Aunt Kay’s Dutch Baby Pancake (YF)

This recipe came from my Aunt Kay who lives in Hawaii. She recommends that these be preceded by 'well iced Bloody Mary's' and served with 'chilled champagne'! One of the many reasons why I love 'Mama Kay'!

When I was little we used to go to a Swedish restaurant that made something like these for Sunday breakfast. They filled the middle with apples, which is fine. But I'm a purest and love the simplicity of powdered sugar and lemon. The Original Pancake House makes a Dutch Baby that's very much the same, and comes with an accompaniment of whipped butter, lemon and powdered sugar: http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/phm_specialties2.html Makes me wonder if they were spying on my Aunt all those years ago...hmm. However, if you are hooked on those pancakes but don't have an hour to wait for a table on Sunday morning, this is the recipe for you!

I've been making this recipe for a very long time-long enough to do in a couple of favorite pans! The ideal pan is a 12 inch stainless steel--no non-stick coatings or plastic handles. All-Clad makes the pan of my dreams: http://www.all-clad.com/collections/Stainless-Steel/frypans.htm?index= ...but until my ship comes in, I'm making due with a non-stick coated 12 incher that's safe in the oven. Any wide, slope sided pan will do.

This is the kind of thing that’s infinitely simple but can vary from day to day. Weather affects it. Occasionally it will rise less up the sides and be thicker in the middle. That's cool, just different. But the ideal pancake is thin, rises high on the sides and gets golden and crunchy on the edges. Once done, you slide it onto a large platter-it will deflate a bit-and slice like a pizza. Hmmm...just thinking about it makes me think I might have to go make one for lunch...

Tip 1: Get your oven mitts out and keep them in an obvious spot-if you have to set the pan down between steps, lay the mitt near or even across the handle-you really, really don’t want to accidentally forget that that pan is hot!!! Take my word on this one!

Tip 2: Home alone? Yes, you can make this for one, just divide recipe in half and use an 8 inch pan. That is, if you don’t think you can eat the 12 incher all by yourself...

Mama Kay's Dutch Baby Pancake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

Pinch of nutmeg (I grate it fresh-the flavor’s a bit stronger that way)

4 Tb. butter (or a good butter substitute, like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Half a lemon, cut in 3 wedges

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add all the butter to your 12” slope sided skillet (don’t use the straight sided kind, you need that slope!) and put the pan in the oven to melt the butter.

While the butter melts (watch that it doesn’t burn!) combine all the flour, milk, eggs and nutmeg together in a bowl and mix well. You can do this by hand with a whisk, No need to get the mixer out.

By the time you’re done mixing, the butter should be melted and bubbly. If you had to take it out early, pop the pan back into the oven just long enough to get the butter bubbly around the edges. You don’t want to burn it-so keep an eye on it, but you want it very hot. It really does make a difference how well the pancake rises.

Pour your batter into the pan with the butter-just pour it in, don’t mix or swirl, it will spread on its own. Put pan in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Once it rises and begins to turn golden brown, pull it out of the oven and set on a heat proof surface for the next step. (I lay a towel beside my sink and hang the pan half over the sink--it’s neater, and this is a messy step).

Squeeze lemons all over the pancake(pick out any seeds that drop in)-be sure to get it up on the tops of the edges-you can even rub the squeezed lemon on the edges. Then sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar. If you like sweet, use the whole 1/4 cup, if not, maybe a bit less. I like sweet, but you knew that, right?

Put the pan back in the oven (USE YOUR MITTS!!) for 5 more minutes. This will cook your sugar and syrup into patches of crunchy crystallized sugar bits along with a syrupy lemon sugar. Remove from oven and slide onto a large platter. You may need to slip a spatula under it to release any parts that stick. Cut like a pizza, serve (with fruit is nice) and enjoy. Don’t forget the champagne!