German Pancake What's the secret to achieving a tender, custardy base and a crispy, puffy rim? Ignoring one of the cardinal principles of baking. sman pancake, sometimes called a Dutch baby, is a study in contrasts: The edge of the skillet-size breakfast specialty pulls deamaricaly to form a tll, cispy rim with a texture similar to that ofa pop ‘over while the hase remains fat, cusardy, and tender, like a thick erépe. Luckily, this entertaining treat is far easier to prepare than its pomp and circumstance would suggest. A stir-together batter of flow g, and milks simply poured into 4 skille: and baked. Sometimes sautéed apples ate incorporated into the batter, The pancake may also be served with 2 fruit topping, drizzled with syrup, or sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice Ballooning Up After auditioning a number of recipes, T settled on a routine: Caramelize sliced apples with sugar ina skill (using nonstick {ensures an easy release), pourin the ater, and place the fled skillet in a 375-degree ‘oxen (the highest temperature most non stick skies are rated to withstand), After 20 minutes, the Fim ofthis pancake browned and pute while the base remained fat, with a custardy texture, However, the sim wasn't particularly tll had risen only inch “That said, it was interesting tht it had pueda all since Thacn&alded ay leavene o incorporated air into the eggs. Rather than relying on a chemical reaction o the expansion of an egg foam to provide lif (as in a soulé), a German pancake inflates more like a balloon (or a popover): Heat begins to st the ‘gluten and egg proteins on the surfice of the bater, forming a flexible shell. Meanwhile, water inside this shell sums to steams the tapped steam causes the pancake “balloon” wo inflate. Since popovers are ‘made in smal, cup-shaped tins, the barter isin close ‘contact withthe sides ofthe tins and the heat ofthe ‘oven ana has inflates uniformly. A German pancake, fn the other hand, bakes in a wide, shallow vessel and cooks more quickly at the edges, which are in SO Looks fe Pulls A.step-bystep vdeo is avalable at Cookautated.com/junel7 ANDREW JANJIGIAN € “The pully rm starts to deflate ater the pancake s removed from the oven, ote best served immediately for maximum dramatic efec comtact withthe hot sides ofthe skillet, This results ina distinct im and base Puff Piece [wondered ifthe aple ling was weighing things ‘down and preventing the im from fll expanding, If $0, it would be easy enough to tum into a top Testing my theory, I whisked together another bath fof my basic miss 3 eggs and 13 eups each of our and milk, along with lt vanilla, lemon zest, and a pinch of nutmeg (all standard favorings) I melted Heating Butter Until Foaming Subsides? a couple of pas of butter in a skillet, added the batter, and transfered it tothe ove, Sure enough, the rim of this no-Fuit pancake rose much higher, about 3 inches, Bur the rim verged on dry, and the section of pancake alongside the rim was overly thick and dense, Meanie, the very en ter was paper thin, Ie was as if the batter had moved like an ocean wave toward the edges of the pan during baking, crested, and stayed that way Tadd an extra egg to push the texture in the direction I wanted. One more egg made the base more custard, butt did’ ada substance to the very center. The a tional moisture and fat also mitigated some lof the dryness ar the edge, Bur there Wasa limit to the benefits since yet another eg made the pancake taste too egy. Could I make the very center ofthe pancake more substancal by adding more flour? An addi tional 4 cup did create a bit more depth, but any more than that made the pancake ro dey At this point, I needed ro better under stand the mechanics ofthe dish in onder to make more progres toward my goal. So peered through the oven door during bak ing. When I put the sie into the oven, the batter was an even 1 inch deep. As the batter at the edges started to ise up out oF the pat—at bout dhe 20-minute maek—the batter in the center ‘of the pan was sil lu, Over time, a8 the edges started to cteep northward and the rm inflate, the rim pulled more and more of the bater into itself as that happened, the level atthe center of the pan “dropped. Eventually, even the center ofthe pancake began to set, and it began to puff there a well. But there was so litle batter le at ehat point that it was sill paper thin, Butar stars to mel a about 85 degrees andi completely Iqueied at 94 degrees when reaches 190 depress, | restarts to foam, Ths an ination tat waters evaporating an the milk proers ae forming 2 froth. At 212 degrees. the bubling becomes mare vigorous an the faring subsides, While many recipes calfor petting butter to this pinto ensure that's very hot. we dont typiealy use this direction, That's because we dont often use baer in apleaton that would require a realy high terperature (sch rr or satin), Inthe case of German pancakes, we need ony to mel the butter before pouring the batter since wl ‘continue to eatin the oven,For a More Satisfying Pancake, Start It in a Cold Oven os Geran pneae reps calor pourne the baer io a prebeted ile and/or ing a preeated over Ths ear tht the batter at the ees heats and pur up very ue, dra ing some of the tater om the mide