Happy Pancake Day guys!

Hello, my hungry pancake lovers! 😛  What a week we’ve got in store for you guys! From pancake fanatics to voluptuous Valentine plans, we’ve got it all! As you guys are probably already aware, we love nothing more than a national food day… especially when it involves pancakes.

We’ve decided to celebrate pancake day in a rather unconventional way… With the guilt of Nutella week still looming over the office, we are craving something a little less sweet. Well, sort off…

This gorgeous Duck Pancake Recipe serves 36 tasty little duck-hugging blankets for the whole family to dig into. It’s not one of the faint-hearted, so whack your apron on and get ready! Although it may look a little daunting, and definitely not your usual way to spend pancake day,… it’s flippin’ worth it! We’ve broken it down into 3 sections. Making the dough, shaping the pancakes and finally, cooking them!

So, without further ado, let us commence with this weeks…

Duck Pancake Recipe!

Ingredients: 

300g flour, and extra to dust the working surface
180ml boiling water
90ml cool water (room temperature)
2tbs vegetable oil for brushing

Method: 

To prepare the dough – bring a small pot of water to a boil and dust a work surface with plenty of flour.

Add 150 grams of flour into a large bowl, slowly add boiling water, and whisk with a pair of chopsticks (or a fork) until water is fully absorbed, forming a sticky mass. Use a spatula to scrape the dough onto the working surface.

Add the remaining 150 grams flour into the same bowl and slowly add cool water and whisk until the water is fully absorbed. It will form a soft mass, but shouldn’t be too sticky.

Dust your hands with flour and combine the two doughs together onto a work surface – knead until the texture turns consistent, approx 5 minutes.

You should feel that the dough is slightly sticky while kneading, but it shouldn’t stick to your hands – the dough will become less tender as you blend in more dry flour. Dust the dough with flour and cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

To shape the pancakes, dust work surface with flour and knead dough until smooth. Don’t over-knead though.

Dust the dough with flour and cover with the plastic wrap again – let rest for another 10 to 20 minutes.

Shape the dough into a log and divide it into two equal pieces, wrap one piece with plastic wrap and work on the other piece.

Pull and roll the dough log back and forth until it turns into a long roll, about 36 cm (18 inches) in length. Cut the roll into 2-cm pieces – you should get 9 pieces of dough per roll. Dust both cut sides of each dough piece with flour and let them stand on one of the cut sides.

Work on the dough pieces two at a time. Cover the rest of the dough pieces loosely with plastic wrap to prevent drying out.

Add oil into a small bowl and prepare a small brush. Shape two doughs into a cylinder shape and press them as much as you can into two small, round discs.

Brush oil thoroughly onto the top of one dough disc. Make sure the oil covers the entire surface, otherwise the two pancakes will be difficult to separate later. This process of doubling up the pancakes cuts rolling and cooking time in half.

Place the other one onto it, to form a two-layer pancake. Press the two doughs again, into a flat disc.

Dust the working surface with flour. Use a rolling pin, roll the double pancake into a thin round disc, about 13 to 15 cm in diameter. Turn the dough a few times during rolling, to ensure both pancakes are evenly rolled out.

The pancakes will be very thin and might stick to the working surface when rolled. Dust with more flour if needed. Dust both sides of the double pancake with flour again and place it aside, keeping them in a single stack! Cover with a damp towel to prevent the pancakes from drying out.

When you finish working on the first batch of dough pieces, you should have 9 double-pancake doughs. You should cook them before rolling out the rest of the dough pieces…

Don’t worry guys, you’re almost there!

Finally, to cook the pancakes, prepare two plates beside the stove and heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot – turn to medium-low heat.

Place a pancake in the center and let cook until the surface puffs up and the bottom side shows small light-brown spots, about 30 to 40 seconds. Flip and cook the other side. The finished pancake should be tender, springy, and slightly crispy on the surface. It should not feel dry. If the pan is too hot, the pancakes will burn too quickly before they puff up. If the pan is not hot enough, the pancakes will dry out due to the long cooking time. Adjust the heat of the pan and keep the total cooking time for each double pancake under 1 minute.

Cover the pancakes with a damp paper towel to keep them moist.

To serve the pancakes steam until hot, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

You’ve finally made it! Enjoy these wonderful mini creations with steamin’ hot duck and luxurious hoisin sauce, or whatever tickles your fancy. Let us know how you get on and tag us in any foodie pics on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

If you serve the pancakes a few days later, you can freeze them. Let the pancakes cool off completely. Wrap ’em up tightly with plastic wrap and seal in a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer for up to a month and to serve the pancakes, reheat them by steaming until hot and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. (You don’t need to thaw the pancakes before steaming.) 😚

Have a lovely pancake day however you decide to spend it!

We’ll catch up on Friday 😎

The Avenue x