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Hungarian Pancake – Palacsinta
Hungarian pancakes are thin crepes, rolled up and sprinkled with powdered sugar. There are several things you can fill the palacsinta with, like apricot, strawberry or blueberry jam, vanilla or chocolate pudding, apple sauce with cinnamon, ground walnut, or cocoa powder. It is a really easy to make recipe, a quick dessert which is done in 30 minutes and tastes great.
This kind of pancake is very popular in Hungary. Its origin is not clear, most probably it developed from the roman plazenta, a small round cake that was eaten instead of bread. Hungarian pancakes are thin, similar to French crepes, and totally unlike American hot cakes or griddle cakes. Plus, they are not typically eaten for breakfast.
Hungarian cottage cheese is a fresh, soft curd cheese, similar to farmer’s cheese or quark, dry and not liquidy at all. It is most often made with cow milk.
How to make a Hungarian pancake batter?
It’s very easy to make, all you need are 6 basic ingredients, a mixing bowl, a whisk, and a non-stick crepe pan.
The pan you use makes a big difference in how the pancake will fry and how thin you can spread the batter. You must use a non-stick pan for best results.
It might work in a regular pan, but if the bottom of your pan is too thin, the middle of the pancake will burn and the edges will be still uncooked.

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Hungarian pancakes - Palacsinta
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups
- Whisk
- Non-stick frying pan
- Spatula
- Fork
- Ladle
- Plates
Ingredients
For the pancake batter
- 2 whole egg
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 2/3 cup sparkling water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- oil for frying - I use sunflower oil
For the cottage cheese filling
- 1 egg yolk
- 2/3 cup dry cottage cheese or ricotta
- 1/2 lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vainlla extract
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Others
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Apricot jam