Tall, light and fluffy Japanese Style Souffle Pancakes with a cloud-like, melt-in-your-mouth texture. These thick pancakes will be the breakfast of your dreams.
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Soufflé pancakes are a dream. Honestly, what is better than waking up and eating a couple of clouds for breakfast. These fluffy souffle pancakes are so soft that they almost melt when you put your fork through them, let alone eat them.
These Japanese-style souffle pancakes can be a little intimidating when you haven't attempted them before, but once you have the basic method and a few tips under your belt you will be eating these every morning.
The pancake base contains only 5 ingredients... So you will ALWAYS be equipped to whip these up, and they are so versatile that they can be enjoyed with pretty much any topping. Fresh fruits, nutella, peanut butter, ice-cream, bacon..?
What are souffle pancakes?
Souffle pancakes originate from Japan, and are different to your regular buttermilk pancakes. These pancakes are much taller, lighter, and fluffier in texture while having a stronger eggy taste.
Unlike regular pancakes which are made with a mix of flour, sugar, milk and baking soda, no leavening agent is needed to make these pancakes. Instead of baking soda these pancakes use eggs to help the batter rise into thick, fluffy pancakes.
The egg whites are whipped with sugar to form a meringue base, before being folded into a milk, flour, and egg yolk batter. The gentle folding of the meringue keeps air in the batter, and once cooked in a pan will expand and rise to the perfect pancake.
Tips on tall, fluffy pancakes
There are a couple of tips to ensure you have the no-fail souffle pancakes of your dreams.
Ensure your egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks
This is important as the meringue is the base of your pancakes, and what gives it the fluff. Grease-free utensils are the foundation to a strong meringue.
Give your bowl and whisk a good wipe with lemon juice or vinegar before whipping the egg whites. Then make sure to whip your meringue to stiff peaks. If the peaks are too soft you won't be able to form tall pancakes, and that's what we want!
Another tip to create a strong meringue base is to beat the egg whites on medium speed rather than high. Doing this will create smaller air bubbles when whipping, creating a tighter network of egg white proteins to help keep the pancakes as tall as possible. While this will take a lot longer, it'll help your pancakes in the long run.
Gentle folding
Once you have your meringue base you need to make sure you don't deflate it. If your meringue deflates, so does your pancake ☹️
The egg yolk base can be thick and hard to fold gently at first, so lighten the base with ⅓ of your meringue first.
In this step, you can mix a little more vigorously, and once it is significantly lighter fold the rest of the meringue in as gently as you can. This is the secret!
Cook on low heat
It is important to cook the pancakes on a low and gentle heat. The pancakes take up to 15 minutes to fully cook, so if your heat is too high the bottom of your pancakes will start to burn.
Increasing the heat won't speed up the cooking process, so be patient with them and you'll be rewarded!
Careful flipping
If you attempt to flip the pancakes before they are cooked enough you risk deflating them and ending up with scrambled pancakes. To make sure they are cooked sufficiently gently touch the side of the pancake, if it isn't super sticky, and has formed a light 'skin' they are ready to be flipped. No need to slap the pancake down when flipping it, just roll the pancake over gently.
If you have overcrowded the pan it might be a little difficult to flip the pancakes. I recommend either using a large griddle or frypan at a time. This way there is wiggle room, for your pancakes and your mistakes!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I keep my pancakes from deflating?
The pancakes will deflate eventually due to their souffle nature. This is because air will continue to escape from the meringue as the pancake cools. However, there are ways to delay the deflation...
Make sure you have a strong meringue
If your meringue is weak it won't be able to hold up the weight of the pancakes once cooked, causing them to deflate quickly, see the tips above to help you create a strong meringue whipped up to stiff peaks.
Make sure the pancakes are fully cooked
If the pancakes aren't fully cooked the internal structure of the pancake hasn't been set. As a result, once removed from the heat it'll start to collapse and deflate.
Work quickly
These pancakes are time-sensitive, like a souffle! The air will escape inevitably so make sure you work quickly once you remove the pancakes from the pan. Have everything you want to serve the pancakes with ready and run straight to the serving table!
How long do these last?
These pancakes are time-sensitive and they are best consumed as soon as possible. After 15 minutes, the pancake will have deflated significantly, so make sure you have everything you want to serve with it ready!
That being, if you decide to make more they are storable for up to 2 days. The texture will not be the same as when they were freshly made but they will still be equally as delicious!
How many people does this recipe serve?
This recipe creates fluffy pancakes perfect for one person. If you want these to serve more than one person feel free to double or triple the recipe.
When multiplying the recipe make sure you give the pancakes enough space in your pan. You will need to cook them in batches to give each of the pancakes enough space to rise and expand, as well as wiggle room when flipping them.
Now let's get pancaking!
Now after reading all this you might be a little intimidated... but TRUST ME it's easier than it looks! And all these tips are just going to help you perfect the breakfast of your dreams a little further.
This recipe makes enough for one person (2 fluffy pancakes!). To cater for more simply double or triple the recipe.
If you make this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to hear how it went.
Also don't forget to tag me on instagram @catherine.justdessertsau and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts!
Follow me on facebook, pinterest, youtube and tiktok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!
Print📖 Recipe
Japanese Souffle Pancakes
Tall, light and fluffy Japanese Style Souffle Pancakes with a cloud-like, melt-in-your-mouth texture. These thick pancakes will be the breakfast of your dreams.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 large pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Intermediate
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
Souffle Pancakes
- 30 g Plain flour (¼ cup)
- ¼ tsp Cream of tartar
- 25 g Sugar (2 tbsp)
- 15 g Milk (1 tbsp)
- 2 Eggs, separated
Instructions
Souffle Pancakes
- In a medium sized bowl combine the egg yolks, milk and flour, whisk until smooth
- In another bowl whip the egg whites until foamy
- Add the cream of tartar and sugar, and whip until stiff peaks
- Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until no streaks of egg white remain
- Heat a frying pan on low heat and scoop two-thirds of the batter into two large mounds in the pan
- Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes
- Uncover and top each mound with the remaining batter
- Close the lid and cook for another 5 minutes
- Open the lid, flip the pancakes, close the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes
- Repeat with the remaining batter
- Carefully transfer pancakes to a plate, top with ice-cream, fruits and maple syrup
Keywords: souffle, pancakes, breakfast, cloud, japanese-style
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My eggyolk, milk, and flour mixture got too stiff and couldn't mix well with the meringue. I made the meringue AFTER mixing the eggyolk batter. Should have I done it differently?