A light and airy batter and a few secret cooking tricks: Albert Adrià has made his air pancakes a versatile base for sweet and savory dishes, even serving them with Wagyu beef and peppers.
The dish
After the air croissant, Albert Adrià couldn't resist: pancakes have also been transformed into haute cuisine by one of Spain's most creative chefs, who regularly serves them at Enigma with a variety of sweet and savory toppings (or a mix of both!).
“Fortunately, our old waffle iron still allows us to make this ‘magic recipe,’” reads Enigma's Instagram page, "Although it takes a lot of patience to get the desired results. The Air Pancake is a neutral base for fillings, which we serve to guests with Valleoscuro goat cheese cream and dried peaches, for example. Thanks to a special process, we concentrate the flavor of the fruit and create a bite with a unique texture."
In an online video, Adrià demonstrated the process live by making a “sweet fritter” with pistachio cream; however, there are also variations with stronger flavors, such as one with Wagyu beef, peppers, and sobrasada, a raw cured sausage that is very common in Spain. As for the recipe, the batter is easy to make and uses common ingredients: flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sparkling water. The difficulty lies in the method, but by watching the video below, you can already start practicing!
The Air Pancake Recipe
- 150 grams of flour
- 25 grams of cornstarch
- 30 grams of sugar
- 0.3 grams of baking soda
- 1 gram of yeast
- 1 gram of salt
- 1 gram of albumin
- 170 grams of sparkling water
Blend all the ingredients with a blender until smooth, then pour into a bottle to help with measuring, checking the amount needed for each pancake.
Heat the waffle iron to 150 degrees. Pour small amounts of batter onto it (roughly 4-5 cm), then close it so that the mixture spreads out evenly. After about five seconds, open the lid slightly by 2 cm and place an object in the middle to prevent it from closing again. The batter will cook attached to the base and lid for another 20 seconds, leaving the inside full of air. Gently remove it with a spatula and store it in an airtight container if you are not serving it immediately. Tips for garnishing? Simple pistachio cream, as in the video below.
Alternatively, here you will find the recipe for the savory filling, taken from the website afuegolento.com.
