Gundel palacsinta

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 200 gplain flour
• 400 mlmilk
• 100 mlsparkling water
• 3eggs
• 1 tablespoonsugar
• a pinch of salt
• 30 gbutter, melted
• butter, for the pan

Walnut filling

• 200 gwalnuts, ground
• 100 gsugar
• 80 graisins
• 150 mlmilk
• the zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoonsrum
• 1 tablespooncandied orange peel, optional

Chocolate sauce

• 150 gdark chocolate
• 200 mldouble cream
• 50 mlmilk
• 2egg yolks
• 40 gsugar
• 1 tablespooncocoa powder
• 1 tablespoonrum

To flame

• 60 mlrum, warmed
• toasted walnuts, to scatter

Directions

1. Warm it gently, well away from the flame. Take the pan off the heat before lighting it. Keep your face and hair well away. Have a large lid ready to smother it. Let them burn out entirely before serving. It is thin, like a French crepe. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the spoonful of sugar to it.
2. Make a well in the very middle. Beat the eggs and add them in. Pour the milk in gradually while whisking. Whisk from the centre outwards. Add the melted butter in as well. Cover it over and let it rest. Give it at least thirty minutes. Add the sparkling water just before cooking. It should be thin, like single cream. Add a splash more milk if it is thick. Cooking the pancakes takes practice.
3. Heat a heavy pan over a medium heat. Brush it with a little butter. Pour in just enough batter to coat the base. Swirl the pan immediately to spread it. Pour any excess back into the bowl. Cook it for about one full minute. The edges lift and turn golden.
4. Flip it and give it thirty seconds. Stack them on a plate as they come off. Cover the whole stack with a cloth. That keeps them soft and warm. Warm the milk together with the sugar. Add the ground walnuts into it. Stir it over a gentle low heat. Add the raisins, zest and cinnamon. Cook it for about five minutes. It should thicken into a spreadable paste.
5. Take it off and stir in the rum. It should be thick but spreadable. Add more ground walnut if it is loose. Add a splash of milk if it is stiff. Making the chocolate sauce takes care. Whisk the yolks with the sugar. Warm the cream and milk together. Do not let them come to a boil.
6. Pour the warm cream slowly onto the yolks. Whisk constantly as you slowly pour. Hot liquid poured fast scrambles the yolks. Return it to the pan on a low heat. Stir it until it thickens slightly. It should coat the back of a spoon.
7. Take it off the heat entirely. Add the chopped chocolate and cocoa. Stir until the chocolate melts. Stir the spoonful of rum in at the end. Keep the sauce warm but never hot. Lay one of the pancakes out flat. Spread walnut filling across the middle. Fold the sides in over the filling. Roll it up into a neat parcel.
8. Set the filled pancakes in a buttered dish. Warm them in a low oven for ten minutes. They should be hot right through. Set two pancakes on each warm plate. Pour the hot chocolate sauce over them.
9. Scatter toasted walnuts over that. Flaming it comes last if you do it. Warm the rum in a small separate pan. Take it off the heat entirely. Pour the burning rum over the pancakes. Let the flames die out completely. It does not keep well assembled.

Technique

• Flaming spirits is genuinely dangerous: never pour from the bottle onto a flame, since fire can travel into it; measure the rum into a separate pan, warm it away from the flame, take it off the heat, light it at arm’s length with a long match, keep a lid ready to smother it and let the flames burn out completely before serving.
• The dish was created at Gundel in Budapest’s city park under Karoly Gundel, who took the restaurant over in nineteen ten and was a major figure in Hungarian cooking; this pancake is its most famous creation.
• The chocolate sauce is a custard: the warm cream must be poured slowly onto the yolks while whisking, which is called tempering, since hot liquid poured fast scrambles them.

Substitutions

• The dish is excellent without flaming at all, and the rum can simply be stirred into the sauce.
• Ground hazelnuts stand in for walnuts, giving a different but workable filling.

Variations

• Some kitchens fold the pancakes into triangles rather than rolling them.
• A version with candied orange peel in the filling is also made.
• All three components can be made a day ahead and assembled to order.

History

Created at Budapest’s Gundel restaurant under Károly Gundel in the 1930s and served flambéed with a chocolate and rum sauce.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gundel palacsinta?

Gundel palacsinta is a dessert from Hungary: walnut-and-raisin crêpe flamed in rum with dark chocolate sauce. Created at Budapest’s Gundel restaurant under Károly Gundel in the 1930s and served flambéed with a chocolate and rum sauce.

How long does Gundel palacsinta take to make?

Gundel palacsinta takes 40 minutes plus resting of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Gundel palacsinta?

Yes, within limits. The dish is excellent without flaming at all, and the rum can simply be stirred into the sauce. Ground hazelnuts stand in for walnuts, giving a different but workable filling.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gundel palacsinta?

Flip it and give it thirty seconds. Stack them on a plate as they come off. Cover the whole stack with a cloth. That keeps them soft and warm. Warm the milk together with the sugar. Add the ground walnuts into it. Stir it over a gentle low heat. Add the raisins, zest and cinnamon. Cook it for about five minutes. It should thicken into a spreadable paste.