Walnut-stuffed pancakes

Name: Walnut-stuffed pancakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 110 g plain flour; ½ tsp easy bake yeast; ¼ tsp fine salt; 1 L sunflower oil, for greasing and frying

Based on a Middle Eastern street food pancake recipe for qatayef bil-joz, this has been adapted with yogurt and rose petals, which aren't traditional but make for a very pretty-looking spread.

Recipe by Anissa Helou, chef, teacher and author. She has written eight cookbooks focusing on Mediterranean cuisine, her latest being Feast: Food of the Islamic World.

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Vegetarian

Makes8
CourseDessert
Prepare30 mins
Cook40 mins
Total time1 hr 10 mins
Plusrising + cooling

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Ingredients

110g plain flour
½ tsp easy bake yeast
¼ tsp fine salt
1 L sunflower oil, for greasing and frying

Sugar syrup

175g unrefined golden caster sugar
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tbsp rose water
½ tbsp Nielsen-Massey Orange Blossom Water

Filling

100g walnuts
1 tbsp unrefined golden caster sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp Nielsen-Massey Orange Blossom Water

To serve (optional)

75g thick Greek yogurt
1 tbsp Cooks' Ingredients Aromatic Rose Petals

Method

For the pancakes, combine the flour, yeast and salt in a mixing bowl. Add 160ml water, then whisk to a smooth batter. Cover and rest for 1 hour at room temperature until it has risen and the surface is quite bubbly.
Meanwhile, for the sugar syrup, put the sugar and 75ml water in a saucepan. Add the lemon juice and put over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Bubble for 3 minutes, then take of the heat and add the rose and orange blossom waters. Allow to cool completely. For the filling, pulse the walnuts in a food processor until coarsely ground. Combine with the sugar, cinnamon and orange blossom water; set aside.
Shortly before the batter is ready, grease a shallow frying pan with ½ tbsp oil and put over a medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour a few heaped tablespoons of batter into the pan and quickly spread to make discs about 8cm in diameter and ½cm thick. Cook on one side for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown and the top is bubbly and dry. Transfer to a clean tea towel or kitchen paper and repeat to make around 8 pancakes. Allow to cool.
One at a time, lay the pancakes on your hand, cooked-side down. Spread 1 tbsp of filling in a line down the middle. Fold the pancake, bringing the edges together and pinching with your fngers to tightly enclose the filling. Put each filled pancake on the clean tea towel or kitchen paper.
Pour enough sunfower oil into a large saucepan to fill it about one-third full and put over a medium heat. Test the oil by dropping a piece of bread in it: if oil bubbles surround it, it is ready. (You can also test with a thermometer – it should read 180°C.) Carefully slide in as many pancakes as will fit comfortably in the pan (don’t overcrowd it) and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown all over. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and drop into the sugar syrup. Turn to coat, then transfer to a serving platter. If you like, spoon the yogurt into a serving bowl and scatter with a few rose petals; serve alongside the pancakes. Eat as soon as possible after frying.

Cook’s tip

Cook's tip

Store the leftover sugar syrup in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to two weeks. Use as a base for rose-scented cocktails or drizzle over a basic sponge cake to impart a lovely aromatic sweetness.