Eat and Drink: Breakfast Recipes

Colossal Café reveals the recipe for their signature flappers

The flapper is a yeasty cousin to the pancake that straddles both sweet and savory worlds.

Image credit: Tate Carlson

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By: Mecca Bos |   January 2012   |  From the print edition

We don't need no stinking pancakes

Colossal Café, the little 15-seat diner-that-could is home to the flapper, a yeasty cousin to the pancake that straddles both sweet and savory worlds and is equally at home as a substitute for bread as it is doused in more traditional flapjack condiments.

“We love flappers because they are a thick, fluffy and satisfying pancake unique to our restaurant," Colossal says. "They’re very versatile—great folded over eggs and cheese for a sandwich presentation, or eaten more traditionally and topped with pure maple syrup and fresh fruit. The brandy adds an unusual touch.”

And if you don’t feel like making them at home, a second Colossal location is coming soon to St. Anthony Park in St. Paul. But really, you should make these at home. Every weekend.  

Colossal Café Flapper

• 1 qt. whole milk
• 2 T brandy          
• 2 T sugar
• 1 ½ t instant yeast            
• 1 egg                                   
• 2 T melted butter
• 4–5 C flour                         
• ½ T sea salt

1. Heat milk, brandy and sugar in saucepan stirring occasionally with a whisk until heated to 110 degrees. Transfer warm milk mixture to large bowl. Blend in yeast, egg and butter. Sift in four cups flour, and mix gently with whisk. Add salt and mix well.
2. Batter should have some lumps, with a consistency thicker than buttermilk pancake batter. Add more flour if necessary. Take care not to overmix. Allow batter to rise about 30 minutes or until it almost doubles in size. Heat griddle or pan to medium heat.
3. Pour one cup of batter per flapper onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles form on top and start to pop. Flip and finish cooking on the other side.  
4. Recipe yields about seven flappers.

+ Colossal Cafe, 1839 E. 42nd St., Mpls, 612.729.2377, colossalcafe.com

No Sweat Soufflé

The soufflé gets a bad rap as a pain-in-the-ass dish that requires the cook to tiptoe around the kitchen day and night so as not to collapse the delicate cake. Thing is, as long as you keep in mind a few simple details, says chef Patrick Atanalian, even a butter-finger can prepare this classic egg-y delight.

Atanalian learned these details when he was just a kid. “Every French person needs to learn to make a soufflé,” he says. And even though he can make one with his hands tied behind his back, they rarely appear on his menu because they must be finished to order, and once baked, they have an extremely short shelf life from oven to table.

But the soufflé is the perfect candidate for the home cook. With only three ingredients, (four, if you count the butter used to grease the ramekins) Atanalian’s chocolate version tastes like there’s a whole world in there, as if you put in much more effort than what’s really required. But don’t get too cocky; the chef says it’s important to start slow. This chocolate soufflé—great for a decadent breakfast—is easy, but incorporating other ingredients, like cheese or spinach, is a lot trickier.   

Patrick Atanalian's Chocolate Soufflé

• 1/3 C granulated sugar
• 5 oz. good quality chocolate
• 9 eggs, separated into three yolks and six whites

1. Grease four ramekins with a little butter, then coat them with a bit of granulated sugar. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Meanwhile, separate the eggs. Whip the whites into stiff peaks. Add the sugar, and whip again. Add a pinch of salt. Incorporate the egg yolks into the hot chocolate, taking care to temper the eggs (Atanalian recommends adding a bit of the hot water from the double boiler to the eggs before adding the melted chocolate). Gently fold the egg-white mixture into the chocolate mixture in thirds. Pour this mixture evenly into the prepared ramekins.
2. Place the ramekins into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before baking. What do you do in the meantime? “Go for a cigarette and a drink, of course,” he says. Of course.
3. Once the soufflés have chilled, bake for 15 to 20 minutes. They will have puffed up significantly and formed a crust on top. The soufflés should not jiggle when you give them a little shake. Garnish with powder sugar, but above all, serve immediately. Before you know it, they will begin to fall.

+ Sanctuary, 903 Washington Ave. S, Mpls, 612.339.5058, Mpls, sanctuaryminneapolis.com