New England Pancakes

A rich, eggy crepe batter layered with cinnamon sugar and served in a stack. The proportions are unusual for pancakes: almost no flour, and the liquid is all cream.

• The pintAlmost certainly a British pint. If the book postdates 1824 that is the imperial 20 fl oz (about 570 ml); earlier English pints were smaller, nearer 16 to 19 fl oz. Use light or single cream, around 18 per cent fat; modern double or heavy cream will make a batter too thick to run thin in the pan.
• SpoonfulsA "spoonful" in receipts of this date is usually taken to mean a tablespoon, which would put the flour at roughly 40 g. That is a very small amount for a pint of liquid, and the eggs rather than the starch appear to set these pancakes.
• EggsEggs of the period were smaller than modern ones, so seven yolks and four whites probably came to something in the region of 190 g of yolk and white together. With modern large eggs, five yolks and three whites gives a comparable balance.
• The hingeLetting the batter stand about half an hour before frying is a sensible modern precaution, though the recipe does not call for it. With this little flour there is barely any gluten to relax.
• Frying very thinUse a well-buttered 8-inch pan over medium heat and no more than 2 tablespoons of batter per pancake, swirled at once. Each side takes under a minute; the high yolk content browns fast and turns leathery if pushed further.
• Between eachStack the pancakes as they come from the pan, strewing cinnamon sugar on each, and keep the pile covered in a low oven at 200F. The residual heat softens the sugar into a thin syrup between the layers.
• Yield and servingThe batter makes a good number of thin pancakes. "Send up six or eight at once" most likely means sending six or eight of them, stacked, to table at a time.