Blini season is here again.
They start again. Namely, blini weeks. However, in the Helsinki restaurant Lasipalatsi, we should rather talk about the blini months, there are no less than three of them.
– Last year, blinis were sold out until the beginning of April. 10 years ago at that point it was already sagging, but nowadays customers can handle blinis longer, says the kitchen manager Petri Simonen.
Blinis with six side dishes are the most popular blini dish. This year, the mushroom salad has been given way and reindeer mousse has taken its place. Eeva Paljakka
In April, however, the blini pans are put in the cupboard and spring asparagus is put on the list.
But at the moment, the Lasipalats kitchen is preparing for the hot blinis season, which has already started at the beginning of January. It will be at its peak in a couple of weeks.
According to Simonen, many customers come to them at the beginning of the year specifically to eat blinis.
– Blinis are a classic. In many restaurants, they are just a by-product, in ours they are the main course, Simonen continues.
For him, the best thing about blinisesong is its sociability. No one pushes, but people sit at the table and enjoy, because the food does not run out and everyone eats at their own pace. You can eat as many blinis as you can handle. According to Simonen, blinis are easy to eat and the atmosphere of the parties is relaxed.
For blinis to be successful, the dough must be functional. That is the most important factor of all. Every morning in the kitchen of Lasipalats, the condition of the dough is tested. If it is not right, the necessary measures are taken: thinning, adding flour or sugar
– Sometimes it has happened that the dough simply doesn’t work or it has started to go wrong. It’s like beer or wine, it can go bad, Simonen describes.
According to kitchen manager Janne Danschu, Lasipalatsi has the best blinis in Finland. Eeva Paljakka
In that case, there is no problem. Then take another dough from the refrigerator. There are as many as five of them ready, so customers can get their blinis even if one or more doughs do the trick.
Chef Janne Danschu has been baking Lasipalatsi blinis for 18 years. He confirms that every dough is completely different, so there are no identical baking times.
– Blini dough is a living mass.
Since a lot of blinis are baked, butter is also used up. In the best weeks, almost a hundred kilos.
Butter is clarified in the Lasipalats kitchen with a uraka, after all, it is the most expensive ingredient for blinis after muikunmäd. The whey separated from the butter is mixed with mashed potatoes.
If the base of the blini dough is made on Monday, the dough itself on Tuesday, it is at its best on Wednesday. Then the alcohol has killed the stickiness of the dough. That’s why dough that is too fresh gets moldy when baked.
At the same time, 16 blinis are fried in small cast iron pans. Eeva Paljakka
Glass palace blinis
(20 blinis)
DAY 1, make the blini base:
1 l milk, 750 g buckwheat flour
½ tsp dry yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt
1. Heat the milk to 42 degrees. Add the yeast and the rest of the ingredients, mix until smooth.
2. Cover the container and leave it at room temperature for about 1-2 hours, until the dough “bubbles” and has almost doubled in size.
3. Refrigerate the dough overnight. Take a large enough container so that the dough does not overflow.
DAY 2, making the dough
250 g buckwheat flour
2 bottles of beer
2 eggs
350 g wheat flour
150 g of protein
1. Add beer, egg and flour to the base. Mix until smooth.
2. Add the whipped egg whites and let the dough rest for a few hours.
3. Then fry in clarified butter in a cast iron pan.