ft shew and resting na pancake tha’ Superin atte ceeer Sarin na coll ven con he eter and slows the eat to bad up Stn enough that he center can startet (and trains tc) before the oven reaches the terperatre neces og mam i to de rim (which aks about 25 mits). thicker center more satin toe ands tener abe wo sand up toa ft oping How Low Could | Go? T needed the batter at the very center 10 set before too much of it had migrated toward the edges, But the pancake cooking fom the outer edges inward, Would lowering the oven temperature even things ue Twhipped up another batch of barter and reduced the remperarure to 350 degrees. It helped, but only little, When I went down to 32 ry pancake was substantially thicker a the center, but the edges no longer rose as dramatically. Clearly the pancake needed to be above a certain temperature tocensuresulfcent it. But I was on the right tack, since slowing the rate at which the pancake puffed agave the center time to set before the bate rose up the side of he rim, How about stating low a fn ing high? For my next test, I stated the pancake in 4 250degree oven and increased the temperature 10 375 degrees afer 10 minutes. Beter but sill noc quite jt. That's when [went for broke: pu the pan into ‘cold oven and then se the oven ro 375 degrees. This approach worked like a charm, allowing the shea tobi up slowly enough thatthe center ofthe pancake could star to set before the oven reached the temperature necessary to give maximum lift: the rim (which took about 30 minutes). Now the pancake formed a near-perfect bow! shape, with 4 beauiflly ral, cspy rim and a moist, custard, evenly thick base, I devised a brown sugar-based topping with apples, bur the pancake wasa treat ever with nothing more than a drizzle of maple syrup oF a squeeze of lemon juice and dusting of sugar. ‘A German Pancake or a Dutch Baby? Senna paral and Dah bbs are esr taly the ume thng but the hiss to hve crgratedin Germany. not te Netherands The tem -Dath bay was coed by an Areran rests whose of uth wat cor Ito ofthe word “Deus "Garman German, Baby" reerred tthe ft hat he resound verso (GERMAN PANCAKE A traditional 12-inch siller maybe used in place of ‘the nonstick sill; cot i lightly with vegetable oil spray betore using, As an altemative to sugar and lemon juice, serve the pancake with maple syrup of ‘oar Brown Sugar-Apple Topping (recipe follows). ‘Our recipes for Germats Pancake for Two and Brown Sagar-Banana Topping are available fee tor four months at Cookslllustrted.com/junel 194 cups (8% ounces) alt purpose flour Ye cup sugar | tablespoon grated lemon zest plus I ablespoon juice teaspoon sat Ye teaspoon ground nutmeg, 15 cups mite 6 large eae 14 teaspoons vail extract 3. tablespoons unaled butter Syrup Dispensers Foaringapl sp honey onto oar breast con retin ky bles, Carters ad ore—epecly AMERICAN METALCRAFT Bechive Syrup Dispenser, 6 02 oe SDE 1. Whisk flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, mon zest catand nusmes together in lage bow. Whisk mil eggs, an vanilla together in second bowl. Whis two-thirds of milk mixture into flour mixture anti no lumps remain, then slowiy whisk in remaining milk mixture until smooth, 2. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position ‘Me burterin 12-inch ovensae nonstick skillet ove ‘medium-low heat. Add batter tose, immediael transfer to oven, and set oven to 375 degrees. Bake until edges are deep golden brown and center i beginning to brown, 30 t0 '3. Transfer skillet to wire rack and sprinkle pan cake with lemon juice and remaining 1 ablespoor sugar. Ct into wedges and seve You can substitute Honeserisp of Fuji apples forth Bracburn apples if desired, {ablerpoone unaled butter cup water ‘teaspoon ground cinnamon ‘teaspoon sat 1 pounds Braeburn apples (3 to 4 apples) posed, cored halved, and et into Vosnehhick wedges, wedges halved erosswis: 2 % Ye cup packed (1%4 ounces) brown sugar % % Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium hea ‘Add water, sugar, cinnamon, and salt and whis ‘until sugar disolves, Add apples, increase heat € smeaunhigh, and bring co simmer. Cover an ook, siting occasionally, for 5 minutes. Uncove and continue to cook unt apples are translucent an jst tender and sauce is thickened, 5 t0 7 minute longer. Transfer to bowl and serve, (Topping can & -effigerated for up to 2 days.) ‘when kde are imoled. Maple syrup dspenserspromive to reduce mess when pouring the sweet suff over pancakes and wales We tested fve ‘models pried from $7.80 xo $42.00, and one quick maved to te front ofthe pack Is simple design made fxs ofl and lean, an poured ke Aadream. One minor qubble: t's not ‘icrowave-safe, But 'sa mess saver nd a bargan a just ou igh buc, Forthe complete testing res, £0%0 ‘Cookatusrated.com/ que. “Lisa MeManus nce: $7.80 coments. This winning dispensers spring loaded spout cover ‘worked Be a charm and canbe opened as much or asl a you Ihe, allowing you te pour neat and precy Iwas eazy to fll and len, t00, Not RECOMMENDED frewsts NORPRO Honey/Syrup Dispenser ove 780 . nice $1899 Cconmens: This vassal dspenses from ts botzam, which sts ina bate that can be ied ‘wth warm water to keep syrup soft and flowing, works beautifully unt ks oe to efil—an awkward, messy operation.