Homemade fried crispy pancakes

We all know about Findus crispy pancakes, small, delicious fried turnovers, filled originally with melted cheese and then, over the years and with their undisputed commercial success, with other scrumptious combinations. Today we wanted to create a homemade version, starting from scratch and even making the pastry at home. The crispy pancake pastry is very close to choux pastry and is not that difficult to make. For the filling, we thought we’d combine a little ham, smoked cheese and a teaspoon of béchamel, but you can include whatever you wish. If you have children, you can get them involved in making these authentic delicacies, but of course at point at which you start to fry them they will have to get out of the way, and then join in again when it’s time to eat!

Begin by making the dough using the same procedure as that for a choux pastry. Put the milk on to heat in a saucepan with the butter and the salt. When the milk reaches boiling point, remove from the heat and add the flour all at once. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to break away from the edges and form a ball. If you own a Thermomix food processor, place the milk, butter and salt for 10 minutes at 90 degrees then add the flour for 30 seconds at speed 4. Pour the mixture onto a work surface and knead it while it’s still warm. Roll it out fairly thinly and cut into circles with the aid of a bowl or large cup (the diameter must be at least 10 cm). Fill the centre of each dough circle with ham, cheese and a teaspoon of béchamel. With a brush, wet the edges of the discs with egg white. Fold over the pancakes, carefully sealing them with your fingers and then with the prongs of a fork. Dip the pancakes into some beaten eggs (some of the egg you used previously) and then in breadcrumbs. Fry in oil which is not too hot or you run the risk of burning the outside whilst leaving the filling raw. It requires medium hot frying oil in order to obtain even cooking and browning, whilst warming the filling gradually.