Pancake Soup

My friend M is a fantastic cook. Every time I go to her place for a meal, I know I’ll be treated to something delicious and often it will be a dish from her homeland of Austria. When we visited the Austrian Club with her, my eyes wandered to an item on the menu that sounded like something I just had to try: Pancake Soup. M insisted that it was so easy to make and promised to make it for me the next time we came over. And because she’s Austrian, she’s reliable and doesn’t forget promises and a few weeks later, we found ourselves being invited over to have some Pancake soup.

Apparently Pancake Soup (or “Frittaten Suppe”) is just made from leftover pancakes from dessert the night before. Austrian pancakes are thinner than American pancakes or flapjacks, they’re more like an ever so slightly thicker crepe and are served for dessert spread with jam and rolled up. The next day, they have the added advantage in that they are also easier to slice.

The soup itself can be any clear broth, but she insists that it should not be a creamy soup. And indeed when I taste it, I think it’s just perfect the way it is. It’s reminiscent of pasta in a soup but with that added unmistakable pancake flavour and you may find yourself making batches of this when a simple yet fulfilling light meal is required. And you know that kids will love it, just add pancake into the title of anything and they’ll swarm. Which is why you should most certainly keep a stash of it for yourself.

Pancake Soup (”Frittaten Suppe”)

For Pancakes or Crepes

  • 105g (¾ cup) plain flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 180ml (¾ cup) milk

For Soup:

  • Chicken broth
  • Chopped chives

1. These two steps can be done the night before. Sift flour into bowl, make well in centre, add eggs and oil. Stir flour in from sides with a fork or whisk. Add milk a little at a time, beating until smooth. Pour into a jug and stand for 1 hour.

Pancakes or crepes sliced into thin strips

2. Heat pan, grease lightly on low to medium heat. Pour a few tablespoons of batter into pan from the jug, work quickly and turn the pan so that the batter coats pan evenly but not too thickly. Cook slowly, loosening edges with knife, until set and lightly browned underneath. Turn and cook other side. Repeat with remaining batter. Cool pancakes and once cooled, slice into thin strips, between the width of linguine and spaghetti.

3. Place strips into individual bowls and spoon over hot, perfectly seasoned chicken broth. Sprinkle over some chopped chives and serve.

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10 Comments | Add your own

  • 1. Lilia | September 5, 2008 at 9:49 am | #

    No salt or sugar in the pancake or soup? It will be very plain?

  • 2. Y | September 5, 2008 at 10:03 am | #

    Never heard of pancake soup before, but it certainly looks like something I wouldn’t mind trying. I can imagine kids would definitely go for it too, what with a name like that!

  • 3. Maria T | September 5, 2008 at 8:25 pm | #

    I think that I would really like the texture of frittaten suppe. With a good flavoured chicken broth it would taste great against a chewy chopped up pancake. I may even get adventurous and try it in a tom yum soup. Mmmm… Yet another thing to try!

  • 4. FFichiban | September 5, 2008 at 9:35 pm | #

    Wooww this is definitely a weird but wonderful recipe… want to try ^^!

  • 5. Angela | September 5, 2008 at 9:38 pm | #

    Mmm… this sounds great. And it would make a nice change from matzo balls in chicken soup (especially as I can’t find any matzo at the moment.)

  • 6. Not Quite Nigella | September 5, 2008 at 11:42 pm | #

    Hi Lilia-I made a note in the last instruction to pour over perfectly seasoned soup. The stock should definitely have seasoning.

    Hi Y-I’d never tried it either but now that I have I don’t know why it’s taken me so long! :)

    Hi Maria-Mmm yes any sort of clear broth would be gorgeous with it I would think. That’s a great idea, I might try it with a spicy soup too :)

    Hi FFichiban-Yep definitely weird but wonderful :lol: Let me know what you think!

    Hi Angela-Yes I love Matzo ball soup but this is much less work and much easier to find! :)

  • 7. grace | September 6, 2008 at 1:40 am | #

    cool! that’s not what i expected to see when i saw the title “pancake soup.” actually, i don’t know what i was expecting because i’ve never heard of such a thing. it sounds very satifying though–thanks for sharing!

  • 8. Not Quite Nigella | September 7, 2008 at 12:36 am | #

    Hi grace-I was so curious when I heard about it too that I was dying to try it. It was great, you’re welcome!

  • 9. M | September 8, 2008 at 11:47 am | #

    Fritatten Soup is really a ‘left over meal’. When we have rolled pancakes (Palatschinken) at home for desert the Palatschinken we don’t eat are used for Fritatten Soup. I also have a great recipe for left over Bread Dumplings (Semmel Knoedel).

  • 10. Not Quite Nigella | September 8, 2008 at 11:00 pm | #

    Hi M-I can’t wait for the Bread Dumplings! ;)

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