Blini (russian pancakes)

Ingridients (for around 8-10 pieces)

• 3 eggs
• a cup of milk
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• a cup of flour
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 of melted butter
• a cup of warm water

Blini, the perfect food to start your mornings with, or end your nights. Couple of blini’s with sweet jam, sour cream, or even caviar a snack perfect for any time during the day. The russian version of pancakes that are way thinner and way more gentle. Every russian or russian speaking family knows the smell of someone in the kitchen early in the morning making a batch of the sweet and delicate pancakes. To make the blinis my mom has perfected the recipe, which i struggled with a lot, since you need to have a good mixture that is not too liquidy or not too thick, but also a way to keep these thin blinis in tact.

First we take the eggs, melted butter, and sugar. Once we have that done we add milk and the rest of the ingredients, but keep it steady. Cooking blinis shouldnt be rushed, that will only ruin the appetite and even the taste of them. After we have our not so liquidy and not so thick mixture, the most crucial step in getting the most soft blinis, as if youre biting clouds is to add a cup of hot water. Now that the first part of cooking blinis is over, we have to pour a 1/4th cup of the mixture into the warm pan( the pan needs to be flat, to get the perfect blin) and coat the pan evenly. As it cooks we’ll start to see small bubbles forming, thats when the real fun begins. By using a spatula we have to seperate all the edges from the pan and carefully flip the blin, I personally try to get the spatula under the blin so then i could pick it up with my fingers and flip it. The blin is very thin and could tear easily. Theres a saying in russian that describes this experience of flipping your first blin, “Первый блин комом” or in other words “worst is first” which is often true since you improve as you go no matter the context, if its cooking a pancake, or doing an assignment.

At the end we should have around 8-10 blini’s, that in general are served with jam and sour cream. However treat the blin as a base to your new ideas, it could be paired with meat, vegetables, chocolate, fruits, and even fish. Blini’s is a versitile pancake that could be eaten anywhere, anytime, and with anything that your heart desires.