Spiced Apple Dutch Pancake
My sister-in-law lives just up the street and between us we have five kids. The cousins love to be together and they tromp between the houses, flinging sweatshirts on the backs of chairs and leaving muddy shoes kicked off at the door as if they live at both houses.
My son and nephew spent three glorious hours shoving sticks in a small fire built in our outdoor fire pit over the weekend. They carefully whittled sticks into sharp spears before announcing they had made the perfect marshmallow roasters. While we didn’t actually have any marshmallows, they were more than content to poke the fire with their special sticks before disappearing into the yard to find another very special stick and alas the process would start all over again.
The day was windy and cold for the first time in a very long time. Finally, they put the fire out and grudgingly came into the house to warm up. As soon as their little faces rounded the corner into the kitchen, they were begging for something to eat, making rather dramatic claims of crippling hunger and that there was way they could wait for dinner.
Instead of letting them tear through the entire pantry eating their body weight in goldfish crackers and granola bars, I sent them back out to pick a few apples and pears off the trees. I cut up the fruit the brought me and sprinkled it with cinnamon and the tiniest drizzle of honey. I gave them a little bowl of peanut butter for dipping the apples and a few sliced of cheese to eat with the pears. The devoured most of it before skipping off to their next big project.
Eyeing the last of the sliced fruit, I had a little idea for a warm and cozy breakfast the following morning. I love making puff pancakes for their ease and ability to feed everyone at once. I use my cast iron pan and depending on the season add whatever fruit I happen to have on hand. During the summer it's always fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. If it’s fall or winter, I switch to pears and apples.
To me, a puff pancake is sort of a cross between a traditional pancake and French toast. The batter is the texture of a light and fluffy pancake with the eggy decadence of French toast. Filling, tasty and endlessly adaptable; if you’ve got five minute to throw the ingredients together and 15 minutes to bake the pancake; you have a yummy and special breakfast, brunch or snack for your people. I bake the pancake and as soon as it comes out of the oven, I top it with whatever seasonal fruit I’m using. As a final touch (and because my kids love it) I dust the whole thing with powdered sugar and a small drizzle of pure maple syrup. I cut into slices and serve. In the blink of an eye, the whole thing is gone.
One last idea: give this recipe a try with pears. I made a version of this recipe with sliced pears baked into the pancake and it was delicious. As always, use this recipe as a jumping off point to make what you would enjoy the most.
Spiced Apple Dutch Puff Pancake
3 tablespoons salted butter
3 room temperature eggs (place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to bring to room temp)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of Kosher salt
Spiced apples
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Maple syrup
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add the butter to a cast iron pan and place in the oven while it warms up. Allow the butter to melt.
While the butter melts, place 3 eggs, milk and vanilla in a blender. Blend for 10 seconds until the eggs are frothy and bubbling. Add the flour and sugar to the blender and mix for an additional 10 seconds until just incorporated.
Remove the pan from the oven and pour batter directly into the melted butter. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 13-16 minutes or until the pancake is puffy around the edges and golden brown.
While the pancake bakes in the oven, prepare the spiced apples. When the puff pancake is ready, remove from the oven and top with the spiced apples. Garnish with a little powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. Serves 6.
Spiced Apples
2 large honey crisp apples
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon salted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Pinch of Kosher salt
Wash and peel apples. Dice into small bite-size pieces.
In a small sauté pan, heat butter over medium-low heat. Add apples and brown sugar to the pan, stirring constantly to melt the sugar and coat the apples. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Continue to cook on low heat for 8 to 10 minutes until the apples are tender and caramelized. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the apples over the puff pancake when it comes out of the oven.