Poffertjes are the smell of a Dutch fair. At markets, funfairs and winter festivals, a cook stands over a vast cast iron plate dimpled with dozens of shallow hollows, fills them with batter from a jug in one sweeping pass, then flips each little pancake with a fork at a speed that seems to defy physics. They are served by the dozen on a small cardboard tray, a pat of butter melting on top and powdered sugar sifted over everything, and eaten with a tiny fork while walking, usually with powdered sugar down the front of a coat.

What makes them different from ordinary pancakes is yeast and buckwheat. The yeast puffs them into soft, spongy little domes, and the buckwheat gives a faint nutty, earthy flavor that balances all that butter and sugar. A special poffertjes pan makes the job easy, but a Danish aebleskiver pan works well, and so, with a little patience, does an ordinary frying pan.

They are perfect for passing round during a race: small, warm, sweet, and gone before anyone notices how many they have had.

The batter

Ingredients

• 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
• 1 cup (125 g) buckwheat flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons (4 g) instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon (12 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter

Method

1. Warm the milk in the small saucepan over low heat or in the microwave in short bursts until it reaches 105 to 110°F (40 to 43°C) on the thermometer.
2. In the large bowl, whisk together both flours, the yeast, sugar and salt. Add the eggs and about half the milk and whisk to a thick, smooth paste. Whisk in the rest of the milk a little at a time, then the melted butter.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and leave it somewhere warm for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Stir the batter gently to knock out the largest bubbles, then pour it into the squeeze bottle or narrow spouted jug.

Cooking and serving

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons (60 g) cold salted or unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar

Method

1. Set the pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Brush every hollow with melted butter using the pastry brush or folded paper towel.
2. Squeeze batter into each hollow until it is almost full, working quickly across the pan. In a flat frying pan, drop scant teaspoons of batter about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
3. Cook for about 1 minute, until the tops are covered in small bubbles and the edges have set and turned matte. Slide a skewer or fork under each one and flip it over in a quick turn of the wrist. Cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute more.
4. Tip them onto the warm plate, about 12 to 15 per person. Put a pat of cold butter on top of each pile and sift a thick layer of powdered sugar over everything. Butter the pan again and cook the next batch.

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