Blini

What to expect

Taste

A faint, yeasted sourness from the long ferment, with a nuttier, earthier note from the buckwheat than a plain wheat pancake would have, balanced against the richness of the butter it is cooked and brushed in.

Aroma

A warm, faintly sour, yeasty smell as the batter rises, and browned butter as the blini cook in the hot pan.

Texture

Light and a little spongy, with a faint chew from the buckwheat, soft rather than crisp at the edges.

Sound

A quiet sizzle as each ladleful hits the hot buttered pan, and a soft hiss as it is swirled to spread.

How the flavour moves

The faint sourness of the fermented batter registers first, buckwheat's earthy, nutty note follows, and the richness of the butter and whatever topping is chosen — cold soured cream, salty herring — is what lingers at the finish.

Serve it

Served warm, held in a low oven between batches so the whole stack reaches the table at roughly the same temperature.

Goes with

Soured cream and salted herring in the savoury tradition, or butter and jam for a sweeter version; small ones are traditionally topped with cured salmon or caviar at the more formal end of the tradition.

Cook's notes

Difficulty

Moderate — the two-stage rise and the folded egg whites need some care, though the cooking itself is straightforward.

Cost

Cheap to moderate — flour, milk and eggs, with the cost rising if served with cured salmon or caviar rather than herring.

Equipment

A heavy 20cm frying pan and a pastry brush for the butter.

When to make it

Maslenitsa week traditionally, and any breakfast or brunch occasion more generally.

Best season

None; every ingredient is shelf-stable or standard fresh produce available year round.

You know it is done when

The underside should be evenly gold with no pale patches once flipped, and dark spots with a raw centre mean the pan was too hot, while a pale, leathery blin means the pan was too cool.

And it feels like

Light and slightly spongy from the yeast and egg whites, with a faintly sour tang from the fermented batter.

Food safety

Standard care with raw egg batter and, separately, with cured or salted fish if that is the chosen topping.

Where it goes wrong

• Increasing the proportion of buckwheat flour beyond what the recipe specifies, giving a batter with too little structure to hold together.
• Beating the egg whites in fully rather than folding them gently, which flattens the batter's lightness.
• Cooking over too high a heat, which sets the surface before it has spread evenly and gives dark spots with a raw centre.
• Rushing either of the two rises, giving a denser, less flavourful pancake.

If it does go wrong

Pancake tears when lifted: too much buckwheat flour relative to wheat flour was used. Dense, flat blini: the egg whites were overmixed, or the rises were cut short. Dark spots with a raw centre: the pan was too hot; a pale, leathery result means it was too cool.

Making it ahead

The batter itself is best made and cooked the same day, though cooked blini can be kept a day and gently reheated.

Keeping it

Best eaten fresh; leftover blini can be kept for a day and gently reheated, though they lose some of their initial lightness.

Reheating

Reheat gently in a low oven or a dry pan rather than a microwave, which can toughen them.

Freezing

Freezes reasonably well once cooked; reheat from frozen in a low oven.

Leftovers

Good reheated with butter, or used the next day with a savoury filling folded inside rather than served flat.

Scaling it

Scales up well by simply increasing all quantities proportionally, cooking in successive batches in the same pan.

Substitutions

There is no real substitute for the buckwheat-and-wheat ratio given here without changing the character of the pancake; more buckwheat gives a more traditional but more fragile result, more wheat gives a sturdier but blander one.

Dietary swaps

Contains cereals containing gluten, eggs, fish and milk. Not easily adapted to major allergen-free categories without changing the recipe considerably.

Shopping for it

Buckwheat flour is available from most large supermarkets or health food shops; salted herring is best sourced from an Eastern European grocer.

Keeping the cost down

The batter itself is inexpensive; the cost of the meal rises considerably if served with cured salmon or caviar rather than salted herring or jam.

Nutrition

A moderate source of carbohydrate and protein, richer if served with cured fish and soured cream.

Worth it?

A genuinely different pancake from the unleavened crepe most people are familiar with, and one whose fermented, yeasted character is worth experiencing at least once alongside the more familiar version.

Where it comes from

Origin

The East Slavic lands — Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Also called

Blini (блины).

Said out loud

blee-NEE.

What the name means

The word is generally understood simply as the plural for this style of pancake, with no further documented meaning attached to the name itself.

History

Pancakes cooked on a hot surface are among the oldest prepared foods of the East Slavic region, predating the arrival of Christianity there. Their close association with Maslenitsa, the week of feasting before Great Lent, developed because dairy and eggs remain permitted during that week while meat does not, making a rich, egg-and-milk-based pancake an ideal food for the occasion.

Why it matters

Central to Maslenitsa, eaten in large quantities during that week, and also a standard part of funeral and commemorative meals, a custom of long standing.

When it is eaten

Maslenitsa week above all, and also breakfast, snacks and funeral or commemorative meals throughout the year.

The traditional way

A two-stage yeasted rise, with whipped egg whites folded in gently at the end to lighten the batter.

How it changed

The buckwheat-and-wheat mixture used today is a lighter compromise on the older, all-buckwheat batter, which gives a darker and more distinctly sour pancake but is more fragile to cook.

Regional variations

Small blini are served under caviar, cured salmon or salted herring in more formal, restaurant-style settings, while larger ones made at home are typically folded or rolled around soured cream, jam or curd.

Sources and credit

No individual is credited with the dish; it belongs to East Slavic home and festival cooking generally, tied closely to the Maslenitsa tradition.

Related recipes

Categories