Caramelized pancakes filled with pastry cream

How to prepare some stuffed pancakes.

One of the dessert recipes most prepared and consumed in Galicia throughout the year is pancakes.

Today’s dessert goes a little further, they are the  typical milk pancakes  like the ones you can find in all the pastry shops or restaurants in Ourense but filled with pastry cream .

We have also added a caramelized later with a blowtorch (they are much richer with this touch similar to Catalan cream ).

When we talk about Asturian pancakes  or frixuelos , most say they are different but the truth is that they are very similar.

The pancakes, freixó, afilloa, filloga or fisuelo (the name varies depending on the region), are one of the most famous products of Galician gastronomy.

A very famous dessert of the  entroido , so much so that the authentic ones incorporate broth in their preparation and in the Matanza, pig blood in their preparation.

An Entroido or Carnival is not understood without them and  the ears of Carnival .  Perhaps this is the most consumed dessert in all the houses of Galicia since they have become a typical dessert in the time of Don Carnal.

There are many recipes to prepare them, but they all use at least flour, milk, eggs and salt.

The secret of the most exquisite lies in the art of maintaining the constant temperature of the pan, stone or cast iron (filloeira) where they are cooked.

It also depends on the thickness, the finer the richer. Unlike pancakes from French Brittany  in Galicia, pancakes are never made with wholemeal flour.

I encourage you to prepare them stuffed and caramelized as you are at home, it will become a classic in your kitchen.

Preparation of the pastry cream. Flavor milk

We will make the cream first, while it is tempered we will prepare the pancakes and so we can fill them freshly made.

1. The first thing is to prepare the ingredients with which we are going to flavor the milk. We wash the lemon very well and peel its skin in a fine way, without much white that then makes the dessert bitter. We open the vanilla bean and remove the seeds that we will reserve to add later to the milk. If you can’t find vanilla beans, you can substitute them with vanilla essence, it will give it the touch, although it won’t be the same.
2. We separate a glass of milk from the total that we are going to use and reserve it. Heat the rest of the milk in a saucepan over medium heat almost to the boiling point. We lower the temperature and remove from the heat.
3. We add the vanilla seeds, the skin of the lemon and finally the cinnamon stick broken in half. We leave everything to rest infusing for 10 minutes.

Preparation of the pastry cream for the filling of the pancakes

1. Mix the cornstarch in the glass of warm milk and put together until it has no lumps.
2. If necessary we pass the mixer or use rods. We separate the yolks from the whites.
3. We put the yolks in a bowl and beat with the sugar until it foams.
4. Add the glass of milk with the dissolved cornstarch. We beat again until there are no lumps, there must be a homogeneous mass. We reserve.
5. Strain the infused milk and add it to the saucepan again, heat to a boil. We add the cream from the previous step.
6. We are adding it little by little and mixing with some rods or a wooden spoon without stopping until it thickens. It should not boil at any time.
7. The texture of the cream should be slightly thick and without lumps. It is very important not to stop stirring as it can get burned or stick to the pot.
8. The secret as in almost all recipes is to be patient and do not stop stirring always on the same side until you have a homogeneous cream.
9. We add the butter to finish the butter, it makes more cream and gives it shine. Let cool completely to start with the dough of the pancakes.

Preparation of the pancake dough

The cream of the pancake is quite easy to prepare. Also if you have a little practice in a few minutes you will have pancakes for a regiment.

1. In a large bowl add the milk, flour, a pinch of salt, butter in ointment and eggs.
2. Mix everything with the mixer without lumps. Let it rest for an hour so that it thickens slightly (although the cream must be loose).
3. In a non-stick frying pan or hot crepe pan, spread a little butter, bacon or a few drops of oil.
4. If we use butter or butter we can manipulate it with a fork. If you use butter, an easy trick is to break a little into a stick, wrap one end in aluminum foil to hold it and spread the pan on the other.
5. Spread the entire pan in this way until the butter is melted. It should not be very greasy but we should not be short either.
6. If you use bacon it is easier, you just have to prick it with a fork and rub the crepe-pancake until it is well impregnated.
7. When the frying pan is hot, add the cream so that it covers the entire bottom, just enough so that they are fine.
8. I usually use a crepe maker, perfect for a smooth design in the style of Galician filloeiras.
9. With an immediate heat distribution and so I can control the thickness of the pan without going over and I have all the same. It is also made of iron, which is a perfect conductor of heat, so I can cook on medium or low heat.
10. The measure of cream is that of a ladle (do not pour too much because they will be very fat). We lift, tilt and turn the pan so that the cream is spread over the entire bottom.

Preparation of pancakes and final presentation

1. The pancake will start to cook instantly, we will have it for 10-15 seconds at medium-low temperature.
2. When the edges begin to curl upward (because they are toasted) the time is right to flip it over with your fork or fingers.
3. When you turn it over if the tone of the toast is not golden it will be due to a lack of egg, you can take advantage of adding another one to the cream.
4. Brown on both sides and stack on a large plate. Remember that the first pancake is a test (I eat it at the moment).
5. It is the most greasy because the frying pan picks up the temperature point and the degree of fat of the butter or fat to be used. The second pancake is usually already perfect.
6. We continue making the pancakes until the cream is finished. If the fork is not good you can use the trick of turning the pan with a plate. As if it were a potato omelette, as it takes practice it is no longer necessary. We reserve on a plate.
7. The final step is the presentation, we fill each pan with two tablespoons of pastry cream.
8. Roll up and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
9. We burn the sugar with a kitchen torch until it caramelizes, if we serve them immediately.

This way we will make them crunch, but if we prepare them before they will be caramelized but it will not break the caramel because the moisture of the pancake will soften it.

In one way or another it is a dessert that your guests will remember, delicious.

You can see several versions of this dessert on the blog such as  pancakes with applesauce ,  pancakes with chocolate  or the  millefeuille of pancakes with Catalan cream .