Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.
Ratafia Pancakes
Ratafia Pancakes is a traditional British recipe for a Georgian-period dessert pancake filled with custard. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Ratafia Pancakes.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
40 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
Serves:
6–8
Rating: 
Tags : Spice RecipesMilk RecipesCake RecipesBritish Recipes
Here’s a little something new (or should I say old?) for pancake day. This is an 18th/19th century recipe (at least the surviving reference we have comes from that period, though the recipe itself may date to the 16th century). The recipe is for pancakes filled with spice custard that are glazed with egg-white and sugar and baked to finish. This gives the pancakes a crispy outside and a delicious and moist filling.
The recipe comes down to us from MS 2767 in the Wellcome Collection that’s been dated to 1750-1825. The original recipe is as follows:
Ratafie Pancakes
(from MS 2767 in the Wellcome Collection)
Make a common pancake without Butter fry ‘em thin: let ‘em to cool, but not cold. make a Custard: put as much of it into ye pancake wn it’s cold as it will bear: Roll ‘em up: Rub ‘em over wth ye white of an egg wth a Brush, or bunch of Feathers, & sift fine sugar over ‘em. Set ‘em in ye oven to crisp. But they must be cut in ye shape of long Biskets before ye white of egg is put upon ’em :
Though there does not seem to be any ratafia included in the recipe (originally a sweet liqueur with bitter almond flavour, then a crunchy biscuit intended to be eaten with ratafia), it might be included in the custard. As a result I’ve put a little alcohol in my custard recipe. I’ve also modernized the custard and made it easier by adding cornflour (cornstarch). You can, of course, make this child-friendly by omitting the alcohol. An alternate etymology for the name might be that it’s referring to the crunch of the edges of the pancake that might emulate that of ratafia biscuits.
Ingredients:
For the pancakes:
120ml (½ cup) milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
60g (½ cup, scant) plain flour
Butter for frying
For the custard:
250ml (1 cup) milk
2 large yolks
30g (4 tbsp) cornflour (cornstarch)
50g (¼ cup) caster sugar
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground mace
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
fresh grated nutmeg to taste
1 tbs cream sherry/Marsala/Madeira/Mead (optional)
For the glaze:
1 large egg white
caster sugar for sprinkling
Method:
Begin by whisking together the ingredients for the pancake batter. Place a frying pan over high heat. When hot, melt a little butter in the pan and fry ¼ of the batter at a time to make four, thin pancakes (roll the pan to distribute the batter over its surface). Don’t worry if they’re uneven – the folding/rolling will neaten everything.
As they cook, set each cooked pancake aside to cool.
For the custard, whisk together the yolks, sugar, spices and cornflour. Heat the milk in a pan and when almost boiling, pour over the egg mixture, whisking briskly. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over medium heat until thickened. Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool. Stir in the alcohol, if using. Cover the surface of the custard with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill until cold (this prevents a skin from forming).
To finish the dish, take ¼ of the custard and lay it in a log shape along the bottom edge of a pancake. Fold the left and right sides of the pancake inwards (to contain the custard) and then roll up the pancake, keeping the custard filling well wrapped.
Lay the rolled pancake on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure that the seam side of the pancake is on the bottom to keep it from unrolling during baking. Repeat with the remaining pancakes and filling.
Whisk the egg-white until frothy and brush generously over the rolled pancakes. Sprinkle the caster sugar over the rolled pancakes. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C (180°C Fan) and bake the pancakes for 15 minutes to caramelise the sugar and crisp the pancakes. Add an extra 5 minutes more, depending on how brown/crispy you like them.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving – the custard inside will be very hot.
