Discovering the existence of this pancake was an earth-shattering revelation in my young life. It shook me to the very core of my being, upended everything I thought I knew about pancakes, and broke the creative bounds restraining the humble flapjack to release a glorious beast of apple, sugar, and cinnamon upon my breakfast table.

The Dutch Baby is truly the Balrog of pancakes: at one moment a creature of soft fluffy batter and gentle nutmeg, and the next a hoard of chewy caramelized cinnamon sugar spires and boldly fruity apple slices.

For any traveler wishing to ascend from the gray caverns of pancake normality to the shining pinnacle of flapjack wizardry, the Dutch Baby must be faced, grappled with, and mastered.

Ingredients:

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 425F and melt a stick of butter in a cast iron skillet
2. In a bowl, combine the eggs, flour, milk, yogurt, salt, nutmeg and vanilla extract. Whisk to form a liquidy batter.
3. Slice the apples into thin wedges. Once the butter is melted completely, add the apple slices to the skillet and cook for 2-5 minutes
4. Top the apples with cinnamon and brown sugar. Let this mixture cook for about 10 minutes or until it is bubbly and the sugar and butter have started to caramelize.
5. Whip the batter once more before pouring it into the skillet on top of the apple-sugar base. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the batter has risen significantly and a butter knife inserted into the pancake’s center emerges relatively clean.
6. Remove the Dutch Baby from the oven and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

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Notes and Results

• On Apples: The Dutch Baby turns out best if you use a tart apple variety. Granny Smith apples are my go to because they provide a semi-tart contrast to the sugar and butter. But any apple that you might bake in a pie or cobbler will do. Peeling the apples is optional and I prefer to leave them unpeeled.
• On Proportions: I made this recipe on back to back days because my flour and sugar proportions were not quite right on the first attempt. On the first trial, I used 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of brown sugar and ended up with a pancake that was a little too doughy. I was much happier with the second attempt using ½ cup flour and 1.5 cups sugar. However, both pancakes were good. I actually forgot to add flour entirely once and it still turned out perfectly fine.
• The Skillet: the Dutch Baby does require a cast iron skillet. I suppose some other type of oven safe pan might be able to substitute, but I have never used anything other than the skillet.
• On Leftovers: Great reheated.