It’s all well and good until someone has to stand in front of the stove and flip the pancakes.
It’s a thankless job and I wouldn’t wish pancake flipping onto anyone’s relaxed weekend.
Luckily, where there are a few eggs, a bit of flour and milk, and a big ol’ handful of berries…. there is a Dutch Baby. Pancake sans flip.
Dutch Babies exist in the delicious land between pancake and popover. They’re tender and eggy, light and crunchy. They’re also quite a spectacle coming out of the oven. They’re show-offs. It’s cool. Breakfast can be dramatic.
A simple mixture of cinnamon and sugar will work wonders for this breakfast.
Eggs do all of the heavy lifting in a Dutch Baby. There’s no leavening from baking powder or baking soda. It’s all whipped egg! Eggs are whipped until pale and frothy.
An electric hand-mixer works wonders for a task like this.
Once the eggs are whipped to a frenzy… milk, flour, cinnamon, and salt are added. So sugar in the batter, if you can believe that. All of the sugar gets sprinkled on top!
The rather thin batter is poured into the rather hot, butter laden skillet.
The batter is immediately placed in a very hot oven to puff like whoa!
I like to take the 20 minutes it takes to cook a Dutch Baby to do the following things:
– stir a bit of cinnamon sugar into the sliced berries.
– pour the orange juice.
– quickly gather everyone around the oven for the big, puffed, dramatic, browned Dutch Baby reveal! Seriously… gather round. The puff only lasts a few minutes.
Pancake charm with not a single flip! This feels pretty great.
Cinnamon sugar adds a jolt of sweetness and a tiny bit of crunch from the sugar. The butter keeps the Dutch Baby from sticking and also adds… you know, awesome buttery flavor! Berries are bursting into season, and any excuse to shovel them onto breakfast food I’m all for!
This Dutch Baby is best served hot from the oven, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, piled with sweet berries, and eaten gathered around the skillet with forks and orange juice. Well… at least that’s how I did it.
Triple Berry Dutch Baby
makes 10-inch pancake, serves 4
adapted slightly from Epicurious
For the Dutch Baby:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, at room temperature for 30 minutes
2/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
For the Berries:
2 cups fresh berries (I used sliced strawberries, fresh raspberries, and fresh blueberries)
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Beat eggs with an electric beater or mixer on medium-high until pale and frothy, about 3 to 5 minutes . Beat in the milk, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Beat until thoroughly combined. The batter will be very thin.
Place a 10-inch cast iron (or oven safe) skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Melt the butter in the skillet. Remove from heat and immediately pour the batter into the pan. Immediately place the pan in the oven and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden-brown and puffed.
While the dutch baby bakes, add a few spoonfuls of the cinnamon sugar mixture to the fresh berries. Stir and let rest until ready to serve.
Remove the baked and puffed dutch baby from the oven and immediately sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Add the berries. Slice and serve. Dutch babies are best served just after it comes out of the oven.
Arthur in the Garden!
Wow! Its like Spring in a pan!
Jane
My buzzing mind woke me up at 5am today…which was fine as it gave me the perfect opportunity to whip this up for the family – on a work day! They adored it, and it was SO much easier than pancakes. They were fighting over the last piece. Thanks for this – it’s a keeper in our house!
Lucy
I’ve never made a dutch baby pancake, but this recipe just may inspire me. I love the colors and the use of berries. Much easier than flipping pancakes and trying to keep them all warm.
Lore
Looks delicious! Why’s it called a Dutch Baby, though? I’ve been living in The Netherlands my entire life, for twenty years, and I’ve never seen or heard of this. The Dutch do have a different way of making pancakes, but flipping is still a must for as far as I know.
bec {daisy and the fox}
i’ve always wanted to make one, and you’ve truly inspired and motivated me :D
thanks for the recipe! looks delicious! and great shots :)
Lynn @ The Actor's Diet
Yummy! This reminds me of the Meyer Lemon pancake at Canele…
Cindy
Your dutch baby looks wonderful. I used to make them all the time, but for some reason forgot about them! I’m thinking my grandchildren would find them pretty special!! Thanks for the reminder.
Jenny
The berry baby looks and sounds absolutely delicious from your photos and description, but suddenly it hit me, it’s suspiciously like the “thick pancake” my mother used to make and we thought were sooo boring…. We wanted the individual pancakes (the crepe variety as I grew up in Europe) not the big, fluffy, puffy baked in the oven kind. The American pancakes, the thick, individual kind with baking powder/baking soda was introduced later and only as a rare treat made by my father that had been to the US. But obviously I shall have to make your Dutch variety to compare and contrast with my childhood one :)
Taylor
mmmm! I love making dutch babies and this one looks soooo yummy! I can’t wait to try it out.
xoxo
Taylor
Sommer @ASpicyPerspective
This looks amazing and it calling my name! A must try for sure! Pinning
Ylenia
I’ve just found your blog and LOVE it! I love the recipes and the pictures that are fantastic and make my mouth watering! I’ll add you to my blogroll and will come for sure!!!
ciao!
Sue
Oh my…… How we love our Dutch babies! At one point I did a pretty thorough Internet search and found a lot of recipes, to which your version will obviously be added. But I must confess to being even lazier than those who don’t enjoy flipping pancakes and eating after everyone else is done: I put everything but the butter into my Vitamix, give it a whirl. Put the butter and the skillet into the hot oven, wait till it’s all hot and full of buttery goodness, then whirl the “baby” once more in the Vitamix, pour it into the skillet, and bake. When I make one, I make a huuuuuge one, and have discovered that it’s good cold, and even the next day. Fresh berries (cinnamon always a great addition) and/or real maple syrup. Yum! I haven’t made one in far too long (oven died!) so I doubly appreciate your great post and photos. Thanks, Joy!
Lisa
Looks delic
L x
http://workingmumy.blogspot.com
sundiegoeats
That is GORGEOUS. I find pancakes too be a bit too dense/boring but the one time I ate a Dutch baby (what a weird phrase to say….) it was delicious. Love the airiness and soft dough contrasting with the crispier puffy parts.
Charlotte
As much as I love Dutch Babies, and popovers, I actually really like flipping pancakes. I don’t necessarily like eating them (waffles, french toast and crepes are far superior), but I find a lot of satisfaction in making them for others. So I’ll happily be your resident pancake flipper!