Effortless Beauty – The Dutch Baby Pancake

One of my favorite restaurants to get pancakes is the Original Pancake House. So much goodness comes out of their kitchen. Swedish pancakes served with lingonberries…banana pancakes… And then there’s the one I’ve always wanted to order but never do because it takes “just a little longer” to cook: the Dutch Baby Pancake. So elegant, so fancy looking…so simple!

With slightly more cooking time on my hands, I finally decided to give it a try myself at home and y’all, it did not disappoint! One of the things that I love about this recipe is that you can fix it and forget it since it’s essentially a baked soufflé-style pancake that cooks in the oven. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with standing by the griddle to flip pancakes stove-top, but how nice to cook something that comes out so lovely that your friends and family will think you put in tons of effort when you really didn’t?

We used two cast iron pieces to cook up these beauties. The one baked in the Dutch oven cooked up a bit more evenly than the one in the skillet, but both worked wonderfully. I’ve also read that you can use a round baking dish or any other heavy 10-inch skillet. We topped ours with powdered sugar, maple syrup and strawberries cooked down in a little sugar and lemon juice. Two Dutch Babies served with eggs and a side of bacon was more than enough for our family of six. My kids enjoyed leftovers heated in the microwave the next day and said they tasted just as good as day 1.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, adapted from Florence Fabricant’s Dutch Baby recipe in The New York Times. Leave a comment if you try it and let me know how you top yours. Preserves, honey, fried apples, chocolate syrup or peaches – the options are limitless!

Recipe (makes 1 pancake, serves 4-6 people):

3 eggs

½ cup flour

½ cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch of nutmeg

Splash of vanilla

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Powdered sugar, maple syrup, berries, toppings of your choice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Whisk together eggs, flour, milk, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg until smooth.

Place butter in a cast iron Dutch oven, heavy 10-inch skillet or baking dish and place in the oven. Once melted, add the batter to the pan, return pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the pancake is puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five additional minutes.

Remove pancake from oven, cut into wedges and serve warm with toppings of your choice.