Dutch Baby
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It's Saturday morning, and I hear the little voices of Dutch Babies calling to me....that sounds a little weirder than I intended. But the truth is, I love the Dutch Baby. It seems like one of the most perfect breakfast items in that it's eggs, but it's oh so much more. Part omelet, part pancake, it has a personality all it's own. Oh, did I mention it's easy??? It's also fast, and best of all it's scrumptious.
All you'll need is a few eggs, a little flour and milk, some vanilla and a blender. Maybe the thing that takes the longest is heating up your oven - it needs to get to 425 degrees. But I have a confession...I didn't wait for my oven to get to temp this morning and lookit! That photo up there. Nice, huh? I love that part about Dutch Babies. It's so dang impressive when you take it out of the oven. It falls rather quickly, but that's OK. It tastes divine.
Back to the oven...So this morning I just didn't want to wait the 1/2 hour or longer it takes my Aga to get up to temperature, so I set the oven to convection and after about 15 minutes, I stuck my skillet in the oven with the butter in it (did I mention there's butter in this too?), and while the pan heated up and the butter was melting and the oven was heating, I mixed together my ingredients.
When my pan looked good and hot in there, and the butter was just starting to brown, I poured the batter into my pan. Now, it's supposed to take 25 minutes for this baby to cook, but mine was done in 15 (don't you love convection?). Without the convection, it was done in 20 minutes.
The traditional condiments for a dutch baby are a drizzle of lemon juice and a dusting of powdered sugar. This is definitely how I like mine, but don't be stifled by tradition...add more butter! Add jam! Pour maple syrup all over it! This baby can take it!
DUTCH BABY
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Butter
1 lemon
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut up butter into small pieces, and place in cast iron Dutch oven or skillet without the lid on. Place skillet in hot oven.
Prepare batter in a blender by placing eggs in and blending until foamy. Add milk, flour, salt and vanilla and blend until combined. When butter has fully melted in skillet, carefully remove hot Dutch oven from oven and swirl butter to coat pan.
Quickly pour batter in skillet and place back in hot oven. Bake for about 25 minutes for cast iron; 15-20 minutes in a nonstick skillet, or until puffed and lightly browned. Remove from oven and cut into wedges and place on serving plates. Cut tablespoon pats of butter, and place a pat on each serving.
Cut lemon in half, and squeeze juice over wedges and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings
