this was more convenient to use.
Leek and Mushroom Chocolate Sauce
So, rather than sprinkling our crempog with sugar, I made a leek and mushroom chocolate sauce instead. I had a brand new frying pan and spatula to use for the occasion which was provided by Sainsbury’s. So I was looking forward to seeing how all this turned out.
The frying pan worked really well. I only needed a tiny bit of butter and nothing stuck – result! Although I made the crempogau rather larger than I’d intended, we were both very impressed with them. They rose well and were light and tasty. They were also quite thick. We cut some of them in half and spread with my blood orange curd, which was a very enjoyable way to eat them indeed.
The leek and mushroom chocolate sauce was delicious too and also went very well with the pancakes. This made for a filling and fortifying brunch to set us up for our journey to Cotehele for Graft, Sow and Grow which is on today and tomorrow. Perhaps not the best way to celebrate a Saint who was no doubt into abstinence, but I defy St David himself not to have indulged if presented with a plateful of these crempogau.
Other Welsh Recipes You Might Like
- Snowdon pudding
- Welsh cakes (made with wholemeal flour)
- Welsh rarebit with leeks
If you’d like more pancake ideas, you’ll find plenty of recipes on my Pancakes & Waffles board on Pinterest.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this recipe for crempogau, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more mushroom recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Welsh Pancakes. PIN IT.
Welsh Pancakes with Leek & Mushroom Chocolate Sauce – The Recipe
Welsh Pancakes with Leek & Mushroom Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 125 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 125 g white spelt flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 2 medium eggs
- 200 ml sour milk (can substitute buttermilk or kefir)
- a slither of butter
Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 leek finely sliced
- 20 g butter
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 6 chestnut mushrooms chopped
- 50 ml double cream (heavy cream)
- 50 ml milk
- 50 g cheddar cheese grated
- grating of nutmeg
- 10 g 100% chocolate + a little extra for grating
- 10 chives snipped
Instructions
- Sift the flours into a bowl together with the bicarbonate of soda.125 g wholemeal spelt flour, 125 g white spelt flour, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), 1 pinch fine sea salt
- Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs.2 medium eggs
- Stir from the centre out, gradually adding the sour milk until all is well mixed.200 ml sour milk
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to stand for an hour.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan to a medium level, add a slither of butter and drop in heaped spoonfuls of batter.a slither of butter
- Allow to cook for a 3-4 minutes, then turn to cook the other side also for a 3-4 minutes.
- Place on a warm plate and put in a low oven to keep warm until all the pancakes are cooked.
Sauce
- Sauté the leek in olive oil until soft.1 tbsp olive oil, 1 leek
- Add the butter, garlic and chestnut mushrooms.20 g butter, 2 cloves garlic, 6 chestnut mushrooms
- Continue cooking for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms look done.
- Add the double cream, milk and cheddar and stir until the cheese has melted.50 ml double cream (heavy cream), 50 ml milk, 50 g cheddar cheese
- Grate in a good bit of nutmeg and the chocolate and stir until melted.grating of nutmeg, 10 g 100% chocolate
- Spoon the sauce over the pancakes and scatter on some snipped chives and a little grated 100% chocolate.10 chives
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I am excited to be entering these Welsh pancakes into Karen’s Cooking with Herbs over at Lavender and Lovage. It’s not often I get to combine herbs and chocolate. The specific theme is rosemary this month, but any herb is accepted so these chives will have to do.
I was sent a Sainsbury’s voucher to buy the ingredients for this recipe along with a frying pan and spatula. There was no requirement to write a positive review. As always, all opinions are my own. Thanks to my readers for supporting the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Isa Bel says
Talking about pancakes, i have tried to make some this morning, made of bananas and seemed to have some difficulty to flip it. Pretty catastrophic 🙂 x x
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
Lovely pancakes. I am off to dine at the Hotel Chocolat restaurant tomorrow so I am looking forward to being inspired
Morgan @ Peaches, Please! says
Lately I’ve been thinking about how to incorporate chocolate into some savory recipes. This is certainly an interesting and unique application!
Lou, Eat Your Veg says
I was planning on making savoury pancakes tonight for the monsters tea BUT they ended up with them for breakfast and at school, so may just be a pancake overload! Great idea turning welsh cakes into a pancake stack with a savoury sauce (which sounds delish btw!), totally yum!
