Authentic and EASY German Potato Pancakes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between latkes and German potato pancakes? ›

Potato pancakes have a creamy, almost mashed-potato-like center, with a thin, golden, crisp exterior. Latkes, on the other hand, should have a deeply browned crust, with wispy, lacy edges.

The center of a German Pancakes is supposed to be flat. If the edges are flat, then it likely is a result of either the oven or the pan not being hot enough.

Flour absorbs some of the excess moisture from the milk and butter that is likely in your leftover mashed potatoes, a main culprit in pancakes that fall apart. It also provides protein and starch that helps the egg hold everything together.

Too many eggs and your pancakes are rubbery; too much flour or starch, and they're too dense. Some insist on using cooked potatoes, while others insist you can't. Today's recipe is my take on a middle-of-the-road potato pancake.

Tart and fruity applesauce—unsweetened is best—cuts through the grease and lightens them right up, leaving you feeling perfectly satisfied, but not stuffed. Sure, sour cream is tart too, but since it's dairy, it can weigh down the latkes—adding unwanted heft to an already filling meal.

Fry in an oil with a high smoke point

Vegetable oil or canola oil is usually best, because of its high smoking point. Latkes were traditionally made with schmaltz, or chicken fat, so if you have access to it, you should certainly add it in, because it does contribute to the flavor.

Baking powder, like baking soda, is a chemical leavening agent made with sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) plus a weak acid, such as potassium bitartrate. Baking soda is essential for baked goods, but baking powder is really what makes pancakes and biscuits rise and become so super fluffy.

(Simply add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice to 2 cups milk and let that sit for about 10 minutes.) The acid in the buttermilk or lemon juice is the key to fluffy pancakes; when the acid reacts with baking soda, the combination forms bubbles, which create lighter, fluffier pancakes.

A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, a Bismarck, a Dutch puff, Hooligan, or a Hootenanny, is a dish that is similar to a large Yorkshire pudding.

Add lemon juice or vinegar

Just like you might use a squirt of lime juice to keep guacamole from browning, a bit of lemon juice or white vinegar in the bowl with the potatoes will ward off gray hues. Use one teaspoon to a half gallon of water to get all the anti-browning impact with no noticeable flavor changes.

How do you keep potato pancakes from getting soggy? ›

Potatoes are typically 80 percent water and 20 percent solids or starch so to avoid soggy latkes, take the potato-onion mixture a handful at a time and literally squeeze the water out. Then add the eggs, flour and salt. Refrigerate covered to avoid exposure to air.

When you grate raw potatoes, you release starch that can cause them to oxidize, or turn dark. The best way to keep that from happening is to cover the potatoes with cold water, then drain them very well and pat them dry before cooking.

What will prevent the potatoes from turning dark? Work quickly, or put the shredded potatoes in cold water. If they turn a rusty color, give them a rinse under cold water. You can also use a little lemon juice.

Latkes (לאַטקע, sometimes spelled latka) are potato pancakes that Ashkenazi Jews have prepared as part of the Hanukkah festival since the mid-1800s, when a series of crop failures in Poland and Ukraine led to mass planting of potatoes, which were easy and cheap to grow.

German pancakes and Dutch babies are essentially the same thing, but the dish is said to have originated in Germany, not the Netherlands. The term “Dutch baby” was coined by an American restaurateur whose use of “Dutch” was a corruption of the word “Deutsch” (“German” in German).

A German pancake is really not like a American pancake is more like the French crepe just a little thicker. A German pancake has eggs, milk, and flour sugar, and sometimes you can add cinnamon or confectioners sugar and fruit and then it is cooked in a small cast iron pan.

Rösti. A dish of Swiss origin made with grated potatoes and sometimes the addition of cheese, onions, herbs, and even (don't be offended) bacon, it's essentially...a giant latke, albeit with a creamier, taller interior.