Welsh Pancakes for St David’s Day
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.
Crempog, as it is known in Welsh is a small thick pancake resembling a Scotch pancake. It is 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, they are often served 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. You can find out a little more here including the recipe which I’ve adapted slightly.
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 provided by Sainsbury’s, so was looking forward to seeing how all this turned out.
The frying pan worked really well, virtually no butter was required 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, 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.
- 125g wholemeal spelt
- 125g white spelt
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda.
- 2 medium eggs.
- 200ml sour milk (can substitute buttermilk or kefir)
- a slither of butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 leek - finely sliced
- 20g butter,
- 2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
- 6 chestnut mushrooms - chopped
- 50 ml double cream
- 50ml milk
- 50g cheddar cheese - grated
- a grating of nutmeg
- 10g of 100% chocolate + a little extra for grating
- a few chives - snipped chives
- Sift the flours into a bowl together with the bicarbonate of soda.
- Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs.
- Stir from the centre out, gradually adding the sour milk until all is well mixed.
- 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.
- 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.
- Sauté the leek in olive oil until soft.
- Add the butter, garlic and 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.
- Grate in a good bit of nutmeg and the chocolate and stir until melted.
- Spoon the sauce over the pancakes and scatter on some snipped chives and a little grated 100% chocolate.
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.
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Chocolate Recipes Galore
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry
1st March 2014
I love the idea of a leek and chocolate sauce. How brill.
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Thanks Bintu – chocolate goes really well with mushrooms and the leeks were fine too.
Alexandra Bellavista
1st March 2014
Fantastic!love it!
http://duecuoriinpadella.blogspot.it/
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Thank you Alexandra
Angie Schneider
1st March 2014
Chocolate sauce with leek and mushroom…what an exciting and fun idea!
Choclette
2nd March 2014
You know how I like to push the boat out Angie 😉
Heidi Roberts
1st March 2014
Chocolate in a leek and mushroom sauce – would never have thought of that!
Choclette
2nd March 2014
I try my best to surprise Heidi 😉
belleau kitchen
1st March 2014
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
2nd March 2014
It’s really not as strange as it sounds Dom and I guess it’s my job to expand those chocolate boundaries 🙂
Karen S Booth
1st March 2014
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
2nd March 2014
Thank you Karen, maybe I should rebrand myself as The Cocoa Pioneer.
Karen S Booth
1st March 2014
Forgot to say a BIG thanks for entering this into Cooking with Herbs too! Such an innovative entry!
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Thank you for hosting it 🙂
Janice Pattie
1st March 2014
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
2nd March 2014
Oh chocolate and mushroom goes really well together Janice. Try mushroom and chocolate risotto – recipe is on the blog.
Katie
2nd March 2014
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
2nd March 2014
Thanks Katie, it was really the flavour of the mushrooms that came through and as you say they do work well with chocolate.
Deena Kakaya
2nd March 2014
Chocolate on a savoury pancake that is impressively fluffy and perfectly light..,wow x
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Thank you Deena, they were indeed fluffy and light and delicious.
Sylvia F.
2nd March 2014
Wow they looks delicious! It must be a great combo chocolate with savoury ingredients 😉
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Thanks Sylvia. I like experimenting with savoury chocolate concoctions.
Jacqueline Meldrum
2nd March 2014
They look wonderful. I would like them hot with butter, mmmmmmmm!
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Haha, is that a polite way of saying you’d rather not have the leek and chocolate sauce Jac?
Nayna Kanabar
2nd March 2014
I had to read this post twice Leek mushroom and chocolate??? Very innovative I wonder how they taste.
Choclette
2nd March 2014
Well, we both thought they tasted good – lots of umami.
Katharine
2nd March 2014
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
2nd March 2014
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 😉
London Unattached
2nd March 2014
tee hee, pancake selfies! what is the world coming to!!!
Choclette
2nd March 2014
I am mostly bemused by it all Fiona – I’ve only just cottoned on to what a Selfie is 😉
ManjiriK
2nd March 2014
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
2nd March 2014
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.
bangermashchat
3rd March 2014
Wow! I’d never have thought of leek and mushroom in a chocolate sauce – not quite sure I’d dare…
Choclette
3rd March 2014
Dare? And you a chilli head? Of course you would dare Vanesther.
Tina Anand
3rd March 2014
I love how you manage to create savoury dishes with chocolate. These welsh cakes look delicious.
Choclette
3rd March 2014
Thanks Tina, I do like to explore different flavours with chocolate.
GG
3rd March 2014
This sounds great. I often add chocolate to savoury dishes, but I’d never thought of adding it to a mushroom sauce. GG
Choclette
3rd March 2014
Chocolate and mushrooms work really well together. I’ve used the combination a few times, especially good in mushroom risotto.
Jane Sarchet
3rd March 2014
Really? It sounds totally bonkers! So bonkers in fact I may have to give it a go 😀
Janie x
Choclette
4th March 2014
Thank Janie, I’m happy with bonkers 😉
Lou, Eat Your Veg
4th March 2014
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!
Morgan @ Peaches, Please!
4th March 2014
Lately I’ve been thinking about how to incorporate chocolate into some savory recipes. This is certainly an interesting and unique application!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours
5th March 2014
Lovely pancakes. I am off to dine at the Hotel Chocolat restaurant tomorrow so I am looking forward to being inspired
prwilson
6th March 2014
Looks amazing.
Isa Bel
8th March 2014
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 🙂 check my blog tipstoplifestyle.blogspot.com x x