Jane Sarchet says
Really? It sounds totally bonkers! So bonkers in fact I may have to give it a go 😀
Janie x
Choclette says
Thank Janie, I’m happy with bonkers 😉
GG says
This sounds great. I often add chocolate to savoury dishes, but I’d never thought of adding it to a mushroom sauce. GG
Choclette says
Chocolate and mushrooms work really well together. I’ve used the combination a few times, especially good in mushroom risotto.
Tina Anand says
I love how you manage to create savoury dishes with chocolate. These welsh cakes look delicious.
Choclette says
Thanks Tina, I do like to explore different flavours with chocolate.
bangermashchat says
Wow! I’d never have thought of leek and mushroom in a chocolate sauce – not quite sure I’d dare…
Choclette says
Dare? And you a chilli head? Of course you would dare Vanesther.
ManjiriK says
just love how FLUFFY the pancakes look Choclette, one query will butter milk do instead of sour milk or am being a klutz and its the same thing?Would never have imagined combining chocolate into the sauce!
Choclette says
Thank Manjirik. No sour milk isn’t the same thing as buttermilk, but it has the same affect as buttermilk, which I think is what the original recipe stated.
London Unattached says
tee hee, pancake selfies! what is the world coming to!!!
Choclette says
I am mostly bemused by it all Fiona – I’ve only just cottoned on to what a Selfie is 😉
Katharine says
So impressive – your crempogau look light and wonderful and I love the speckled effect you get from the spelt flour. As for the sauce, I can only echo other comments – wow! So inventive and yet totally delicious. Yes, I’m sure that St David would have wolfed them down as would I !
Choclette says
Thanks Katharine – I expect you know what they are really meant to be like. But I was happy with them anyway. I like to use either spelt or wholemeal in my bakes so I feel I’m getting something that’s good for me somewhere 😉
Nayna Kanabar says
I had to read this post twice Leek mushroom and chocolate??? Very innovative I wonder how they taste.
Choclette says
Well, we both thought they tasted good – lots of umami.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
They look wonderful. I would like them hot with butter, mmmmmmmm!
Choclette says
Haha, is that a polite way of saying you’d rather not have the leek and chocolate sauce Jac?
Sylvia F. says
Wow they looks delicious! It must be a great combo chocolate with savoury ingredients 😉
Choclette says
Thanks Sylvia. I like experimenting with savoury chocolate concoctions.
Deena Kakaya says
Chocolate on a savoury pancake that is impressively fluffy and perfectly light..,wow x
Choclette says
Thank you Deena, they were indeed fluffy and light and delicious.
Katie says
What an interesting combination. When you said leeks and chocolate I was unsure, but I can really image the mushroom and chocolate working together. They look great
Choclette says
Thanks Katie, it was really the flavour of the mushrooms that came through and as you say they do work well with chocolate.
Janice Pattie says
I was wondering how you were going to get the chocolate into that recipe! How intriguing, I’d never have thought of a chocolate and mushroom combo.
Choclette says
Oh chocolate and mushroom goes really well together Janice. Try mushroom and chocolate risotto – recipe is on the blog.
Karen S Booth says
Forgot to say a BIG thanks for entering this into Cooking with Herbs too! Such an innovative entry!
Choclette says
Thank you for hosting it 🙂
Karen S Booth says
SO bold with your chocolate exploits, you are a TRUE pioneer of all things cocoa related,I admire that! LOVELY wee cakes too! Karen xxx
Choclette says
Thank you Karen, maybe I should rebrand myself as The Cocoa Pioneer.
belleau kitchen says
You’re just so wonderfully brave with your chocolate and savoury ingredients. This looks so luscious. I could dig into that stack quite merrily!
Choclette says
It’s really not as strange as it sounds Dom and I guess it’s my job to expand those chocolate boundaries 🙂
Heidi Roberts says
Chocolate in a leek and mushroom sauce – would never have thought of that!
Choclette says
I try my best to surprise Heidi 😉
Angie Schneider says
Chocolate sauce with leek and mushroom…what an exciting and fun idea!
Choclette says
You know how I like to push the boat out Angie 😉
Alexandra Bellavista says
Fantastic!love it!
http://duecuoriinpadella.blogspot.it/
Choclette says
Thank you Alexandra
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
I love the idea of a leek and chocolate sauce. How brill.
Choclette says
Thanks Bintu – chocolate goes really well with mushrooms and the leeks were fine too.