Pancake soup comes down to one final step. If the strips land in the hot broth too early, they soak up the liquid, go soft and fall apart. That is exactly the mistake we made for a long time.
We make pancake soup (or Flädlesuppe, as they call it in Swabia, or Frittatensuppe, as the Austrians say) whenever there are a few leftover pancakes from the day before. That is the real trick: slightly dried-out pancakes hold their shape better than fresh ones and do not turn mushy in the hot broth straight away. And because the recipe in the Thermomix® practically runs itself, we now make it even without leftovers whenever we fancy a clear, flavoursome soup.
Pancake Soup with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 12 ✓
- 200 g flour
- 330 g milk
- 1 pinch salt
- 5 eggs
- some rapeseed oil for frying the pancakes
- 1 onion
- 10 g rapeseed oil
- 150 g carrot
- 150 g leek
- 200 g celery
- 2 stalks lovage
- 1500 g vegetable stock
Instructions 0 / 8
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1
Mix the pancake batter.
Add flour, milk and salt to the mixing bowl and mix for 20 sec / speed 4. Add the eggs to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 sec / speed 4.
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2
Rest the pancake batter.
Set the batter aside and leave to rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Rinse the mixing bowl.
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3
Chop the onion.
Peel the onion, halve it, chop for 5 sec / speed 5 and push down with the spatula.
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4
Sweat the onion.
Add the oil and steam without the measuring cup for 3 min / Varoma / speed 1.
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5
Prepare and cut the vegetables.
Meanwhile, peel the carrots and cut into pieces. Wash and trim the leek and cut into pieces. Wash the celery and lovage, remove any thick ends and cut into pieces.
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6
Chop the vegetables.
Add the vegetables to the mixing bowl and chop using the spatula for 6 sec / speed 5. (For a finer chop, add a further 2 seconds.)
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7
Cook the soup.
Add the vegetable stock and cook for 20 min / 95°C / speed 1. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan with oil and fry 6 to 8 pancakes one at a time until golden.
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8
Serve.
Cut the pancakes into strips, divide between soup bowls, ladle over the vegetable soup and serve.
Tip: If there are any pancakes left over, spread them with chocolate spread or jam, roll them up, cut into pieces and serve as a quick dessert.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why the pancakes only go into the bowl at the very end
We used to make this recipe wrong for a long time, cooking the strips directly in the broth. The result was a pancake mush that was barely recognisable after five minutes. We now know exactly what matters.
- Fry the pancakes separately and leave to cool completely. Only then cut them into 5 mm strips. As they cool they lose a little moisture, which makes them more stable.
- Cook the broth separately with root vegetables that have been chopped in the mixing bowl first. 20 min / 95°C / speed 1 draws out the flavours without overcooking the vegetables.
- Place the strips in the soup bowl and ladle the hot broth over them. This keeps the pancakes firm and allows them to absorb the broth gently rather than soaking it all up.
This order is why our pancake soup never goes mushy. If you add the strips directly to the pot, you end up with a thick pancake stew instead of a clear soup after five minutes.
What the Thermomix® specifically does better here
Pancake soup has two components that have nothing to do with each other: a thin egg batter and a clear vegetable broth. Both steps benefit from the Thermomix®, but for completely different reasons.
The pancake batter comes together smooth in 30 seconds: 200 g flour, 330 g milk, a pinch of salt and 5 eggs. First flour, milk and salt for 20 seconds at speed 4, then add the eggs and mix for another 10 seconds at speed 4. Leave to rest for 15 minutes so the flour absorbs the liquid. This step matters: without resting time the pancakes tear when you flip them because the batter has not bound properly.
For the broth, the Thermomix® shows its real strength: it chops the root vegetables precisely. 150 g carrots, 150 g leek, 200 g celery and 2 stalks of lovage go into a finely chopped vegetable mixture in just 6 seconds at speed 5. Then 1,500 g of vegetable stock goes in and everything cooks for 20 min / 95°C / speed 1. At a higher temperature the flavours would cook off and the vegetables would go mushy. 95°C keeps the broth clear and the vegetables with a little bite.
What we particularly appreciate: while the broth simmers, we fry 6 to 8 pancakes in the pan alongside it. The Thermomix® keeps working on its own and we only need to check in now and then. Classic parallel cooking, without anything burning or boiling over.
