Saffron oven pancake

Saffron oven pancake is a specialty of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island and also the largest island in the Baltic Sea.  

  • Saffron oven pancake

  • Saffron oven pancake
    4 servings

  • Gamle hamn, the so-called Kaffepannan (the coffee pot), Fårö island, Gotland. Photo: Bruno Ehrs

  • INGREDIENTS:
    1-1/2 dl (2/3 cup) short grain rice
    3 dl (1-1/4 cups) water
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoon sugar
    1-1/2 tablespoons butter
    3 dl (1-1/4 cups) cream
    4 dl (1-2/3 cups) milk
    50 g (2/3 cup) thinly sliced almonds
    1 packet (1/2 gram/large pinch) saffron
    2 tablespoons sugar
    2 dl (3/4 cup) whipping cream
    3 eggs

  • Saffron, long among the world’s most costly spices by weight. It is derived from the flower of “crocus sativus”, or saffron crocus, and in order to produce a kilo of saffron, you’ll have to have 70 000 flowers. This year good weather has led to great harvests and the price on saffron is lower than usual, which is good news for all Lucia bun-bakers!


  • INSTRUCTIONS:

  • 1. Add the rice to the water and cook with the salt, sugar and butter for about 20 minutes. Add the cream and milk and let simmer for 20 more minutes.
    2. Remove the pan from the heat and let the rice cool, stirring often.
    3. Preheat the oven to 225°C (425°F). Sprinkle the almonds on a dry baking sheet. Toast, stirring every other minute, until they turn nut brown. This should take 4–8 minutes.
    4. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C (400°F).
    5. Crush the saffron with the sugar in a mortar.
    6. Whip the cream.
    7. In another bowl, beat the eggs and saffron-sugar until thick and lemon colored, fold in the whipped cream, then the almonds and finally the rice porridge.
    8. Pour into a greased, ovenproof dish. Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 minutes.

  • A saffron oven pancake is not supposed to be too sweet or too heavy. It is best when light and fluffy and is served lukewarm with lightly whipped cream and raspberry jam. On Gotland, saffron oven pancake is served with blue raspberry jam, but it can be difficult to find off the island.
    This isn't our editor’s grandmother’s recipe, which is a secret, it's from "Wonderful Sweden” - the book published by ICA Förlag in Sweden. Recipe and images by permission of the publisher. Photos: Bruno Ehrs Recipe: KC Wallberg

  • The saffron oven pancake is a specialty of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island and also the largest island in the Baltic Sea. The island is the home of the Gutes (the tribal name of the Gotlandic people), and sites such as Ajvide show that it has been occupied since prehistory. Gotland’s “raukar” geological stacks are famous.
    Curious about Gotland? Read more at Gotland - Captivating Island of Art and Design

  • Other saffron recipes (a spice not just for Christmas) Season for saffron

  • Gamle hamn, the so-called Kaffepannan (the coffee pot), Fårö, Gotland. Photo: Bruno Ehrs