Lessons learnt: Bubbles and crispiness of Breton galettes

Things I have learnt with my limited experiments with trying to make Breton galettes (savory crepes) so far:

1. Liquid batter: The more liquid-y the batter, the more bubbles created when the batter hits the hot pan. I would dilute the batter to the consistency of somewhere between heavy cream and full-fat milk.
2. Hot pan: Need pan to be quite hot to induce the bubbles when batter is poured onto the pan. I keep it around med-high, and lower it slightly only as the galette is almost done
3. Mucho butter on pan: Copious amount of butter on hot pan isFull key to a crispy galette. But in the end, crispiness will reduce significantly when galette cools. So more butter may-may not be needed upon re-heating
4. 100% buckwheat batter didn't work for me, as galette became so fragile. 50/50 with AP flour worked for me. Adding 1 egg per 1 cup of flour also helped keep batter together. Next time, may want to try keeping batter overnight to strengthen the bonds.

Strawberry Kefir (Yogurt) Cake

This was one of the best cakes I've made so far, in terms of taste, freshness and simplicity. First saw an instagram posting by brunetkablog of this cake that she baked herself, she then kindly referred me to a pretty Polish baking blog for the recipe (thank you, googletranslate!).

The cake itself is light and not overly sweet, the texture reminds me of a soft/pillowy pancake. The texture benefits from the use of kefir, which is a thick fermented milk drink that tastes abit like yogurt (it can easily be substituted with a mix of yogurt and milk - see below instructions).

But the best part of the cake for me is way the juices from the fruits infuse into the cake, without making it overly soggy. It's the perfect summer snack or breakfast cake.
And it is super easy to make!

I'm going to translate the recipe here (I've corrected some of the mistakes I made in the previous translation).

Strawberry Kefir Cake

Translated from Zjemto Blog

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1 cup of kefir (or substitute with 3/4 cup plain yogurt + 1/4 cup milk)

1/2 cup oil

2 1/2 cups A.P. flour (spoon and sweep)

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2.5 cups (or 500 grams or 1 lb) of sliced/cut strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Powdered sugar to sprinkle over the completed cake.

Method:

Preheat oven at 355 degrees Farenheit.

Grease and line a rectangular 24 x 32 cm pan or baking dish, or a 9.5 x 12.5 inch sheet pan, with parchment paper (like you would line a pan to bake brownies).

Mix baking powder and flour, and set aside.

Lightly beat eggs with whisk or fork (try NOT to beat too much air in)

Add sugar, oil & kefir and whisk until combined.

Add flour & baking powder, and stir until combined.  Batter will be quite thick (don’t worry).

Pour batter and spread evenly into prepared pan. 

Spread out the cut strawberries evenly over the surface batter. Push each them down slightly so that they lay snug into the batter but you can still see the surface.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes (skewer should come out clean). 

Leave in pan to cool.

Sprinkle powdered sugar over cake before serving.

Banana Nutella Mille Crepes Cake

I've been wanting to try making the mille crepe cake since my first foray to baking, months ago. Been practicing a bit with cooking crepes several times before, did not seem too insurmountable.  Finally decided to make it for my Hubby on Valentine's Day, since he was going to cook the dinner's main course. So it was just the right time!

Sweet Martabak (Martabak Manis)

The sweet martabak (or martabak manis) is a popular late night street dessert snack in many major cities in Indonesia. It is a thick turnover pancake/crepe hybrid, typically filled with a decadent mix of condensed milk, peanut, cheese, chocolate sprinkles (nowadays they even have options with Nutella or Toblerone fillings!!). Aside from the filling, its most distinct characteristics of the dessert are its yellow-colored honeycomb-like inner structure and its dark golden /crispy-ish crust. In addition, the street vendors typically slather a decadent amount of butter on the both inner and outer surfaces.

The dessert apparently originated from Bangka island (Western part of Indonesia), among the Chinese community, and was originally called "Terang Bulan" cake or "Bright Moon" cake, probably owing to its round shape and yellow/golden color. According to this website, the dessert was typically made to celebrate the Lunar Festival (full moon festivities). Indeed, the Indonesian Sweet Martabak or Terang Bulan, seems to be an iteration of the Cantonese/Fujianese Chin Loong Pau or Ban Jian Kuih (or as they refer to it in Malaysia/Singapore as Apam Balik cake), or even the Japanese Dorayaki. I also recently realized there are similarities to the British Crumpet or the Beghrir (Moroccan Thousand Holes Pancake), in particular, with regards to the holey texture. The term "Martabak" itself is probably adopted from the Indian/Arabic savory stuffed pancake/bread (similar to Prata), indeed, in Indonesia, the savory Martabak is often sold together with the sweet Martabak.