The right broth makes all the difference
Pancake soup depends on the broth. Use a bland shop-bought stock and you get a bland soup. We now make our own stock almost every time, which saves money and tastes better. Two approaches work reliably for us: vegetable paste made with the Thermomix® for the quick version, or a seasoning paste for meat broth when we want something more robust. Both keep for months in the fridge and replace any stock cube.
For a traditional Swabian version, use home-made beef broth. With good boiling beef, marrowbones and root vegetables, the broth simmers for three hours on the hob. That takes effort, but the result tastes like Sunday lunch at grandma’s. For everyday cooking, the vegetable paste is more than enough for us.
Where pancake strips fall apart or the broth goes cloudy
Pancakes turn out thick and doughy in the pan
Pancakes for soup need to be thin. Very thin. We add only a small ladleful of batter per pancake to the hot pan and swirl it immediately so the batter spreads into a thin layer. If the pancake is more than 2 mm thick, the strips end up like noodles rather than fine egg ribbons. Our fix: a hotter pan, less batter, swirl straight away. Better to make eight thin pancakes than six thick ones.
Broth goes cloudy and bitter
If the broth boils at a rolling boil, cloudy particles and bitter compounds from the lovage are knocked out. Lovage is an intense herb: more than 2 stalks will turn bitter, and so will cooking for more than 25 minutes. Our fix: keep it at 95°C to infuse rather than boil hard. If you prefer a milder lovage flavour, add it only in the last 5 minutes.
Strips stick together in the bowl
If you roll up the pancakes and slice them while still warm, you often end up with a sticky clump. This happens because the egg content is still tacky when warm. Our fix: leave the pancakes to cool completely before rolling and slicing. If you are in a hurry, lay them individually on a wire rack so they dry out underneath as well.
With chervil, chives or as a wedding soup
- With chives and parsley: the classic Austrian style. Scatter fresh herbs over the soup only when serving, otherwise they lose their colour.
- With herb pancakes: we stir 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley directly into the pancake batter. This gives the strips a green speckled look and adds a second layer of flavour.
- With cheese pancakes: mix 50 g of grated mountain cheese into the batter. It melts slightly during frying and gives the strips a savoury core.
- With beef broth: the Swabian classic. Results in a heartier, meatier version and suits Sunday lunch or a celebratory table.
- Vegetarian in the classic sense: as here with vegetable stock, carrot, leek, celery and lovage. Stays light and works well in summer.
What goes well with it
Pancake soup works as a starter or a light main course. If you want to get more use out of the pancake batter, we have the basic recipe for the best pancakes with the Thermomix®. From the same quantity of batter you easily get 8 pancakes, with 4 going into the soup and 4 served with apple sauce or jam as dessert.
If you are looking for more clear soups with the Thermomix®, we have a few classics we cook regularly: potato soup as a heartier winter option, tomato soup as a tangy summer classic and gyros soup for a more substantial version. Our cream of leek soup and pumpkin soup also appear on the table often.
Storing the broth and pancakes separately
We always store the broth and pancake strips separately. The broth keeps, covered, for 3 days in the fridge and also freezes well for up to 3 months. Pancake strips go into a lidded container and keep for 2 days in the fridge. After that they dry out too much and go hard.
We like to use up leftover pancakes from the day before: rolled up, filled with chocolate spread or jam and cut into pieces, they make a quick dessert for the children. If you have made too much batter, you can keep it covered in the fridge for 24 hours. Give it a good stir before frying and use it just as you would fresh batter.
Fladle, Frittaten or pancake strips: why the width matters
Goes well with: bread rolls.
Also good: Old Bavarian minced meat soup with the Thermomix®.
In Swabia they are called Fladle, in Austria Frittaten, and in the north of Germany simply pancake strips. The difference lies less in the batter than in the width of the cut. The classic Swabian style cuts Fladle into 1 cm wide strips, which looks attractive in the bowl but soaks up more broth than necessary. We deliberately cut ours to 5 mm: narrower, more elegant, and the strips hold their shape longer in the hot broth. Anyone serving this traditionally as a wedding or Sunday soup should use a rich beef broth alongside and a generous garnish of fresh chives. Only the combination of a thin pancake, a narrow cut and a clear broth makes the difference between a proper soup and an average way of using up leftovers.
More classic soups with the Thermomix® from us:
- Potato Soup with the Thermomix®
- Tomato Soup with the Thermomix®
- Pumpkin Soup with the Thermomix®
- Cream of Leek Soup with the Thermomix®
- Cheese and Leek Soup with the Thermomix®
- Gyros Soup with the Thermomix®
