A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, a Bismarck, or a Dutch puff, is a sweet popover that is normally served for breakfast. It is derived from the German pfannkuchen. It is made with eggs, flour, sugar and milk, and usually seasoned with vanilla and cinnamon, although occasionally fruit or another flavoring is also added. It is baked in a cast iron or metal pan and falls soon after being removed from the oven. It is generally served with fresh squeezed lemon, butter, and powdered sugar, fruit toppings or syrup.
The Dutch Baby was originally served as three small Dutch babies served with powdered sugar and fresh squeezed lemon juice but eventually the "Big Dutch Baby" was invented and gained popularity. The Big Dutch Baby is usually what is referred to when reading about Dutch babies.
I like these sweet or savory. Fruit and whipped cream is the bomb, but if you slice some apples in the pan before adding the batter, that is awesome too. If I don't have any fruit, chocolate chips or a nice drizzle of hershey's syrup is awesome also.
For a savory dutch baby the sky is the limit. Just about any ingredient you would add to an omelet would be great. Experiment, the sky is the limit!
RECIPE
4 eggs
1 cup All Purpose flour
1 cup milk
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp.salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 T butter (melted in pan)
Preheat oven to 450. Put Cast iron skillet in oven while it preheats so skillet is very hot. Once oven and pan are up to temperature, add butter to pan to melt.
Mix ingredients in blender. Remove pan from oven, pour melted butter into batter, give a quick blend, then pour batter back into pan and place back in the oven. Cooking time is about 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown .You can peek at it thru the oven window, but do not open cause you might make that po' baby collapse!
Tips:
Mix up the batter only right before baking.
Use room temp ingredients.
Hot oven, hot pan before starting.