Making German Pancakes

There are a variety of recipes in the world which carry the name "German Pancake." What you will read about here is the variation that I grew up with and which I continue to love and have worked to perfect.

This is a one or two person serving, made in a 9"-10" dish, most often a pie plate. The main ingredients are just milk, eggs and flour. If you have kids, they will love watching the edges puff up through the oven door as they bake. 

This was a family favorite on weekends when my mother made them when I was growing up. In college this became the popular "morning after" breakfast made for friends who'd stayed over and spent the night when my roommate and I had parties. Now one of my favorite incarnations is cooking it for friends when I am traveling and stay at other people's homes. It's quite a delicious thank-you for hosts!

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 C half and half
• 1/4 C lowfat milk
• 1/2 C white flour
• 2 Tbsp butter
• nutmeg
• lemon juice
• powdered sugar
• metal or glass pie plate, about 9"
  

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Mix eggs and milk until frothy.
3. Blend in flour until lumps are almost gone.  Sprinkle in nutmeg to taste and blend lightly.
4. When oven comes to heat, put butter into pie plate and place in oven to melt/heat butter. A metal deep-dish pie plate produces the most dramatic crusts.  You want the butter to be crackling hot but not browned. 
5. When butter is ready, quickly remove pan from oven and pour in batter. Return to oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
6. Edges should rise as pancake cooks. When edges are browned and center is firm and dry it is done.
7. Remove from cooking pan and plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice, dust liberally with powdered sugar.  Plate whole or sliced into wedges as desired.

Serves 1 to 3 people for breakfast or brunch.

For close to forty years, my mom baked these in glass pie plates.  When I was in college, I was gifted a set of ceramic baking pans that had nice smooth rises to the edges, and the largest of these became my dedicated German Pancake baking dish. 

But then, in the summer of 2009 when I made one at a friend's house using a steel pie plate, it literally took the pancake to a whole new level!  My jaw dropped when I pulled the pancake out of the oven.  And when I got home, a German Pancake bake-off was conducted and the results are undeniable:  you get a much more dramatic and consistent edge rise with the higher heat that steel delivers.  My whole family has now switched how we cook them.  I was really surprised that after 20 years to see such an improvement, but it just goes to show how you can always learn something new about a favorite dish!

• Top with lightly grilled veggies for a savory brunch treat.
• Adorn with fresh strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream.
• Cut the German Pancake in half and pair up with a few strips of honey-cured bacon

• Use organic eggs and raw milk from your local farmer's market for a super fresh variation.
• The recipe will work with low-fat through whole milks, but you get better rise out of the pancake when you've got more butter fat in the milk.
  

• Use only white flour for this recipe. Any substitutions wind up being too heavy for the pancake.
• If you have trouble with the pancake not rising (aka the Frisbee factor), check to make sure the pan is large enough and that the butter does not get browned before cooking. If those both check out, vary the milk type to see if you get better rise by increasing or decreasing the fat percentage.