Local name: Блины
Russian yeast pancakes, thin and pliable, rolled up and served with melted butter and soured cream.
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Photo: Maksim L., CC BY-SA 4.0
Boiling water gelatinises part of the starch before cooking. The batter gains flexibility and the blini roll up without splitting.
An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.
They bring a lightness the yeast alone cannot give, but the air they hold is fragile. Fold with a spatula, lifting the batter from underneath, and stop as soon as no white streaks remain. Batter overworked at this point collapses and the blini cook up dense.
It can, but it is not ideal. The yeast keeps working in the cold, so the batter turns noticeably sour while losing some of its lifting power. If you have no choice, whip and fold in the whites only at cooking time, never the night before.
The milk swaps easily for a warm plant drink, and it is the yeast that does most of the rising. Without the eggs, simply expect blini that are a little less tender and less pliable to roll. Serve them with a sharp plant-based cream in place of the soured cream.
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