I have to warn you – getting these right is not easy! It honestly took me about 8 test runs before I got them right. While I can guarantee that this recipe does work, a big part of success with these is getting the pan to the right temperature and getting the timing right. If you decide to make these Japanese Souffle Pancakes for the first time then perhaps give yourself a bit of time and don’t expect wonders on the first try!
What are souffle pancakes?
These are pancakes (obviously) that have gained fame in Japan and become a cult favourite around the world. They are a little different in texture to standard pancakes as you use whisked egg whites to give that fluffy souffle like texture. They are totally delicious – sweet and absolutely amazing with fruit or syrup drizzled over. Personally I’d rather eat these as more of a dessert than a breakfast.
The Jiggle
Search on Instagram for jiggling souffle pancakes and you’ll find a whole load of people wobbling their pancakes – when they are freshly cooked they are so thick and fluffy that they will just jiggle as you move the plate. Hours of fun! (Or is that just me?)
How do you make Japanese souffle pancakes at home?
To make souffle pancakes I found that there are a few key factors that will affect the success. Firstly make sure that you whisk those egg whites really well – you need STIFF peaks. No soft peaks here please. Make sure that when you separate the eggs that absolutely nothing (apart from the lemon juice and sugar) gets into the egg whites – even a drop of yolk will stop you from being able to whisk them properly.
Secondly the pan – make these over a medium low heat but you may need to test them a few times to get them right. Heat the pan for a long time over the heat so you can make sure that it’s reached a even heat throughout. I did test making these in a food ring so I could layer up the mixture good and thick. I didn’t find the best success with this as despite oiling the ring I found they still stick to the sides and when using a knife to unstick them they collapsed more than just doing the standard method.
Why do my pancakes collapse?
From my experience, these souffle pancakes do deflate a little within a few minutes of making them. I don’t believe there is a way around this. The pictures that I’ve included are post collapse. Unfortunately in the time it took me to take them, style them and photograph them there was no way I could be speedy enough to get them at full fluffy glory – but you can see that even after they have collapsed they still look pretty good and thick.
If yours collapse more than this then I’d suggest look at if you have whisked the egg whites enough.
Have you tried making these before? I’d love to hear your experience and if you’ve found a better way to stop the deflation!
If you are a fan of pancakes then you should also check out these Mandarin Scotch Pancakes!
Products that work well for this recipe
Winter Season Maple Syrup Gift Set
Berry Buddy
Hand Mixer with Beaters, Whisk and Dough Hooks
Souffle Pancakes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Jiggly, sweet & so so fluffy – these Japanese souffle pancakes are a unique & fun dessert or brunch option. Perfect topped with fruit & syrup.
This recipe will make around 2 portions – of 2 pancakes each.
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 40g plain flour
- 2 tbsp milk (see note 3)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
- 3 egg whites
- 45g sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (eg vegetable or rapeseed) – for greasing the pan
Instructions
1. Place a frying pan over a medium low heat with the oil. Use a brush or some paper towel to spread it out so the entire pan is covered. See note 1
2. In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, baking powder, flour, vanilla essence and milk until you have a smooth thick batter.
3. In a separate bowl start to whisk the egg whites and lemon juice. See note 2. A little at a time add the sugar as you whisk. Keep going until you have stiff peaks. This meringue mix will make or break your pancakes so you need to make sure it’s thick enough (but don’t overwhisk or you’ll break the mixture)
4. Add a dollop of the egg white mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour the flour mixture into the egg whites and fold just enough to combine the mixture – you don’t want to deflate it!
5. Using an ice cream scoop place dollops of the mixture into the frying pan. Add another scoop of the mixture on the top of each dollop. Don’t over crowd the pan and allow room for them to expand. They stick together like nothing else (trust me!). Cover the pan.
6. After around 3 minutes remove the lid and add another dollop of the mixture on top of each pancake. Cover and cook for a further 3 minutes.
7. Place a spatula under one of the pancakes. Gently flip the pancake by rolling it over. Repeat for all pancakes.
8. After a further 6 minutes remove the pancakes from the pan and serve immediately.
9. Top with your choice of fruits, whipped cream, syrup and icing sugar. Lovely!
Notes
- Place the frying pan over the low heat early so it’s got time to reach the right temperature and heat the surface evenly
- Make sure you don’t get any drops of egg yolk in the whites or it will prevent them whisking properly
- I used semi skimmed milk – but you could use full fat and it would make the mixture even creamier.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Hob
- Cuisine: Japanese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 portion (2 pancakes)
- Calories: 310
- Fat: 13g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Protein: 10g
Keywords: pancakes, souffle pancakes, japanese, asian, dessert, breakfast, brunch, syrup
Hi Caroline,
Your pancakes looks delish and I cant wait to try making them!
Can I replace the plain flour with wholemeal flour and milk with non-diary ones?
Hi Stacy, I’ve not tried that and I don’t recall any recipes that had done similar substitutions during my research. I think it should work fine as the most important thing for success in the recipe is making sure the egg whites are whisked well – and also the right temperature for the pan.
Please do let me know if you try it! 🙂
These are heavenly! I’ve been working really hard at staying healthy so these were a “cheat” meal (although for a dessert, they are wonderfully light). Your notes were super helpful. My burner is particularly hot and my pan is particularly good at conducting heat so my first “batch” of 3 burned at 3 minutes. For my second batch (of 2), I kept an eye on them and flipped at around 2-2.5 minutes and they came out perfectly (and stayed pretty fluffy). I topped with maple syrup and powdered sugar (it was a cheat meal after all ; ). If I made them again, I might try to get the peaks a touch stiffer and I’d like to try to add a flavor into them. Any suggestions on when how I might add to the batter?
★★★★★
So glad you liked them. It’s so tricky with dishes like this because just a slight variation in temp can make a big difference to the cooking time. In terms of flavours to add I’ve not yet tried any myself. However, I am thinking maybe some cocoa powder could work well, or some matcha powder to add even more to the Japanese flavour! I think powder based flavourings might work best since if you add a lot more liquid it will affect the consistency of the pancake and it might not end up so fluffy.