Walnut Crepes Recipe- The Gundel Pancake

Need to rescue the week on a Monday afternoon? Check out these Walnut filled crepes that’ll turn life into a boon!

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So, it’s crepe time again or pancake? Well, these two are sometimes used interchangeably as both are made in a pan despite looking utterly different things.

Pancakes are bulky fat things stacked on each other while soaking in some extremely sweet syrup while crepes are delicate desserts served on silver plates in a restaurant after dinner.

Sure enough, crepes are sold on paper plates with Nutella filling and powdered sugar on top too but that’s on the streets of Paris. It’s like having pizza in some unknown Italian petrol station near the highway contrasted to anywhere else in the world. Without question the first one beats any place outside the Italian boot. They are not even in the same league.

Well, maybe crepes are not that intricate creatures as pizzas but their plainness is just a calling for innovative ideas. The most basic crepe recipe doesn’t require anything else only flour, water and oil to quickly churn out a couple of flat ones. However, there are more posh versions that require a bit of milk, eggs and butter with the flour.

What sells crepes is not the pastry itself but the filling. It can be anything from the highly unusual British lemon juice and sugar drizzle to the cross-cultural Italian born Nutella. There could be an endless debate about the superiority of one over the other but what would be the point when there are as many fillings as pizza toppings.

Some like it with jam, others swear to cinnamon but who would despise rolled up vanilla or chocolate custard crepes? Rest assured, these are only the bottom of the crepe’s food chain. The ones that are made on a lousy Monday afternoon to treat ourselves ready for another 4 same days.

There are special days in life that must be celebrated with special treats. Not like Dobos Cake or Black Forest cake special that require a half day spent around the oven cajoling butter and flour.

Not “everybody must celebrate because life without me wouldn’t be the same” special but heartwarmingly special like “everybody smiled at me today” special. When the day is almost perfect and only needs one more hug and a kiss on the cheek to make it round and proud.

Lucky for us there is a crepe for this occasions that can be made in short enough time to start almost any day but exquisite enough to be the cherry on top. It’s so posh, it has a name but surprisingly, it doesn’t come from France.

In reality, France isn’t the only country with crepe traditions. Eastern European countries are full of crepe traditions but called some even more unpronounceable names like Pfannkuchen, Palatchinken, palačinka, palacinka, palačinke or palacsinta.

Gundel palacsinta comes from Hungary, a country well known in culinary circles, especially when it comes to desserts like the above-mentioned confectionary cornerstone Dobos torte, the simple Gerbeaud cake, or the passionate Rigo Jancsi.

It is created and sold since 1940 in the Gundel restaurant in Budapest and however the ingredients are well known and listed on the Gundel restaurant website the exact method and ratios are still buried in secrecy.

Basically, it’s a walnut filled crepe with dark chocolate sauce but it’s so much more than that. The walnut filling is livened up with raisins, cream and a touch of rum. While the chocolate sauce is made with egg yolks, milk and a touch of more rum that is flambeed at serving creating a truly unique experience at the diner.

Luckily, we don’t have to burn the rum off the back of the crepe if we can live without fireworks on a Monday afternoon, thus save some fun for the tasting too ;D

Ingredients

(Makes ~15)

Crepes

• 3 cups / 400g Flour
• 2½ – 3¾ cup / 600-900g Water
• ¼ teaspoon / 1.5g Baking soda (NOT baking powder)
• 2 tablespoons / 30g Cooking oil
• ½ teaspoon / 3g Salt

Filling

• ⅞ cup / 200g Heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon / 20g Honey or sweetener of choice
• 2 cups / 250g Walnuts (½ ground, ½ finely chopped)
• ¾ cup / 100g Raisins
• 1 medium / 6g Lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon / 8g Cinnamon (ground)
• 1 tablespoon / 15g Rum aroma

Chocolate sauce topping

• 1 cup / 250g milk
• ¾ cup / 140g Chocolate (coarsely chopped)
• 2 medium / 40g Egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon / 30g Honey or sweetener of choice
• 2 tablespoons / 10g Cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 tablespoon / 15g Butter (unsalted)
• 1 tablespoon / 15g Rum or rum aroma

How to make Walnut crepe

Crepes

1. Mix flour, water, baking soda and cooking oil together evenly. Heat medium size frying-pan on high heat. Pour about ⅓ cup batter into the pan then tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
2. Depending on the burner cook for about 1 to 2.5 minutes until the bottom gets some golden brown spots. Loosen and flip it over to the other side. Cook the other side for another minute then remove from the heat.

Making crepes is art and that means variety. Check out how to make various sugar free crepes!

Filling

1. Pour cream and honey into a medium size saucepan and bring it to boil whilst stirring it.
2. Add walnuts, raisins, lemon zest, rum and finally the ground cinnamon. Reduce the heat to medium and put it back onto the hob to cook it for about 3 minutes. Stir it continuously as without stirring it would burn down.

Chocolate sauce topping

1. Melt chocolate and milk over boiling water.
2. Whisk egg yolks in rapidly then add honey cocoa powder butter and rum into the chocolate sauce and place the bowl back over the boiling water.
3. Stir it until evenly combined then take it off the heat.

Assembly

1. Spread about two tablespoons of filling on half of a crepe.
2. Fold it into half.
3. Fold it again to get a quarter of a circle.
4. Pour some chocolate sauce on top before serving it.

Crepes come in many flavors and forms but all are delicious:

• Gluten-Free Pancake Recipe
• Keto Pancake Recipe
• Sugar Free Chocolate Crepes
• Homemade Sugar Free Crepes Recipe

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Walnut Crepes Recipe- The Gundel Pancake

Need to rescue the week on a Monday afternoon? Check out these Walnut filled crepes that'll turn life into a boon!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Sugar free recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Crepes

• 3¼ cups Flour
• 3¾ cup Water
• ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
• 2 tablespoons Cooking oil
• ½ teaspoon Table salt

Filling

• ⅞ cup Heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Honey or sweetener of choice
• 2 cups Walnuts Half ground, half finely chopped
• ¾ cup Raisins
• 1 medium Lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon Cinnamon ground
• 1 tablespoon Rum aroma

Chocolate sauce topping

• 1 cup Milk
• ¾ cup Chocolate coarsely chopped
• 2 medium Egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon Honey or sweetener of choice
• 2 tablespoons Cocoa powder unsweetened
• 1 tablespoon Butter unsalted
• 1 tablespoon Rum aroma

Instructions

Crepes

• Mix flour, water, baking soda and cooking oil together evenly. Heat medium size frying-pan on high heat. Pour about ⅓ cup batter into the pan then tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
  
• Depending on the burner cook for about 1 to 2.5 minutes until the bottom gets some golden brown spots. Loosen and flip it over to the other side. Cook the other side for another minute then remove from the heat.
  

Filling

• Pour cream and honey into a medium size saucepan and bring it to boil whilst stirring it.
  
• Add walnuts, raisins, lemon zest, rum and finally the ground cinnamon. Reduce the heat to medium and put it back onto the hob to cook it for about 3 minutes. Stir it continuously as without stirring it would burn down.
  

Chocolate sauce topping

• Melt chocolate and milk over boiling water.
  
• Whisk egg yolks in rapidly then add honey cocoa powder butter and rum into the chocolate sauce and place the bowl back over the boiling water.
  
• Stir it until evenly combined then take it off the heat.
  

Assembly

• Spread about two tablespoons of filling on half of a crepe.
  
• Fold it into half.
  
• Fold it again to get a quarter of a circle.
  
• Pour some chocolate sauce on top before serving it.
  

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