Significant parts of my childhood were marked by the Pannekoeken Huis (Dutch: Pancake House) on Robert Street in West St. Paul. It was where our family took out-of-town visitors for brunch, and where my dad and I bought my mom a big fluffy blueberry muffin while she was in the hospital after giving birth to my brother.
My grandpa, who was mostly deaf, always referred to this local restaurant as Panniegoogles. Yes, like tech behemoth Google, but years before they struck it big. The spelling of said word is anyone's guess. Not that I'm any sort of Scandinavian linguist, but it never was clear to any of us how he got the pronunciation so far off. Was he trying to say Kugel i.e. the Jewish casserole? Or Kuchen (German for cake)? Now we'll never know. But no matter, the man never met a breakfast he didn't like.
I'm not exactly sure when our local Pannekoeken closed, but it appears the Edina-based casual dining chain declared bankruptcy in 1996. I had heard rumors there were still a few restaurants operating in the region, but didn't really give it much more thought.
Until last week, when I revisited a small illustrated book in my collection, "The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living" by Meik Wiking. His description of the many flour-butter-sugar concoctions common in Denmark got my pregnant brain craving the idea of a warm and comforting pile of breakfast carbs, toothsome, substantial, Nordic. I couldn't help but remember the famous apple pancakes at Pannekoeken's, perhaps a Dutch cousin to the Danish Aebleskiver, which in turn is the better-looking cousin of Dunkin Donuts Munchkins.
I located one remaining Pannekoeken Huis in the Twin Cities, and on Saturday took a road trip to St. Louis Park to investigate. In my quest for the 'google, I decided to order a representative sample of the restaurant's offerings (or at least a sample that appealed to my sweet-centric taste buds)
The only part of an apple Pannekoeken (above left) that can be safely fed to bunnies is, in fact, an apple. The photos aren't great, but you can see Celeste's little tongue poking out as she goes after her slice.
Now, all that remains is figuring out how to make these myself. If you know of any good recipes, please send them my way. Stay tuned!
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