Vegan pannukakku (Finnish baked pancakes) with blueberry chia compote

As I write this, millions of Americans are attending Memorial Day parades and visiting the gravestones of fallen soldiers and remembering in their hearts the valiant efforts of our armed forces to protect our nation. For one day, millions will put aside their differences—whether political, religious, or otherwise—and acknowledge our bravest citizens with heartwarming songs and belly-aching barbecues. Every hot dog eaten symbolizes the freedom we share and the blood put forth to preserve it. A noble tradition, it is, to have a day set aside for these patriotic exercises.

Washington dreamed of a nation where all men could freely enjoy hot dogs. source

And still I think of Finland.

It’s blasphemous, it’s hearsay, and I’m sure the NSA is going to blacklist me after I hit “publish”. Yet I can’t help but look forward to when I can get out of this country and go somewhere…different. A place where I don’t feel as troubled by the uncertain future, where I am not plagued with guilt because I benefit from systemic oppression of the less fortunate, whomever the less fortunate may be.

Yeah. I’m a fat-assed jealous America-hater. Bite me.

Right now, you are probably about to close this tab, erase your history, and forget you ever saw this preposterous little blog. I would know—my second cousin’s twice-removed great-grandmother is psychic, so I have a bit of supernatural insight to your thoughts.

But wait. Please. Give me a chance.

Most ‘Muricans, it seems, have experienced at least some degree of disillusionment with the land of the free; but in the past few years, I’ve begun to feel, shall we say, a wee bit of bitterness towards my home country. More than the norm. But where can one go? What country is “better” (whatever that may mean) than the United States.

Finland. Yes. Finland. I’ve seized upon that country, and now that it is the chosen one my mind will not be changed.

I considered Singapore for a moment, but it's, I don't know, too far away for this sheltered white girl.

Haha, well June, you can go shove a skyscraper up your ass. source

So once I’m an independent and responsible adult, I’m heading off to Finland. How to prepare?

Learning Finnish is a start, but, you know, that takes effort and learning and studying and ugh—too much. How about familiarizing myself with the cuisine? Yes. That’s just fine. 

Mmm. Lots of game animals and fish. Very vegan friendly. source

After some research, I found a recipe for pannukakku, a sweet breakfast pancake that is baked in the oven. The Recipe Critic describes it as a combination of “a crepe, a custard, a pancake and French toast”; and having eaten it myself, I completely agree with that explanation. It’s slightly eggy, slightly pancake-esque, and totally unique. I’ll also mention that the large proportion of sugar makes it quite sweet on its own, but the blueberry chia compote adds that extra hit of flavor to make this an awesome breakfast. 

You can hardly taste the tofu beneath all of that sugar.

Be a rebel. Try some Finnish food for Memorial Day.

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Vegan pannukakku (Finnish baked pancakes) with blueberry chia compote

Makes one 9 x 13 pan

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Baked pancakes (adapted from All Recipes)

Ingredients

186 grams ● silken tofu ● ¾ cup

100 grams ● sugar ● ½ cup

6 grams ● salt ● 1 teaspoon

488 grams ● nondairy milk (such as soy) ● 2 cups

156 grams ● all-purpose flour ● 1 ¼ cups

27 grams ● coconut oil, melted ● 2 tablespoons

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking sheet and set aside.

Place tofu in a food processor with sugar and salt, and blend until smooth. Slowly add nondairy milk while processor is running. Add all-purpose flour and blitz a few times until combined. Add coconut oil.

Pour batter in the baking sheet and bake for about thirty minutes. The pancake will puff up in the oven and flatten when cooled. Serve with blueberry compote, a pat of Earth Balance, or any other topping that your heart desires.

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Blueberry chia compote

Ingredients

148 grams ● blueberries ● 1 cup

20 to 40 grams ● maple syrup ● 1 to 2 tablespoons

10 grams ● chia seeds ● 1 tablespoon

15 grams ● water ● 1 tablespoon

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. Let sit for a few minutes to thicken up. That’s all.

Smear it all over the pancakes and nosh like a true heretic.

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The batter will be thin, almost as thin as crepe batter, but not to worry. It’s gonna be all right.

No, June, that's not all for you.

I’d say it serves about four people, depending on how hungry you are. I’m nearly always ravenous, so I gobbled my portion right up.

"Making progress": an upside-down picture.

If I was more determined to make this authentic, I would have used lingonberries in the compote since those are more commonly used in Finnish cuisine than blueberries. But, you know, I’m lazy. So blueberries it is.

Wow, Baby June, getting all fancy-like with that pancake.

So does that qualify me for Finland citizenship?

Maybe not. But I have more Finnish recipes to come, and trust me when I say they will kick ‘Murican food’s ass.

P.S. I confused Singapore with Dubai for some strange reason, so I edited that glaring error out. Tells you a lot about my knowledge of geography.