Cicero: Mom's 'frog's eggs' probably are Hungarian

Walt of Gouverneur, N.Y., asked for help finding a recipe for what his mother called "frog's eggs," which he described as "thin like a crepe, but egg-colored" with "browned bubbly tops." Cook's Corner readers love trying to figure out quirky requests, and two sleuths, hundreds of miles apart, came up with the same idea.

Denise, of Amherst, Ohio, says her Hungarian mother-in-law "makes a crepe-like dish called palacsinta" that she believes is what Walt remembers. Patty of Miami says her mother's Hungarian palacsinta is "like a crepe, but there's more egg, and it is softer and gets a brown top like Walt describes. My mom puts a little apricot jam and cottage cheese in each one."

We have no inkling why Walt's mother called these "frog's eggs," but then what mother doesn't come up with silly names for foods?

Temperature is the key to making these.

At medium-high they scorched, at medium they seemed gummy, but with the burner set closer to medium than medium high, the crepes came out bubbly and nicely crisp.

CREPES PALACSINTA

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Vegetable oil or butter

Whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the eggs and 1 cup of the milk. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth, then add the second cup of milk and vanilla.

Heat an 8-inch heavy skillet or omelet pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon oil, swirling to coat pan. Pour in about 1/2 cup batter, tipping pan from side to side so the batter thinly covers the bottom. Cook until the edges are dry and the center bubbly. Flip to brown the other side.

To serve, fill with jam or jelly, fruit and/or cottage cheese or cream cheese. Makes about 18.

Per pancake (not including oil): 86 calories (17 percent from fat), 1.6 g fat (0.7 g saturated, 0.4 g monounsaturated), 26.2 mg cholesterol, 3 g protein, 14.6 g carbohydrates, 0.4 g fiber, 18.9 mg sodium.

I was at a church potluck and everyone was very taken by what was labeled "apple kuchen." I asked the woman who made it for her recipe, and she whispered that it was from a mix.

- D.M.

"Kuchen" simply means "cake" in German, and it usually refers to a cake base that is topped with fruit and looks something like a tart. As to the "made from a mix" part, my guess is she was referring to a doctored cake mix recipe like the one here.

EASY APPLE KUCHEN

1 box yellow cake mix

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup sour cream

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

For the topping:

3 to 4 apples, peeled and sliced 1/3-inch thick

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch or 10-inch springform pan.

Place the dry cake mix, cinnamon, egg, sour cream and butter in a large mixing bowl and beat on low speed just long enough to make a thick dough. Press by hand into pan, pushing evenly over bottom and partway up to the sides. Bake 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the sliced apples with the cinnamon and sugar.

Remove the cake from oven (leave it on) and arrange the apple slices decoratively on top. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top, drizzle on the melted butter and bake 3

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