Farz Buen

Here is a Breton recipe rather ignored which is however astonishing. Farz buen is a slightly thicker pancake batter cooked in the manner of scrambled eggs, with lots of sugar and salted butter. This makes for some absolutely irresistible bits of dough. In my family, this recipe was often made by Marie, one of the last women to wear headdresses in Brittany (there are not many of them left). Each Breton woman has her own way of making farz buen, and you can even find it in the form of a thicker cake. Marie made it as I am presenting it here, in very small caramelized pieces. The photo does not do justice to the delicious taste of this dessert and I guarantee that the farz buen presented here did not last long… Every time someone passed by, several pieces were missing. 

In a very hot pan, put a good piece of semi-salted butter.

Let it simmer for a while, then add two ladles of dough.

Let it seize up a little from underneath and then break it up with a wooden spoon.

You will have a dough that looks like scrambled eggs. Add a little butter… 

Separate the pieces of dough well, using a second wooden spoon if necessary.

The Breton secret to a good and irresistible farz buen is to always add a little more butter and sugar. This is how it will caramelize….

You really need small pieces that caramelize well.

Do the same with the remaining dough. You can then put the whole farz buen in the pan to heat it up one last time. 

Offer warm in a large bowl where everyone will help themselves… You can sprinkle with sugar one last time. We’re not really that close anymore, are we?

You can eat it for snack, breakfast or dessert! At home, it is with a spoon that we eat it…