May 21, 2015
I love bringing these baked pancakes to the table — it makes Saturday morning feel extra-special and it’s easier than standing at the stove flipping rounds of flapjacks. What’s not to love? The eggy batter puffs up light and golden; we squeeze out some sweet Pixie tangerine juice over the top and then give a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar. This is what weekend mornings were made for…
At our house these are dubbed “Belgian Babies” because my Flemish mom wouldn’t think of it any other way. Technically, if your pancake is full-size it’s a German Pancake and smaller or individual sized are known as Dutch Babies — not sure what this says about the Germans?!
Whatever the name or size, these are delicious. The recipe below makes just the right amount for our family of four. It’s my slightly tweaked version of a recipe found in the classic The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham. I like that the only sugar is the sprinkling you give at the very end. Be sure to time the rest of your meal to be ready and on the table when your Belgian/German/Dutch babies come out of the oven — you want to dig in when they are warm and puffy.
Apple variation.
Ready to go in the oven…
…and you’ve got this beauty twenty minutes later.
Saturday morning moments.
Modified slightly from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham
Makes one 12″ baked pancake
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose four
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Lemon or tangerine juice
Confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 450. Butter one 12-inch oven safe skillet or four 6-inch oven safe small skillets (with handles is preferred).
Whisk the eggs until thoroughly mixed and all one uniform color. Add the milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk flour and salt and slowly add it to the wet mixture, whisking the entire time until the batter is smooth. Add the melted butter and mix until fully incorporated.
Pour the batter into the pan/pans and bake for 15 minutes at 450 — remove the small pans after 15 minutes, they will be fully cooked.
If you’re making the larger pancake, then lower the heat of the oven to 350 and bake an additional 5-10 minutes.
Pull them out of the oven, squeeze tangerine juice over the top of the pancake(s) and then give a dusting of sifted confectioners’ sugar. The kids love to do this part.
Apple Variation
Since our apple tree is fruiting like crazy, we’ve been using apples in the mixture too. Peel, slice and sauté two apples — sauté them on the stove with a tablespoon of butter, two teaspoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Prepare your batter and pour over the warm and buttery apples and pop in the oven.
Do you know how to tell if an apple is ready to be picked? If you swipe your finger over the fruit and it leaves a glossy mark that signals it’s ready. That’s the Belgian way, anyway….
