Bea's Swedish Palacinka Torta from Anna Gass
My children, like Bea’s, go wild for this unique Swedish pancake cake. Each layer of cloudy batter gets quickly cooked in the pan (on one side only) and showered with powdered sugar. Take care to slide each cooked bottom over the uncooked top of the last layer. The heat of the stacked crepes gently cooks the raw sugared side to create a creamy, light “filling.” The final result of this Swedish palačinka torta recipe is a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth crepe cake that will rouse you out of bed in the middle of the night for another bite.
Ingredients:
6 large eggs separated
6 tablespoons (75 g) sugar
6 tablespoons (75 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon melted butter, cooled
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, for pan
3 to 4 cups (375 to 500 g) of vanilla confectioner’s sugar (Add 1 whole vanilla bean to 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar and mix. Cover and let stand for 3 days before using.)
- Add the egg yolks, sugar, flour, milk, scraped vanilla bean, and melted butter to a large bowl. Mix until fully combined and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer, stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or by hand until stiff peaks are formed.
- Lightly fold the egg whites into the batter until fully combined.
- Add two teaspoons of olive oil to a 10-inch nonstick pan or crepe pan, and heat over medium heat. Pour about ¼ cup of the batter into the pan. Swirl the pan or spread the batter with the back of a spoon so that the batter thinly covers the entire bottom of the pan. Cook the pancake until it becomes dark golden brown on one side only, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not flip it over.
- Gently slide the pancake onto a large cake dish, uncooked side up. Using a mesh strainer, generously dust the top of the pancake with vanilla confectioner’s sugar.
- Repeat the process of cooking, stacking, and sprinkling sugar until the batter is finished. Place the last pancake on top of the pile, browned side up. Sprinkle the top of the cake with a generous helping of confectioner’s sugar.