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Sourdough blinis

>> Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Blinis sourdough 1

Blinis ... how they're yummy. These pancakes typical of the Russian cuisine, similar to American pancakes or, in flatter versions, to crepes (just similar), served as accompaniment to savory dishes, have several features that distinguish them. The main one is that they rely on bakers' yeast and beaten egg whites to raise, and another characteristic is that they often include buckwheat flour in their composition, which gives them an intriguing herbaceous smell. Well, here I use blinis to use up a fraction of the massive amounts of sourdough that sourdough geeks need to throw away when they don't make bread every day (my case).


Sourdough is just a mixture of flour and water, so if we do have leftovers at some point, they can be added to any preparation that carries flour and water in its composition and that can't be disturbed by its special flavor. "Recycling" extra sourdough instead of throwing it away is a perfect excuse to make blinis, don't you agree? To raise the intellectual level of the blog, here's a quote on blinis from Tatiana Maslenikoff's book La cocina rusa:

As in most European civilizations, Russia gathered and assimilated the beliefs and pagan traditions with its Christian equivalents, which were imported from the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century.
After the long winter, when the first signs of thawing were felt, the northern tribes coming out of their lethargy prepared a feast in honor of the Blazing Sun. Pancakes as round and golden as suns, made with mixed flours, were cooked and offered to Sun God for him not to forget to warm Mother Earth. This would in turn make the next harvest sprout. These pancakes (blini) were then eaten with butter, dried fish and meat. According to historians and archaeologists, the tribes celebrated a sort of costume party where the burning of an effigy of the Prince of Winter took place.
In the Christianized Russia, this feast was moved to the beginning of Lent (...) Blinis are served with smoked herring or caviar, but never meat.

Blinis sourdough 3

The idea of using sourdough on blinis is not originally mine, but found in the book Breads from La Brea Bakery, by Nancy Silverton. I've adapted the recipe, because she adds baking soda and baking powder to avoid a long time rising and speed up the process. She also adds far too much sugar to my taste, that I consider unnecessary, apart from not being very faithful to traditional recipes. I usually have that problem with American recipes, they're too sweet for me. I've also halved the amounts, because the original recipe produces eight dozen small blinis ... yes, you read that right. I only made around 40 small blinis. Here's the recipe:

Sourdough blinis
  • 250ml milk
  • 3/4 tbsp fresh bakers' yeast
  • 185g sourdough (100% bakers' percentage, mine was spelt's, but any white bread flour will do)
  • 85g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp agave syrup or 1 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 70g buckwheat flour (60g if you use sugar instead of agave syrup)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 medium eggs
You know that the amount of liquid depends on the absorption capacity of the flours, so maybe you'll need to adjust the final thickness. The batter must be almost as thick as pancake batter.
  1. Lightly warm up the milk and add the fresh yeast, crumbled. Blend until dissolved. Add the sourdough and mix well. Add all the flours and the agave syrup, cover and let it ferment until double in bulk and bubbly, depending on ambient temperature and activity of yeast, something between 1 hour and 1.5 hour.
  2. Break the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Add these to the batter along with the salt and let it ferment again, I think one hour is enough. Leave the egg whites in the fridge in the meantime.
  3. When the batter is risen again, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently add them to the batter, so as not to deflate them.
  4. Heat a skillet or pancake pan and add half tablespoon of butter. The traditional method is to coat the skillet with pork fat, but I didn't have any. Ladle small portions of dough to make the blini size you choose. I made little ones, 2 or 3-bite sized, but they can be made much larger. So you decide. They cook quickly, you have to turn them over with a spatula within seconds and cook them on the other side. It is recommended to lay them on a kitchen towel as you go, covered to prevent them from cooling, and also put them just outside a hot oven to keep them warm.
Blinis sourdough 2

They're delicious when warm, very light and airy, thanks to the egg whites. They have a rich bread-like flavor, with the sour note from the sourdough, and a very tender consistency. A surprising and addictive combination with savory accompaniments. With a good smoked salmon they are simply superb. We did make a lot of tiny sandwiches of salmon, even without the typical addition of sour cream ... We apologize to any Russian in the room for our heresy. We only missed the vodka ... ¡na zdorovje!

15 comentarios:

Belinda @zomppa April 28, 2010 at 4:13 PM  

Ooooo - they look so fluffy and happy. Makes me smile.

Emily Malloy April 28, 2010 at 6:14 PM  

Yet another home run by you! This looks delicious

Daydreamer Desserts April 28, 2010 at 7:00 PM  

Que ricos se ven los belinis tanto como el el salmon ahumado. Se me esta haciendo agua la boca, riquísimo!

Anonymous April 28, 2010 at 7:40 PM  

What a simple yet versitile recipe!!

My Little Space April 29, 2010 at 5:24 AM  

The texture looks so soft & light! I'm sure it tastes fantastic with curry too! Enjoy!
Cheers, Kristy

Valerie Harrison (bellini) April 29, 2010 at 2:44 PM  

These would be fantastic right now.

Anonymous April 29, 2010 at 4:08 PM  

These look so light and fluffy - I need to try this sourdough version, sounds excellent!

Unknown April 29, 2010 at 5:43 PM  

Those look extremely tasty, and I could see myself snacking on them throughout the day.

Tasty Trix April 29, 2010 at 9:44 PM  

Only 40? My goodness. I totally agree with you about things being too sweet in the US - I give away just about everything we make in my pastry class, there's enough sugar in that stuff to ruin your palate ... These sourdough blini, on the other hand, look perfect.

tasteofbeirut May 1, 2010 at 3:51 PM  

My aunt Claire used to make great blinis with smoked salmon and crème fraîche; I haven't had them in ages! Yours looks beautiful! You are right I find American recipes to be too too sweet, especially cookies. Did you know Godiva has a different set of chocolate products for the American market, sweeter?

Alina May 4, 2010 at 8:31 PM  

Miriam I see you're becoming an expert on Russian cuisine:)) your blinis look sooo fluffy and they must smell divine! It's interesting you used buckwheat flour here, do you make it yourself or do you buy it in the supermarket?

Alina May 4, 2010 at 8:42 PM  

Oh by the way I tried to comment on two of your other posts but the comments are never displayed, strange :-(

Erica May 4, 2010 at 10:25 PM  

Those look beautiful, Miriam! The perfect breakfast!!!Love the pictures.

Miriam May 5, 2010 at 1:51 PM  

Belinda: :-)
Emily: thanks!
Josie: estaban muy ricos, sí.
Ruth: thanks!
MLS: thanks!
Val: thank you!
5 SF: it's really got character...
Skylar: thank you!
Trix: especially cookies...
TOB: I didn't know that about Godiva, but I can understand it. I once was in the States for one and a half months on business and I hardly could eat any sweet thing, especially cakes. They were just too much for me.
Alina: that's flattering coming from you! About the comments, I have to review them if they're more than 15 days old, otherwise they don't show, that's why.
Erica: thanks!

Iris July 18, 2012 at 11:42 AM  

you do not need to throw away sourdough starter, you can keep it in the fridge, with a lid on it that is not screwed tight, but loose. It keeps well for a week that way, needs to be fed once a week. So if you bake sourdough products once a week, than you don't need to throw it away. And if you still have any surplus, your compost heap is happy with it!
Nevertheless, thanks for this post!

Iris, from the Netherlands

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