Dutch Baby Recipe!

 

This recipe has been a challenge for me to master. The first Dutch Baby that I made puffed up beautifully! It was followed by flat one after flat one. Dutch Babies are also known as German Pancakes, just for future reference.

Flat Dutch Baby, again. :(

I read an article called Why Didn't My Dutch Baby Puff Up? I implemented the techniques from the article. My resulting Dutch Babies were still flat as a pancake, not the kind of pancake I was aiming for. :)

I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to make a Dutch Baby. I gleaned a few new pointers. I tried adding these pointers to my recipe and voilá! A perfectly puffed Dutch Baby!

And then another one!

This is how I get consistent results. The method is specific, but it works.

Dutch Baby Recipe

3 TBS. clarified butter or clarify your own butter*

3 eggs at room temperature**

3/4 cup milk at room temperature**

3/4 cup flour 

1 TBS. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla flavoring

Pinch of salt

Confectioners sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 400° F. While the oven is preheating place a 10 inch iron skillet into the oven. Heat the skillet for no less than 15 minutes.

In the meantime, combine the room temperature eggs and milk in a mixing bowl. Whisk until mixture is light yellow and no longer stringy, about 1 minute. Add flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt, whisk vigorously to remove lumps and incorporate air, about 1 minute. Set aside batter and let rest for 10 minutes.

At this point you can clarify your butter if you don't already have some.

*To clarify butter: melt the butter in a heat proof container in the microwave or in a sauce pan on the stove. 

Skim the foam from the top of the melted butter and discard.

Gently, dip the butter oil out with a spoon, avoiding any milk settled at the bottom of the vessel.

Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Pour 3 TBS. butter oil into the hot skillet. Give the batter one last quick whisk. Pour batter into hot skillet. Swiftly return the skillet to the oven. Cook the Dutch Baby 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown around the edges.

Remove from oven. Using a spatula transfer the entire Dutch Baby from the skillet to a cooling rack for a few minutes to allow the steam to escape without condensing along the bottom and rendering the Dutch Baby soggy. Dust with confectioners sugar when slightly cooled. Slice into wedges and serve. 

**For room temperature eggs I leave them out of the refrigerator overnight. And for room temperature milk I heat it ever so slightly on the stove.