My great aunt used to make these when I was a kid, but I never knew what they were called or what was even in them, beside apple. I suppose I forgot over the years and never thought to ask anyone if they remember, but I was going to make breakfast the other day and saw a picture of this in a cook book. We had made a German pancake the other weekend and this seemed very similar so I thought I would give it a try! It turns out what my aunt was making all this time was a Dutch Baby (sometimes called a German/Austrian Apple Oven Pancake).
It is very easy and the preparation work is very fast, so if you need something fairly quick (aside from the 30 minute cook time) you can easily whip this together and forget about it until it’s done.
-1 tblspoon soft butter (grease the pie dish)
-2 large eggs ( I used three medium)
-1 thinly sliced apple (fuji or pink lady preferred)
-1 tsp cinnimon
-1/2 tsp cardamom
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
-1/2 cup of milk
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a glass pie dish with the butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly across the plate. Lay the sliced apples in a circular repeating layer. Crack all the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat lightly with a whisk just until the yolks mix (don’t use an electric mixer, as you don’t want to over beat it). Add flour, milk, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla. Whisk until blended, just after the lumps disappear. Do not over beat or the eggs will not puff in the oven. Pour mixture over apples. Bake for 30-35 mins (do not open the oven at all until within the last five minutes). Some recipes say to flip it upside down and onto a plate, but the apples always float to the top (they did on my aunt’s as well). If they stay at the bottom, flip it; if they float, then don’t. Dust with powdered sugar and serve! Great for a weekend breakfast or a dessert!
Jack and Tillie 