A few years ago while pulling one of my frequent all-nighters at the architecture studio I came out of my angsty haze to watch a cooking show on the Food Network. At 3 in the morning the show's topic, about a visit to a beautiful bed and breakfast, caught all of my attention. My eyes were glued to the television as the owner of The Willows cooked an amazing looking raised apple pancake on a skillet in the oven, oblivious to the fact that I was leaning on my tube of Zap-a-Gap and had instantly become bonded to the piece of chipboard under my elbow.
Later, as I was trimming my chipboard appendage into a small disc, I made a mental note to find this recipe. I was going to finally cook the pancakes this weekend but our refrigerator went out and I didn't want to buy any more groceries. I decided to make do with what I had and make a raised pancake without all the fancy parts that made the Willows recipe so uniquely delicious. However, I will make the apple-cinnamon-nutmeg-cider-walnut version one day soon.
So instead of the fancy stuff, here are my simple Dutch Babies:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1/2 Cup flour
1/4 Cup Cream
1/4 Cup Milk
Preheat the oven to 218 Celsius (425 F). Melt the butter into a large (12 inch) skillet over low heat.
Whisk the eggs, flour, cream, and milk. Pour the batter into the melted butter on the skillet.
Place the skillet into the oven for about 20-25 minutes. The pancakes will puff up on the sides like a hollow soufflé and then turn a beautiful light golden color. Serve immediately.
You can put fruit, lemon juice and powdered sugar, molasses, etc. onto the fluffy cakes but SB and I prefer maple syrup (not the fake stuff) to everything else. SB said it tasted like a popover, whatever that is. I guess I will be making popovers next.
As you can see, SB had to choke it down. And yes, that is our christmas tree top still going strong! It is just starting to look dry.
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