Easy Japanese Skillet Souffle Pancake recipe with a real Wow Factor! If you love fluffy pancakes, you’ll also love this Skillet Souffle Pancake. Easy to make a Japanese-style fluffy souffle pancake baked in a cast-iron skillet. It’s also known as Castella Pancakes (Kasutera pancakes, カステラパンケーキ). Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea. Make it for your family and friends, they will love it.
Make Sure Your Camera is Ready to Go!
In the oven, a souffle pancake nicely puffs up but when you take it out of the oven, it will slowly start to deflate little by little within a minute or so.
However, it won’t much affect the taste and texture, but it may affect your presentation if you want to serve a souffle pancake with that WOW factor.
So, here is the secret! Get the souffle pancake to the table as quickly as possible and then immediately take a picture and then serve it right away!
What is a Skillet Souffle Pancake?
Have you ever heard of or tried Japanese Soufflé pancakes? Japanese Souffle pancakes are fluffy, soft, very light, and delicious and incredibly popular in Japan as well as around the world. This Skillet Souffle Pancake is a variation of the Japanese Souffle Pancakes and is made using soufflé techniques very similar to souffle pancakes.
What is the Soufflé Technique?
First, egg whites and yolks are separated. Then the egg whites are whipped up with sugar until stiff peaks (or glossy thick meringue) form to get the airy tops soufflés are famous for, while the egg yolks are mixed with other ingredients. Then the meringue is mixed with the egg yolk mixture to make the batter.
Ingredients
- Eggs: Use room-temperature eggs.
- Sugar: Use superfine sugar. If you only have coarse sugar, grind it in a grinder or food processor until it’s finer.
- Honey: Honey adds sweetness as well as flavor. You can substitute it with the same amount of sugar.
- Milk: Use full-fat milk.
- Oil (optional): Use flavorless oil. I used a tablespoon of rice oil to get a sponge-like texture.
- Flour: It helps the pancakes hold their shape. Using cake flour is preferable, otherwise, use all-purpose flour.
- Salt: A pinch of salt adds a nice flavor.
- Baking powder (Optional): Baking powder is what makes the pancakes rise tall and fluffy. Some people use baking powder and some people don’t.
- Cream of tartar: For this recipe, you just need a tiny bit of Cream of tartar. It is a stabilizer that will help the egg whites whip up to their potential. If you don’t have the cream of tartar, you can substitute it with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice + a pinch of salt.
Type of skillet
I used a 15 cm (6-inch) cast-iron skillet. However, you can double the recipe for making it in a 20 cm (or 8-inch) cast-iron pan.
You can experiment with other pans but make sure to use oven-proof pans. However, you will need to adjust the recipe based on the size of your pan and the baking time will need to be adjusted accordingly.
Toppings
I love to serve it topped with salted butter and maple syrup. You can also top it with honey, fruit, whipped cream, syrups… or even ice cream.
How to Make the Perfect Skillet Souffle Pancake
To successfully make fluffy skillet souffle pancakes, there are two important things to consider. One is beating egg whites until soft stiff peak forms to get a stable fluffy meringue. And the second one is not to over-mix the pancake batter when mixing meringue to egg yolk mixture.
First, you separate the eggs and mix the egg yolks with most of the other ingredients. In a separate bowl, the egg whites are beaten until soft stiff peaks form. Meringue is ready when the egg whites hold their shape and are stiff and glossy.
To prevent over-mixing the batter, the whipped egg whites are added to the egg yolk mixture in three batches. First, you mix in one-third of the egg whites just to lighten up the egg yolk mixture so that it will fold in more smoothly with the rest of the egg whites. When you add the second third and last third, you should fold gently without breaking the air bubbles in the egg whites. This will ensure the fluffiest souffle pancakes in the end!
Tips for Making the Perfect Meringue
- Use a dry and very clean mixing bowl & whisk without any fat residue.
- Use a stainless steel or glass bowl and don’t use silicone or plastic bowls or utensils.
- Use large egg whites at room temperature as it will help the eggs to whip up to their fullest.
- Keep your whites free of yolk. If you break your yolks as you’re separating the eggs the whites won’t whip up.
- Cold eggs are easier to separate. Separate the eggs immediately after they’re out of the fridge and then let them come to room temperature.
- Make sure you have 2 small bowls. Break each egg separately into small bowls before adding the whites to the mixing bowl. This ensures that no shell or yolk gets in.
- Beat at a medium speed and finish up at a low speed. Beating the whites at high speed will result in larger air bubbles, which will also cause the batter to deflate easier when mixing the batter.
- Beating at a medium speed for a longer time will create smaller and more evenly-sized bubbles throughout the meringue which in turn makes the meringue more stable.
- Beat at a low speed during the last 30 seconds to eliminate all the bigger air bubbles.
