Ever tried pancakes the Swedish way?

As it’s pancake day on Tuesday we’re naturally looking at recipes that you could try for yourself however this year what about trying it the Swedish way? Leila Lindholm, Swedish chef and lifestyle icon, has showed us how she likes to have her pancakes but how do you like yours?

Leila has always had a love of food, and started experimenting with recipes when she was only seven years old. She later attended St Görans Restaurant School in Stockholm, before moving to New York at 21 to work at Aquavit. When she returned to Sweden she worked in various restaurants and was awarded Female Chef of the Year by the LRF (Federation of Swedish Farmers).

Leila then set up her own styling business and was soon featured on TV, winning the 2004 TV Chef of the Year award from Sweden’s TV4. Leila soon got her own show, and has had eight TV shows to date, which have been aired in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Belgium. She has also published five cookery books and one interior design book.

In 2009, Leila was awarded with a silver medal from the Swedish Gastronomic Academy, presented to her by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

In 2012 she launched an online shop and lifestyle brand, selling goods for the home, called Leila’s General Store. In 2014 she got retail space for the shop in Stockholm’s main retail district, and there are two more shops opening, one in Leila’s hometown Mariefred and another in Strängnäs.

Leila still lives in Mariefred with her partner and two children, Walter and Olivia.

Check out some of Leila’s pancake day recipes here:

Saffron Pancakes

Makes 1 dish/8 servings

Ingredients

• 125g (4 ½ oz) short-grain rice


• 150ml (5fl oz) water


• 500ml (18 fl oz) semi-skimmed milk


• ½ tsp salt


• 2 sachets (1g) saffron strands


• 6 free-range eggs


• 2 tbsp plain flour


• 200g (7 oz) almond paste, grated


• 25g (1 oz) flaked almonds


• butter for the dish


• jam and slightly whipped cream, to serve

Method

1. Boil the rice and water in a pot with the lid on until the water has been absorbed. Add the milk and the salt.


2. Boil the rice for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally and add saffron towards the end of the cooking time. Let the rice cool.


3. Preheat the oven to 180? (350?F/gas 4)


4. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add the flour, grated almond paste and the saffron infused rice mixture.


5. Pour the batter into a buttered, oven-safe dish and sprinkle with flaked almonds.


6. Bake the pancake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes, until it is golden and the batter is completely firm.


7. Serve the pancake with lightly whipped cream and jam.

Russian Blinis

Makes 6 Blinis

Ingredients

• 2 free-range eggs


• 200 ml milk


• 12g fresh yeast


• 100ml lager


• 125g buckwheat flour


• 75g plain flour


• 1 tsp salt


• 50g butter


• butter for cooking


• whitefish roe, crème fresh, finely chopped red onion, dill and lemon to serve

Method

1. Separate the yolks from the whites


2. Warm the milk until it is lukewarm


3. Crumble the yeast in a bowl, stir in the milk and lager and mix until the yeast is dissolved


4. Whisk the flours in a little at a time and add the salt and yolks.


5. Let the batter rise in a bowl under a cloth and until it doubles in size, about an hour.


6. Melt the butter, let it cool and mix it into the batter.


7. Whip the egg whites into stiff peaks and carefully fold them into the batter.


8. Cook the blinis in butter in small thick pancake shapes (4 inches in diameter) in a pan over medium heat.


9. Serve with whitefish roe, crème fraiche, finely chopped red onion, dill and lemon.

Ricotta pancakes with mixed berries

Makes 8 Pancakes

Ingredients

• 3 free-range eggs


• 250g ricotta


• 250ml semi-skimmed milk


• 175g plain flour


• 1 tbsp baking powder


• 1 pinch salt


• butter for cooking


• maple syrup


• 1 handful fresh strawberries, sliced


• 75g fresh raspberries


• 75g fresh blueberries

Method

1. Separate the egg yolks from the whites.


2. Mix the ricotta, milk ad yolks in a mixing bowl.


3. Blend the flour, baking powder and salt and mix into the batter.


4. Whip the egg whites until fluffy and carefully fold them into the batter.


5. Carefully fold the sliced strawberries and other berries into the batter


6. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Spoon the batter into a pan (making 8 pancakes altogether) Cook until golden on both sides.


7. Serve with maple syrup and vanilla ice-cream.

Let us know if you make any of Leila's pancakes and send us some photos over on our Twitter and Facebook pages.

Photo of Leila in featured image credited to Martin Pettersson