The Dutch Pancake Experience
Warm, made-to-order poffertjes straight off the griddle with a customizable premium toppings bar. This is the mini pancake cart your guests will crowd around all night.
See the mini pancake cart →
Live Dessert Catering · Cincinnati
Mini Pancake Catering in Cincinnati
Authentic Dutch poffertjes and gourmet chocolate-covered strawberries, made to order in front of your guests.
Serving Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky
- guests served per festival
- 1,700+guests served per festival
- at Taste of Cincinnati
- 3 yearsat Taste of Cincinnati
- poffertjes & strawberries
- 2 conceptspoffertjes & strawberries
- serving Cincinnati
- Since 2023serving Cincinnati
Why book Pankis
Made in front of your guests
Every poffertje is poured, turned and served on a traditional Dutch griddle at your event — never trays dropped off cold.
Two signature stations
Book the Dutch pancake experience, the chocolate strawberry experience, or run both side by side.
Toppings they choose themselves
Milk, dark and white chocolate, Nutella, fresh strawberries, Oreos, M&M's, mini Reese's, marshmallows and sprinkles.
Proven at high volume
More than 1,700 customers served across each three-day Taste of Cincinnati, three years running.
What we do
Dessert catering your guests get to watch being made
Pankis is a Cincinnati catering company built around one idea: the food should be part of the entertainment, not something dropped off in trays before anyone arrives.
We specialise in authentic Dutch poffertjes — bite-sized mini pancakes cooked to order on a traditional cast-iron griddle. The griddle comes to your event, and it becomes part of the attraction. Everyone watches the batter go in, smells them cooking, picks their own toppings, and eats them warm. That is the whole point: our mini pancake catering is an experience, not a delivery.
Alongside the pancakes we serve gourmet chocolate-covered strawberries, dipped in premium chocolate and finished with the same creative toppings. Both are made fresh on site. Both draw a queue. Together they give a host two complementary dessert stations, which is why larger events in Cincinnati tend to book the pair.
The food is designed to be beautiful as well as delicious. It photographs well, it gives people something to talk about, and it gets shared — which matters more at a corporate event or a wedding than most catering menus will admit.
Two signature experiences
Book one station, or run both side by side
Each works on its own. Together they turn dessert into the part of the event people remember.
The Chocolate Strawberry Experience
Fresh strawberries dipped in premium milk, dark or white chocolate and finished with creative toppings — including our Dubai-style pistachio cream with toasted kanafe.
See the strawberry station →The toppings bar
Everyone builds their own
People pick as they go, so one booking covers a room full of different tastes.
- Premium milk chocolate
- Dark chocolate
- White chocolate
- Nutella
- Dubai-style pistachio cream
- Toasted kanafe
- Fresh strawberries
- Crushed Oreos
- M&M's
- Mini Reese's
- Mini marshmallows
- Sprinkles
- Powdered sugar
The Dubai-style pistachio cream paired with toasted kanafe has become our most talked-about combination — it works on the pancakes and on the strawberries.
Who we cater
Built for events that want something different
If you have already done the taco bar and the donut wall, this is the one people have not seen yet.
- Weddings and wedding showers
- Corporate events and employee celebrations
- Client appreciation events
- Birthday parties
- Baby and bridal showers
- Graduation parties
- Holiday parties
- Community events and pop-ups
Planning something specific? We have detail pages for wedding dessert catering and corporate events.
Gallery
Real events, real pancakes
Every photo here is from an actual Pankis event — nothing staged, nothing stock.
There are more in the full gallery.
Proven in Cincinnati
We have already done the hard version of this
Serving a private party is straightforward when your team has handled a three-day festival queue.
Pankis has been building in Cincinnati since 2023. We are members of Findlay Kitchen and run a recurring monthly pop-up at Findlay Market, where a lot of this city first tried poffertjes.
We have also served Taste of Cincinnati for three consecutive years, serving more than 1,700 customers across each three-day event. That kind of volume teaches you things a catering brochure cannot: how to keep quality up under pressure, how to move a queue, and how to keep the experience fun when it is busy.
It is also how we learn what works. The chocolate strawberries started as a test at a festival, outsold the pancakes at our most recent one, and became a full station because real customers told us to build it.
Where we serve
Catering across Greater Cincinnati
Downtown, the suburbs, and across the river into Northern Kentucky.
Cincinnati
Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Hyde Park, Walnut Hills, Mount Lookout and Norwood.
Hamilton County
Blue Ash, Montgomery, Anderson Township and the surrounding suburbs.
Northern Kentucky
Covington, Newport, Fort Thomas and Fort Mitchell, just across the river.
How it works
Three steps, no pressure
Ask for a quote and you get a quote — not a phone call you have to dodge.
- 1
Send us your date
Fill in the short form with your date, guest count and venue. It takes about 30 seconds and there is no commitment.
- 2
We build your menu
We come back with a written quote and help you pick one station or both, and which toppings suit your crowd.
- 3
We cook at your event
Our team arrives, sets up, and serves everything fresh. You get the wow moment; we handle the mess.
Questions
Mini pancake catering, answered
What is mini pancake catering?
Mini pancake catering is a live dessert station where a caterer cooks bite-sized pancakes on site and serves them warm. At Pankis we make authentic Dutch poffertjes on a traditional griddle, so your guests watch them being poured and turned, then pick their own toppings and eat them fresh off the pan.
What are poffertjes?
Poffertjes are traditional Dutch mini pancakes. They are made in a cast-iron griddle with dozens of shallow round wells, which gives them a light, fluffy centre and a soft golden outside. They are smaller and fluffier than an American pancake and are eaten as a sweet treat rather than a breakfast plate.
Do you cater weddings and corporate events in Cincinnati?
Yes. Pankis caters weddings, wedding showers, corporate events, employee celebrations, client appreciation events, birthday parties, baby and bridal showers, graduation parties and holiday parties across Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky.
Can we book both the mini pancakes and the chocolate-covered strawberries?
Yes, and it is our most popular setup for larger events. You can book the Dutch pancake station on its own, the chocolate strawberry station on its own, or combine both into two complementary dessert stations so guests get variety.
How much does mini pancake catering cost?
Pricing depends on your guest count, event length and whether you book one station or both. Send us your date and headcount through the quote form and we will come back with a written quote.
How far in advance should we book?
Earlier is better, especially for weekend dates in wedding and holiday season. If your date is close, still ask — we will tell you straight away whether we can cover it.
Your guests will remember the dessert or they will not remember the food at all
Tell us your date and headcount. We will tell you what a Pankis station costs and what it would look like at your venue — no obligation, no sales call you did not ask for.