Piece of life
Crepe day is just around the corner. So of course pancakes are on the menu for this day (you will find the traditional french recipe just here). But the French don’t have the exclusivity of crepes. Of course you are familiar with pancakes, but have you ever heard of the German pancake, or Dutch baby pancake? I discovered it recently and I had a little crush on this ultra easy recipe that changes from what we usually know.
About the Dutch baby pancake (German pancake)
I warn you right away, the taste is different from the French crepes. The Dutch baby pancake reminds me more of choux pastry.
The recipe gives a single large pancake, which has the particularity to be cooked in a pan in the oven. This is clearly a practical aspect compared to French pancakes which require a long cooking time, especially when you have a large family of eaters. Another particularity: during cooking the edges of the crepe will rise very high and form some kind of crater. Treat yourself and garnish it according to the season and your mood. This time I went for an apple/pear mixture with almond sticks, all caramelized. What a treat !
The recipe is extremely simple and you probably have all the ingredients at home. In addition to being simple, the dough takes only 5 minutes to prepare. I was inspired by the recipe found on the New York Times Cooking website, which I tweaked a bit .
Which pan to use?
You’ll need an oven-safe pan. Ideally this recipe is prepared in a cast iron skillet. Mine was too large, so I settled on a classic all-stainless steel [and therefore oven-safe] skillet. If you don’t have one, just use a cake mold.
What toppings to use?
Any topping you want ! Fresh fruit, chocolate, caramel, a touch of powdered sugar… the options are endless.
Dutch baby pancake with caramelized apples
Équipements
- Hand mixer (or blender)
- Oven-safe pan
Ingredients
- 120 g flour
- 180 mL milk
- 3 eggs
- 35 g butter
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp rum (optional, can be replaced by vanilla)
- a pinch of salt
For the apple and almond topping
- 2 apples
- 1 pear
- 40 g slivered almonds
- 50 g sugar
- 15 g butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C
- Place the empty pan in the oven and leave it there while you prepare the batter.
- Mix the flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk and rum in a bowl. Blend with an hand mixer (or in a blender).
- Take the pan out of the oven (be careful, it's hot) and put the butter in. Let it melt and spread it around.
- Pour the batter into the buttered pan.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until the pancake is cooked.
For the apple and almond topping
- While the pancake is cooking, cut the fruit into strips.
- In a pan, melt the sugar to make a caramel.
- When the caramel has a nice golden color add the butter.
- Add the fruit slices and almonds. Coat them well with the caramel and let them cook for about 10-15 minutes.
- Pour the fruit in the center of the pancake and enjoy!
