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French Pancakes
Make a batter by beating up together 3 spoonfuls of potato starch or corn starch, 5 raw eggs, some powdered loaf sugar, and a little water. Add enough milk to make it of the consistency of porridge. Butter well the inside of a frying-pan, and place it over a moderate fire. When it is sufficiently hot, pour in a large spoonful of the batter, and shake the pan so as to spread it over the whole of its surface. When the pancake is done enough, throw it on a dish, and sprinkle its surface with crushed loaf sugar, or cover it with jelly. Fold into rolls.
This is a crepe batter thickened with starch rather than flour, which makes it tender, slightly custardy, and naturally gluten-free. The quantities are loose by design, so judge by the look of the batter rather than the numbers.
- The hinge: batter consistency"The consistency of porridge" may describe something thinner than modern porridge suggests, but as most readers will picture it, it is thicker than a modern crepe batter and may not spread readily when you tilt the pan. If it does not, thin with milk until it coats a spoon and runs off freely, closer to heavy cream.
- SpoonfulsAn unqualified spoonful in books of this period usually means a tablespoon rather than a tea-spoon, though usage is not consistent. Three tablespoons of starch to five eggs works: the eggs, not the starch, do most of the setting.
- Loaf sugarLoaf sugar was refined sugar sold in a hard cone and broken or grated as needed. Use granulated in the batter and caster or icing sugar for the finishing sprinkle, where "crushed loaf sugar" means coarse crumbs from the cone.
- Potato or corn starchEither works, but they behave differently. Cornstarch gives a slightly firmer, more opaque pancake; potato starch is more delicate and tears more easily when you turn it out.
- Moderate fireMedium heat: a pan that sizzles a drop of water without smoking the butter. Too hot and the egg-heavy batter browns in spots before the centre sets.
- Pan and butterA 7 to 8 inch skillet or crepe pan is right for a large spoonful of batter. Butter the pan lightly again between pancakes; the milk solids in butter will darken, so wipe it out if it starts to look sooty.
- Cooking and turningEach pancake needs roughly a minute on the first side and less on the second if you turn it. The recipe says only to "throw it on a dish" and never mentions turning, so sliding it out once set is a defensible reading and suits this thin batter.
- YieldDepending on how much milk you add, expect roughly ten to twelve thin pancakes in a 7 inch pan, serving about four. They are best eaten as they come off the heat; a stack held in a low oven turns leathery.