Platski – Polish Pancake

Thin pancake that’s a Polish version of French crepe or Ukrainian Blini.

If you ever eaten a Blitz, it should have been wrapped in a Polish platski, anything else is plagiarism. To all my French friends who are suddenly offended, remember Napoleon married a Polish princess who legend holds that like most Polish women, was of exceptional beauty. She no doubt is behind many original French dishes.

When I was growing up, we ate platiski three ways, my Dad would lather one with butter then sprinkle it with sugar before rolling it up. Us kids liked to make our version of a Polish blitz, which was to lay out a line of cottage cheese down the center of a platski followed by a line of jam. We’d then roll it up into a tight wrap. My kids like to take a stake of four to six and pour maple syrup over them. I have to admit, after a couple Polish blitz, I usually end breakfast with a couple platski with syrup. At the risk of offending my ancestors, I have been known to use this batter to fry fish or make onion rings.

Platski is very easy to make, the only trick is making them fast enough because to feed a family of four, you need around 25-30. Another trick is getting the batter spread around your frying pay in a thin even layer and then not having them stick. I fondly remember my Mom making Platski one morning complaining about her latest diet not working as she’s putting a huge hunk of butter in the frying pan each pancake. The recipe below is for one person, maybe two yuppies who count calories.

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 TBL sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

Process

  1. Whisk together the flour, milk and egg until smooth
  2. Add the sugar and salt. The batter will be more runny than buttermilk pancake batter.
  3. Heat frying pan on medium to medium-high. You have to make as few to zero in on the optimum temperature.
  4. Even if using a no stick pan, either melt butter or spray with nonstick spray. Using a ladle, pour in a half-ladle of batter and rotate the pan in a circular motion go spread batter in a circle.\
  5. When the top surface stops bubbling and the pancake does not stick to the pan it’s ready to flip. If you want to make these flare, flip the pancake by tossing the in the air and timing the descent (need to try it as least once). Once you flip the platski, it only needs a few seconds on the back side.
  6. Repeat steps 4-5 until batter is used up

You can fold uneaten platski into quarter circles and leave out as snacks, trust me, there won’t be any left by sundown. That is if you have teenagers.

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