Racuchy

The story

Racuchy are thick Polish pancakes raised with yeast, usually studded with apple and served with powdered sugar or jam. They belong to home cooking rather than to bakeries or holidays: a soft batter of flour, milk, egg and a little sugar is left to rise for about an hour, diced apple is folded in, and spoonfuls are fried in a thin layer of oil or clarified butter until they puff and turn golden on both sides. Polish recipes call for tart, firm apples; Kwestia Smaku suggests reinettes, which hold their shape in the batter. The author of the Ania Gotuje site learned them from her grandmother and had to rebuild the recipe from the ingredients and proportions she remembered, because her grandmother measured by eye and worked with fresh yeast. Kwestia Smaku serves them with a glass of warm milk as a Friday afternoon snack. A spoon dipped in water keeps the tacky batter from clinging. Serve them straight from the pan; they lose their crisp edges as they cool.