Recipe: Sourdough Buckwheat Blini: small versatile Russian pancakes. (2024)

Published on August 17, 2017 by Helen Best-Shaw 35 Comments
Last Updated on November 2, 2020

Tasty savoury sourdough buckwheat blinis made using natural leaven. Perfect served as a base for canapés, or as breakfast pancakes with a difference

Sourdough Buckwheat Blinis

There is no time of day at which the right answer can’t be pancakes. From fluffy American for breakfast (like our orMango & Blueberry Pancakes), served with butter, maple syrup and a couple of rashers of bacon, to Breton galettes made with buckwheat and crêpesat lunchtime to drop scones or Scotch pancakes in the afternoon, finishing the day with a spectacular crêpes Suzette flambé.

There’s one pancake missing from that list above, the Russian blini. Small, served warm and classically topped with sour cream, dill and smoked fish, it’s a perfect pre-dinner snack or canapé. Like pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, they’re traditionally served just before lent, but unlike our thinner, larger versions, it’s a fluffy, yeast raised offering. And far too good to be reserved for just one day of the year.

We made these blinis using both sourdough starter or leaven as well as bread maker’s yeast. The sourdough adds a sourness, that really works with the savoury flavours from buckwheat flour, but by using yeast to raise and aerate the batter, you won’t have the longer wait associated with natural, sourdough yeasts.

A traditional topping for these little morsels is smoked fish, especially smoked salmon, with some sour cream and maybe a little pinch of fish roe, but there are a myriad of ways to top them. A little smear of chopped egg, cress and mayonnaise? Cream cheese and a roast pepper relish? Goat’s cheese and a little slice of fig? Or replace the fig with a little slice of Prosciutto or another dried ham? They’re so versatile that the only limit is your imagination.

Blinis, like many bite sized foods, aren’t difficult to make, but can be a little fiddly. Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, add the sourdough leaven and egg yolk and stir it in: by stirring the yeast into the liquid, you make sure it’s evenly distributed through the batter. Add the dry ingredients, and then leave for an hour or so to let the yeast aerate the batter. By whisking the egg white and stirring it in, you will be adding extra aeration to the final batter to give the lightest fluffiest blini possible.

So for your next party, why not answer the question with the right pancake answer: sourdough buckwheat blinis.

How to Make Sourdough Buckwheat Blinis

Step one – gather and weigh out the ingredients, and separate the egg into the yolk and white.

Step two – warm the milk to about 30°C / 85°F and whisk in the yeast.

Step three – add the ripe sourdough starter/leaven and egg yolk. Whisk together.

Step four – add the dry ingredients – the flour, buckwheat flour and salt. Mix together. Let stand in a warm place for about an hour to rise.

Step five – whisk the egg white to soft peaks stage. Fold gently into the batter.

Step six – warm the blini or frying pan. Wipe with a little butter on a piece of kitchen paper. Spoon in one tablespoon of batter. Turn once, when the bubbles have risen to the top and the blinis are a golden brown on the bottom.

Step seven – allow to cool before adding toppings.

Hints and Tips for Sourdough Buckwheat blinis

• Let your imagination run riot with toppings! How about sour cream, smoked salmon and lumpfish roe. Or a little spoonful of scrambled egg? Slices of boiled quails eggs? Smoked trout with horseradish sauce mixed with sour cream? A little slice of roast beef, again with horseradish?
• You could make larger versions for a breakfast pancake/galette. Serve with a generous topping of smoked salmon creamy scrambled egg.
• Use up leftover leven in our leftover leaven loaf.