A dutch baby, otherwise known as a David Eyre’s pancake, is a cross between a pancake and a crêpe and much, much easier to make than either. I love them so much, I even make them during heat waves, when the inside of our air-conditionerless apartment feels like a car that’s been sitting in the sun, and I never regret it. The other great thing about them is that you can be sloppy with the ingredients and still get a perfect dutch baby every time, unlike with its unbaked sisters.

Dutch baby with berries

Adapted from the New York Times Magazine’s 1966 recipe.

Serves 1 or 2

Ingredients

• • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) whole milk
  • 1/3 cup (40 grams) flour
  • pinch of ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tablespoon (8 grams) unsalted butter
  • a handful of berries, approximately 1/3 cup (40 grams)
  • approximately 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • a couple of squeezes from a lemon (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 400°F.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Add the milk, flour and nutmeg and whisk until blended but still slightly lumpy.
3. In a 9-inch cast iron pan (or any skillet with a heatproof handle), melt the butter over medium-high heat. Swirl the butter up the sides of the pan, ensuring that the whole pan is coated.
4. Once the butter is fully melted, turn off the heat and pour in the batter. Have a spatula handy to help you get everything out of the bowl quicker. Transfer the pan to the oven.
5. Bake until the edges are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Working quickly, remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle the berries onto the pancake and, using a fine-meshed sieve, sprinkle with sugar. Return to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes more.
6. Slide pancake onto a plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. Serve immediately.

Photo guide

Slightly lumpy batter added to a well-buttered pan

Watch it crumple as you eat

Q&A

• Sources of sodium

  • Eggs
  • Milk
•  

• Modifications

  • Berry-less

    If you don’t top with berries, keep the dutch baby in the oven for the 18-20 minutes without disturbing it.

  • Butter amount

    Dutch baby recipes typically call for 2 tablespoons of butter and I’m not sure why. I use only as much as I need to coat the pan, which is about 1/2 tablespoon.

  • Toppings

    Strawberries are very nice on this as well, and my favorite is a mix of strawberries and organic raspberries. I strongly prefer organic raspberries, which are not as tangy as the non-organic raspberries we have available. Be careful with blueberries. They tend to pop in your mouth while they’re hot.

  • Sweeter batter

    You can add a teaspoon or two of maple syrup or sugar to the batter if you’d like it to be a little sweet. I only miss the sweetener when I don’t top with berries.

  • 12-inch skillet

    If you want to make this in a 12-inch skillet, increase the flour and milk to 1/2 cup each, increase the butter to 1 tablespoon to coat the skillet, and add more fruit.

  • In a blender

    Don’t have a whisk or hate using it because cleaning them kind of sucks? You can make this in a blender, instead.

Handy tools

• 9-inch cast-iron skillet

  There’s a bit of a learning curve to using cast-iron pans but they’re pretty amazing once you get used to them. I have the 9-inch Lodge pre-seasoned cast-iron skillet. I don’t remember why I got this size in particular, but for anything other than this recipe, I am constantly wishing that it was a bit bigger. If you don’t have a cast-iron pan and want one, unless you’re cooking for one a lot, I would recommend getting either a 10.25″ or 12″ instead.

Did you make this?

• If you recreate this recipe, I’d love to know! Leave a comment here and tag @alickofsalt on social media.