Sun, Jan 10, 2010
German pancake
I’ve finally landed on a recipe for a baked pancake that lives up to the standard of the classic German Pancake from Walker Brothers — and figured how to get it out of the pan easily.
Photo: If you do it right, the pancake will soar up above the sides of the pan (though not often this loftily).
Jon and I have been going to Walker Brother’s Original Pancake House for years — and since he grew up just a few blocks from the original Wilmette location, he’s a literally life-long devotee.
Jon and his brother, Jim, have a tradition of getting a Dutch Baby (the small edition of the German) and an Apple Pancake and splitting them. I still haven’t tackled the apple-pancake recipe, but now that we’ve discovered the parchment-paper secret (described below), this German satisfies our craving without the half-hour trip north. Happy eating!
German Pancake
Adapted from “Baked Pancakes” in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook. Serves four humans, two adult and two halflings — especially if you have some bacon on the side.
5 eggs, room temperature
¾ c milk
¾ c flour
¾ t salt
3 T butter, melted
lemon wedges and powdered sugar, for serving
Preheat oven to 450°. Butter a 12-inch oven-proof skillet, then — and this is important! — line it with parchment paper and butter it again. (The parchment paper is really key for it to not stick.)
Whisk the eggs until mixed, then add the milk and blend well. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt, then whisk that into the egg mixture. Add the melted butter and mix briskly so the batter is smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake another 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve hot with lemon wedges and plenty of powdered sugar for sprinkling.
This post was last modified January 10, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Brad Farris said,
January 11, 2010, at 3:57 pm
Ann:
Our’s doesn’t stick, but we pre-heat the pan in the oven, then add 4T of butter to the pan and don’t add the batter until the butter’s all melted.
The secret to getting it to rise high is making the batter quite thin. Too much flour and it is flat.
I also have an apple pancake recipe that you could start with, it’s not 100%, but it’s a good start.
Brad
Lydia said,
January 11, 2010, at 5:25 pm
I love these! I’m excited to try out this recipe… Thanks Ann!
Bethany said,
January 14, 2010, at 9:37 am
Oooh, looks yummy! I’ll have to try out both the recipe and the restaurant. Thanks for sharing!
Katrina Goodwill said,
February 2, 2010, at 10:43 am
We call these “dutch babies” and like brad we pre-heat the oven then add the 4T of butter. The batter is 1c. flour, 4 eggs, 1c. milk. I use a glass 2quart dish and when the butter is melted and poping in the oven I add the batter. Bake for 30 min.
Serve with lemon and pow. sugar. These are my all time favorite food!
also you can enlarge the recipe by knowing that it is 1T butter pre-person you are serving, 1/4 four per-person, 1 egg per-person. I just use a 9×13 glass dish for 6-8 people and the 8×8 for 4-5 people.
amit said,
February 25, 2010, at 5:53 pm
hey,
im not so familier with this measurement can someone please explain to me what T means?
thanx
:)
Ann said,
February 26, 2010, at 9:56 pm
I always use “T” to stand for “tablespoon.” Often “t” is “teaspoon.” Happy baking!
amit said,
February 28, 2010, at 10:27 am
thank u :)