Nusspalatschinken

In my grandmother Eva's kitchen in Kent, Gretel Beer made Palatschinken the way other people made toast: constantly, casually, without thinking twice. She'd pour the batter into the pan with one hand and flip it with a flick of the wrist that took me years to copy. The stack would grow on a plate by the stove while she mixed the filling, and the whole kitchen smelled like butter and toasted walnuts and rum.

Nusspalatschinken is the dressed-up version of what is really very simple food. You make thin pancakes. You fill them with a warm, spiced walnut mixture that's somewhere between a paste and a crumble, sweet and fragrant with cinnamon and rum. You roll them, lay them on a plate, and pour warm chocolate sauce over the top. Then Schlagobers, because this is Austria and whipped cream is not optional.

What I love about this dish is the texture. The Palatschinken themselves should be thin enough to see through, tender and a little eggy. The walnut filling gives you something to bite into. The chocolate sauce ties everything together, and the cold cream against the warm filling is the sort of contrast that makes you close your eyes for a second. Gretel always said Mehlspeisen are the heart of Austrian cooking, not an afterthought. This is exactly what she meant.

Don't let the assembly intimidate you. The Palatschinken batter takes two minutes. The filling takes five. The chocolate sauce takes three. You can have the whole thing on the table in under an hour, and your guests will think you spent all day.