Pancake

Light and fluffy, these impressive desserts look, smell, and taste extraordinary — meringue gives them a cloudlike texture, while quince adds a delicious fragrance and beautiful pink hue. And they're very manageable for a small dinner party if you make your crêpes and prepare the quince ahead (see cooks' note, below). Bring them both to room temperature when you sit down to dinner; when it's time for dessert, you'll only need to beat your egg whites and assemble the soufflés for baking.

Palacsinta When crêpes entered the American consciousness, they had an air of fussiness about them. But the truth is they're very easy to make — and a regular nonstick skillet and ordinary spoon work just as well as any crêpe pan or tiny specialty ladle. This Austro-Hungarian dessert strikes just the right balance of lightness and sweetness.

Masala Dosas
With its fermented dough whirled into a crêpe-like exterior and its rich filling of curried potato, this classic Indian dish achieves a unique balance. The urad dal, black mustard seeds, and curry leaves are available at kalustyans.com.

These tender and not-too-sweet cakes fall somewhere between an American flapjack and a crêpe. Though they're traditionally served for dessert, we love them for a special winter breakfast, generously dusted with cinnamon sugar.

To make these celery root latkes a little easier, you can shred the potatoes, onions, and celery root in a food processor with the shredding disk.

There are many kinds of Korean pancakes, but bindaedok, made with yellow mung beans and whipped eggs, have a light, airy texture. They are very versatile, and work well as an hors d'oeuvre, side dish, or vegetarian main course.

These delicious pancakes are light and moist; the texture is a cross between a crepe and a pancake. Avoid overmixing the batter (it's okay if there are lumps) to ensure that the pancakes will be airy.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

I always choose a fresh salmon caviar over lumpfish when price is a factor.

Vary these pancakes, if desired, by sprinkling one-fourth cup blueberries, raisins or even chocolate chips over each pancake before turning it to finish cooking.

Eggs and fat were once forbidden during the 40-day Lenten fast, so on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, Irish bakers would make pancakes to use up their stores of those ingredients.

Hearty breakfast fare from Rick & Ann's in Berkeley, California.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.