Friar’s pancake Hoorn-style

Hoornse broeder

300 grams flour
salt
20 grams yeast
¼ liter milk
2 eggs
cinnamon
75 grams currants
75 grams raisins
25 grams candied peel
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt. Dissolve the yeast in a bit of lukewarm milk, scoop out some of the flour, pour in the yeast, add the eggs and the remainder of the milk and mix all into a cohesive dough. Add cinnamon, the washed and blotted-dry raisins and currants and the candied peel. Mix thoroughly. Set the dough aside to rise for about an hour.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Pour in or scoop the dough and cook/fry on the lowest heat setting just as with a ‘regular’ pancake. When the top of the pancake is fully dry, flip the ‘broeder’ over and cook until both sides are nice and golden brown.The ‘broeder’ also can be baked on a greased cookie sheet in the oven: about one hour at 150C/295F.Cut like a pie and serve the wedges with butter and sugar.

The word ‘broeder’ indeed refers to the monks and friars who still are called that way. Originally - in the Middle Ages - this kind of pancake was called ‘beghinenkoecke,’ in other words: ‘cake of the beguins’ (friars). The connection with the North Holland port town of Hoorn is unclear, likely it refers to a local monastery.