25 votesMonday mornings don’t have to be mundane if you know how to make gourmet pancakes. In this recipe, pancakes are cooked the French way—fluffy, creamy and soufflé-like—creating a luxurious breakfast and a sophisticated dessert in one.
In France, pancakes are more like crepes, which is a very thin and delicate pancake. It is traditionally served with a variety of fillings and sauces. Peaches, mangoes, strawberries, kiwis, bananas, and other fruits are sliced thinly and filled inside the crepes. Powdered sugar is sprinkled on top for a simple presentation. Others like to drizzle their crepes with chocolate sauce, caramel, raspberry coulis, whipped cream, maple syrup, and other more elaborate sauces. Crepes can also be filled with savory ingredients like ham, eggs, mushrooms, cheese, truffles, artichokes, and eggplants for a filling and deliciously light meal. In this recipe, preserved oranges are used to flavor the crepes.
Beaumaniere is a kind of limestone with French origins, and is one of the most popular limestones from France. It has a classic earthy color with creamy beige undertones that give floorings and interiors a classic French grandeur. This recipe was named after the iconic natural stone because of its creamy color and simple elegance.
To make pancake baumaniere, you need a circular hot plate or wide frying pan. The batter should be spread evenly and thinly over the cooking surface, taking the shape of the pan. You can tilt the pan to spread the batter evenly over the surface. Use a spatula to gently lift and handle the crepes.
To make the pancakes extra fluffy in this recipe, you have to prepare a crepe batter and soufflé crème separately. The crepes will be filled with the soufflé crème and baked in the oven until puffs up. Once done, powdered sugar is sprinkled over the puffy pancake and served with custard cream and orange sauce.
Crepe dough: Mix together, the flour, eggs, yolks, and salt, gradually adding the cold milk to obtain a smooth, liquid dough. Add 3.5 oz. butter and blend well. In a hot flat pan, make 8 crepes with this batter.
Soufflé cream: In a bowl, mix creme patissiere, Grand Marnier, and chopped preserved oranges. Whip until blended. In a separate bowl, beat the whites until frothy and stiff, and slowly incorporate into the crème mixture.
Coat a baking dish with butter. Place the soufflé cream on half of the crepe. Fold the other half over the cream.
Mix syrup and orange extract to make an orange sauce.
Place the crepes for about 5 minutes in a 390 degrees F oven. The crepes will start to fluff up. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Pour custard cream and orange syrup over the creped and serve.