- Beat the egg whites until the mixture is glossy and holds its shape. You should be able to hold the bowl upside-down without the egg whites falling.
- Don’t over-beat the egg white. When your meringue has the right consistency, it is pretty easy to fold it into the egg yolk mixture which will prevent the over-mixing of the batter.
- Do not let the meringue sit too long. Fold the meringue into the egg yolk mixture right away after whipping.
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Easy Japanese Skillet SoufflE Pancake
(Step-by-Step Recipe)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 18 mins
Total Time: 28 mins
Serving: 15 cm pancake
Ingredients
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon rice oil
A few drops of vanilla essence or extract
40 g cake or plain flour
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar*
30 g superfine sugar
Butter, for greasing the pan and topping
Powder sugar & maple syrup for serving
*OR use 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice with a pinch of salt
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Separate egg yolk and egg white into two mixing bowls.Separate eggs, placing egg whites in a large bowl and egg yolks in a medium bowl.
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together.
Grease a 15 cm cast iron skillet with a thin layer of butter and set it aside. Very lightly brush with oil and use a paper towel to rub it around. You want a very light film.
Make the Batter
Add honey, milk, oil, and vanilla to the egg yolks and beat until pale and frothy.
Sift the flour mixture (using a sifter or sieve) into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk until well combined but do not over-mix. Set it aside.
Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar (or lemon juice + salt) with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy.
Add sugar in 4 to 6 additions while beating and continue until soft peaks form.
Continue to whip the egg whites
Meringue is ready when the egg whites hold their shape and are stiff and glossy. Stop beating when you lift the whisk attachment and the egg whites stand right up with stiff peaks slightly bending over.
The whipped egg whites are added to the egg yolk mixture in three batches. Take about one-third of the egg whites and gently fold them into the egg yolk mixture with a spatula or balloon whisk until completely incorporated.
Now, gently fold half of the remaining egg whites into the mixture. Make sure not to break the air bubbles in the egg whites. Again, carefully fold the remaining egg whites into the mixture without breaking the air bubbles in the egg whites.
Baking
Pour the mixture into the prepared skillet. In a preheated oven, bake for about 6 minutes at 180 degrees, and then quickly remove the skillet and cut a big “x” on the surface of the pancake. Return the skillet to the oven and bake again for another 18 to 20 minutes at 170 degrees until the top becomes light brown and the middle part puffs up and set.
Bake soufflé until the top becomes light brown and the middle part puffs up and sets.
Top the pancake with salted butter or your choice of toppings and enjoy right away!
MORE JAPANESE RECIPES
- Coffee Jelly with Gelatin
- Coffee Jelly with Agar
- Homemade Curry Rice (Karē Raisu)
- Homemade Curry Roux
- Spicy Mackerel Fried Gyoza
- EASY Coffee Jelly
- Sweet Potato Cake (Suito Poteto)
- Candied Sweet Potato Fries (Imo Kenpi)
- Potato Salad (Potesara)
Easy Japanese Skillet Souffle Pancake Recipe
Easy! Japanese Skillet Souffle Pancake
Equipment
- 1 Cast-Iron Skillet 15 cm (6-inch)
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon rice oil
- A few drops of vanilla essence or extract
- 40 g bread flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 egg whites
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp lemon juice + a pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons 45 g superfine sugar
- Butter for greasing the pan and topping
- Powder sugar & maple syrup for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
- Separate egg yolk and egg white into two mixing bowls.Separate eggs, placing egg whites in a large bowl and egg yolks in a medium bowl.
- Sift the flour, a pinch of salt, and baking powder together.
- Grease a 15 cm cast iron skillet with a thin layer of butter and set it aside. Very lightly brush with oil and use a paper towel to rub it around. You want a very light film.
- Add honey, milk, oil and vanilla to the egg yolks and beat until pale and frothy.
- Sift the flour mixture (using a sifter or sieve) into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk until well combined but do not over-mix. Set it aside.
- Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar (or lemon juice) with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy.
- Add sugar in 4 to 6 additions while beating and continue until soft peaks form.
- Meringue is ready when the egg whites hold their shape and are stiff and glossy.
- Take about one-third of the egg whites and gently fold them into the egg yolk mixture with a spatula or balloon whisk until completely incorporated.
- Then add half of the remaining egg whites to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold. Make sure not to break the air bubbles in the egg whites.
- Nest, transfer the egg yolk mixture into the remaining egg whites, and carefully fold the two mixtures together without breaking the air bubbles.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared skillet. In a preheated oven, bake for about 6 minutes at 180 degrees, and then quickly remove the skillet and cut a big “x” on the surface of the pancake. Return the skillet to the oven and bake again for another 18 to 20 minutes at 170 degrees until the top becomes light brown and the middle part puffs up and set.
- Top the souffle pancake with salted butter or your choice of toppings and enjoy right away!
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