Wednesday, November 17, 2004

I made a Dutch baby. Literally.

So there's a type of pancake called a "Dutch Baby." Look, I don't know why it's called that. It's got nothing to do with babies. Apparently the Dutch brought the recipe to America, but American pancake chefs weren't keen about the competition. So there was a law where serving or making foreign pancakes became illegal. Just like prohibition. So you'd go to a pancake speakeasy and order what was referred to as a "Dutch Baby." That way anyone listening wouldn't know you were ordering a foreign pancake.

Anyway, I've been making nearly every kind of pancake described in Joy of Cooking in the past couple months. Most of 'em are really good. (Cottage cheese pancakes are our favorite, but they're not as fast to make as this one.) By the way if you don't have Joy of Cooking it's awesome. It covers everything you'd want to know about cooking in detail. Say you want to make a cake, or cook an artichoke, or skin a squirrel. It's all in there. (Note: The squirrel skinnin' directions, with illustrations, are only in the older versions).

I've made this so many times I've memorized the recipe. It's easy. Here's how you can make a Dutch Baby too...

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Cup Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Milk
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar
  • 2 Eggs (room temperature)
  • 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (1/2 a stick) DO NOT USE BUTTER THAT HAS SALT IN IT It'll be SUPER salty tasting. Also. Feel free to use less butter. I've been making these with 2 Tablespoons of UNSALTED butter and that works great.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the flour, milk, sugar and eggs together with a whisk in a medium-sized bowl until smooth. Melt the butter in an iron skillet over medium heat. Tilt the pan so the butter coats the bottom and sides. Pour the batter into the pan and cook for 1 minute. Then bake for 12-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

It's surprising how much it gains in volume once it's done. It'll start deflating as soon as you take it out of the oven. So serve it right away. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top or serve with some kind of really good jam. Serves 2 in our house...

No comments: