These mini fluffy pancakes, inspired by the Indian dessert rasmalai, are made with batter infused with saffron and cardamom sweet milk. They're served with that same saffron milk, which is poured over the top, allowing the spongy pancakes to soak up the delicious flavor.
Inspiration behind these pancakes
These pancakes are are based on the popular Indian dessert called rasmalai. Rasmalai are soft cheese discs that are soaked in a delicious saffron and cardamom milk often called kesar milk. These mini pancakes are inspired by the flavors of rasmalai but reimagined as a breakfast dish that is a crowd pleaser!
Texture and flavor of the pancakes
You will like these pancakes if you like thick and fluffy pancakes! They use a high amount of leaveners like baking powder and baking soda to get a pillowy soft texture.
I hate when the pancake itself is bland and you need a lot of syrup to compensate. These pancakes do not have this problem. The batter is infused with the sweet saffron and cardamom milk which is later used again as the syrup. This means that you can eat these pancakes on their own and they taste so floral and cardamom-y. However, if you want to boost the flavor even more, pour over the reserved saffron and cardamom milk, which the pancakes will soak up like a sponge. It gives a similar texture and taste as biting into a milk-soaked rasmalai.
Tips for making these pancakes
- Do not over mix the batter. Over mixing will lead to tough and chewy pancakes. Instead, just mix the batter until there aren't any dry spots. It is okay if there are lumps in the batter.
- The consistency of the batter will be thick! If you like thinner pancakes, you can thin out the batter with some water. Simply add a tablespoon of water until you get your desired texture.
- Use medium-low heat to make these pancakes. The pancake batter has a bit of sugar so make sure not to cook the pancakes on high heat or else the outside will brown too much before the inside can fully cook.
- You should be able to substitute butter for ghee when making this recipe. Just remember that butter tends to burn more quickly than ghee, so it is even more important if you go down this route that you keep the pan at medium-low.
- You can make these mini pancakes by using a tablespoon measuring spoon or a regular sized pancake by using ¼ cup measuring cup.
- Look for bubbles on the top of pancakes as one indicator of when it is time to flip the pancakes.
- Gently lift the pancakes and look at the underside to see if pancakes are golden enough to flip.
- Make ahead: The sweet saffron and cardamom milk for these pancakes can be made 1-3 days beforehand! This way you can divide the work and free up the weekend to just griddle up the pancakes.
- Freezing pancakes: If you don't finish all the pancakes made, you can easily freeze these pancakes and then thaw in the microwave in intervals of 30 seconds until warm. Just make a fresh batch of milk to pour over when you reheat them.
Rasmalai Pancakes | Mini Sweet Saffron and Cardamom Milk Pancakes
These fluffy pancakes, inspired by the Indian dessert rasmalai, are made with batter infused with saffron and cardamom sweet milk. They're served with that same saffron milk, which is poured over, allowing the spongy pancakes to soak up the delicious flavor.
Product Reccs
Ingredients
Sweet Saffron and Cardamom Milk
- 3 cups (720 g) milk any type will work for this recipe
- 5-7 cardamom pods
- 15 - 20 saffron strands
- ½ cup (117 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (6 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) sea salt
- 1.5 cups (213 g) all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted ghee or butter melted
- 1 egg
Other Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted ghee for griddling
- 2 tablespoons roasted and salted pistachios finely chopped, for topping
Instructions
Prepare the Sweet Saffron Cardamom Milk (Kesar Milk)
- Add the 3 cups (720 g) milk, 5-7 cardamom pods (lightly crushed), 15 - 20 saffron strands, and ½ cup (117 g) sugar into a saucepan on medium-low heat until the milk comes to a rolling boil, rises, and foams. Immediately turn off the heat. This should take roughly 10-12 minutes.
- Let milk cool for at least 10 minutes, meanwhile work on assembling the rest of the pancake batter. During this time the cardamom and saffron in the milk continues to steep in the milk. The milk will be a light yellow color and should smell of infused saffron and cardamom. Make ahead: You can make the saffron milk 1-3 days ahead of time and refrigerate to allow the spices to really infuse into the milk. The milk will taste even better with a longer steep time.
Make mini pancakes
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Mix 2 teaspoons (6 g) baking powder, ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda, ½ teaspoon (2 g) sea salt, and 1.5 cups (213 g) all purpose flour in a large bowl.
- Pull out the cardamom pods from the saffron milk. You can either fish them out with a slotted spoon or filter the pot of milk through a tea strainer. It is ok if you filter out the saffron strands by using the tea strainer method but I prefer to keep them in to allow the saffron strands to continue to steep in the milk and adorn the milk.
- Pour half of the 3 cups (720 g) milkof saffron milk into a medium bowl. Save the remaining half of the milk to pour over the pancakes as a syrup. Double check that the saffron milk in the bowl is cool enough to touch and ensure that the eggs don't scramble in the milk. If not, put the saffron milk into the freezer for 2-3 minutes to bring the temperature down.
- Whisk the Wet Ingredients: Add 1 egg, melted 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted ghee or butter, and the cooled saffron milk and whisk until the egg is completely beaten and combined with the saffron milk.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined and no dry spots remain. Do not over mix or else the batter will be chewy. Don't worry if there are some lumps in the batter. The batter will be thick in consistency.
- Heat a pan over medium-low heat (there are a lot of sugars in the batter so avoid using high heat for the pancakes).
- Add ~½ tablespoon of ghee or enough ghee to have a thin layer of ghee covering the pan. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of batter onto the pan for every mini pancake or ¼ cup for a regular sized pancake.
- Cook pancakes on the first side until you see bubbles on the surface and lightly lift the edge to ensure the underside is golden brown. Flip the pancake and cook until the other side is a light brown.
- Rewarm the reserved saffron cardamom milk if it is cold.
- Finely chop 2 tablespoons roasted and salted pistachios and sprinkle on top of pancakes. Serve warm pancakes with the side of warm saffron cardamom milk to pour on top.
If you tried this recipe, please consider leaving a comment and star rating below! It makes my day and your feedback helps the blog immensely.
Notes and Tips
- Sweet saffron and cardamom milk can be prepped 1-3 days before you make your pancakes!
- Remember to make your pancakes over medium-low heat as the pancakes have a high sugar content and can caramelize and then burn with high heat.
- Here are other tips for making these pancakes.
- Helpful readings: What is saffron? , What is ghee?
Nutrition
Calories: 73kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 2gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.001gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 91mgPotassium: 51mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 46IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 46mgIron: 0.4mg
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Sam
Thank you for the recipe! My partner is Indian and we love rasmalai dessert. I found you through Instagram and I decided to surprise him with these for his birthday. He loved it. The trick is to make extra saffron cardamom milk because the pancakes taste great drench in it like in the dessert. I made the milk the night before and it came out great.
Thanks so much for the lovely recipe. I look forward to trying out your other recipes!
Shri Repp
Aww thank you so much for the sweet comment. I'm so glad you loved the recipe. Agreed - the extra milk is just sooooo tasy. 🙂