When I was first introduced to English crumpets a few years ago, I said: ‘Wait, I know these. We make them in Slovakia too.’ But unlike our dolki, my English friends served their crumpets with butter, sugar and lemon juice.

I ate these little pancakes on a few more occasions and under different names, but none of them tasted the same as the soft, fluffy dolki I knew from my mum. Perhaps it’s because we make them from yeast-based dough which is given plenty of time to rise before and during the cooking.

Dolki or Slovak Crumpets

Makes about 30

• 500 ml milk
• 350 g plain wheat flour (I mixed plain wheat with wholemeal in 2:1 ratio)
• 21 g fresh yeast
• 1 egg
• a pinch of sugar
• a pinch of salt
  
• oil for frying
• homemade jam
• yoghurt, orange pieces and almonds to garnish
• ground cinnamon to dust

Method:

1. To make a loose dough, follow the instructions and photo guide here.
2. To make dolki, you will need a special dolki pan (see pictures below), which is also called a pancake or blini pan in other countries.
3. To fry these little pancakes evenly on both sides, make sure your cooker plate provides a steady heat that spreads all around the pan. For my old gas cooker, I need a removable metal plate that can be fitted easily on whatever gas ring I want to use.
4. Pour half the teaspoon of oil in each pan ring and heat it over a medium heat. With a small ladle or a large spoon, pour as much dough in each ring as to almost fill it up. Fry over a medium low heat until the dough starts setting around the edges, but it’s still soft and bubbly in the middle. Gently turn the pancakes on the other side and continue cooking until they are golden brown. You can check this by slightly lifting them up with a wooden spatula and fork.
   

   

   
5. Take the cooked pancakes out with a wooden spatula, or simply tilt the pan and slide them into a bowl. Cover to keep warm. Repeat the above procedure until you have used all the dough.
6. Spread a teaspoon of jam in between two pancakes. Place them one atop another on a serving plate. Top up with the yoghurt and some more jam. Dust with the cinnamon and garnish with a few almonds and pieces of orange.