The King of Pancakes: Dutch Baby

Dutch baby is an amazingly versatile, super delicious and astonishingly easy to make oven-baked hybrid of pancake and popover. It can be made sweet or savory and topped before or after baking with all sorts of tasty things. It’s good for breakfast, br/lunch or dinner and is suitable for both everyday meal or special occasions.

The method of Dutch baby is pretty simple: preheat the oven with a cooking vessel inside; when hot, take it out, grease with butter or oil and pour the batter in. Then return the vessel in the oven and cook the pancake for about 15-25 minutes depending on the size and thickness. Don’t forget to turn on the oven light and watch the magic happening. Once the pancake has puffed up and became golden brown on the sides, take it out of the oven. The center of the pancake will soon fall, but don’t worry – it's supposed to be this way.

For the cooking vessel, I prefer cast iron pans. They keep the heat best of all, which is important when you take a preheated pan out of the oven, grease it, pour batter and arrange toppings if using any. All of it takes time, so the longer the pan stays very hot, the better.

The size of the pan will depend on how you like your Dutch babies. If you like them with thick and creamy centers, use smaller pans. If, like me, you prefer them on a thinner side with the texture similar to that of choux pastry (think puff creams crust), then go for wider pans. Despite different textures in their centers, both will have nice tall crispy edges, so to support them I suggest you take a pan at least 1 inch high.

You will need:

• 1 extra large egg
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup milk (whole or 2%) minus 1 Tbsp or more
• A tiny pinch of salt for sweet Dutch baby and ¼ tsp for savory
• 1.5 Tbsp sugar (for sweet Dutch baby only)
• 6.5-7” wide cast iron pan or some other oven proof vessel
• About 2 tsp oil or butter for greasing the pan

Put the pan in the oven and preheat it to 415-420 F.

When it’s ready, make the batter.

In a bowl, mix together all dry ingredients, add eggs and teeny bit of milk and stir with a whisk to combine. Make sure to break all the flour lumps before slowly adding the rest of milk. The batter should be smooth with no lumps in it. (Most of the recipes in the internet I came across suggest using a blender to avoid lumps. I don’t think it is at all necessary. If you add the ingredients in the right order, all the equipment you need is a bowl and a whisk.)

Take the pan out of the oven and brush the bottom and the sides with oil or butter. Pour the batter in and place the pan in the oven. Don’t open the oven for the first 10-12 minutes of cooking. Opening the door and letting the cold air come into the oven can prevent the pancake from rising properly or, if already risen, it may collapse prematurely.

Bake about 18-22 min or until the pancake has puffed up and became golden brown (not burnt!) around the edges. Take the pan out, scoop the pancake with a large spatula and transfer onto a cutting board. Slice and serve right away.

You can top a cooked Dutch baby with all sorts of things including fried or poached eggs, dressed green salads, all sorts of cooked meats and veggies etc.

I’m also a big fan of putting toppings on Dutch baby before it goes to the oven. It can be done with

 

Variations:

Savory Dutch baby stuffed with prosciutto, mushrooms, and chives

Roughly chop 3-4 slices of prosciutto and slowly crisp them up in a bit of oil on a medium heat. In a different pan, sauté a handful of sliced mushrooms, preferably wild.

To the batter above add 1 Tbsp chopped chives and 1 Tbsp grated pecorino or parmesan.

After you’ve poured the batter into a greased heated pan, sprinkle the top all over with the prosciutto bits and mushrooms. Immediately put into the oven and cook as described above.

For the toppings you put before baking you can also use:

• raw asparagus, cut into 1” pieces; small florets of cauliflower or broccoli; broccolini tops;
• cooked bacon or speck;
• cubed ham, roasted turkey and such;
• crumbled feta, goat cheese or gorgonzola;
• all sorts of fresh herbs;
• sautéed or caramelized onions
• roasted garlic 

 

Sweet Dutch baby stuffed with berries

Make a batch of sweet Dutch baby batter. Season it with vanilla extract or/and cinnamon, honey, maple syrup, a dash of brandy etc. Keep in mind that you may want to adjust the amount of milk in the recipe. Since you add more liquid to the batter in the form of liquid seasonings (BTW, sugar here also work as a liquid ingredient), add a bit less milk, say, 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp or so.

After pouring it into a preheated pan, sprinkle it right away with assorted berries – blueberries, blackberries, chopped strawberries, mangoes, bananas and so forth. Don’t be too generous though or the juices from the cooking berries will make your Dutch baby too soggy. Immediately place the pan into the oven and bake till golden brown all over the edges.

I personally like a simple sweet Dutch baby seasoned with lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract. When it’s ready, I serve it topped with coconut or vanilla ice cream and roasted berries and fruits.

Sweet Dutch baby topped with roasted berries and ice cream

Start with roasting berries or fruits. Rinse and pat dry strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, peaches, nectarines and/or apricots. No need to do them all at once: for instance, first three make a good combo; blueberries also will work with either peaches, nectarines or apricots. Cut larger fruits/berries into smaller pieces (blueberry size or a bit larger). Arrange everything on one layer in a roasting pan, sprinkle with sugar and give a stir. If you want to get more sauce, drizzle with a bit of white wine, dessert wine, sparkling wine, or port. Place into the oven preheated to 415-420F and bake for about 12-15 minutes.

While you’re roasting the berries, preheat a pan in the oven so it will be ready for a Dutch baby right when the berries are cooked.

Make the sweet Dutch baby batter and add 1 tsp vanilla extract. 1 tsp lemon juice and zest of 1 medium lemon (can take lime instead, too). As with the sweet stuffed Dutch baby, add a bit less milk, say, 1/4 cup – 1/4 cup plus 1 Tsp.

Once the berries are done, remove them from the oven and set aside. While they are cooling down to a room temperature, you have enough time to bake a Dutch baby. When it’s ready, slice and serve with ice cream and the roasted berries. Don’t forget to drizzle with the juices that formed during roasting.

 

Comments

[Linda Starr]

oh that looks delicious