Get ready to be obsessed with this delicious Dutch Baby Pancake. It’s so easy to whip up and looks incredible on the table!
Delicious, impressive and effortless!
What? it’s February 2022 already? Wow, that was fast! You know what that means, right? Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day around the corner.
Let’s start this year’s Valentine’s Day with some effortless breakfast for your partner. Nothing is more romantic than staring into each other eyes whilst munching on these sexy Dutch Baby Pancakes with strawberries, cream and chocolate. If you can think of something more romantic, then I don’t want to know about it! Actually, I lied because I want to know, as I’m curious by nature!
Having to resist the temptation to eat before taking my food photos is a dilemma I always face as a recipe blogger. I’ve lost this battle a few times and had to cover the parts I’ve eaten or I had to photograph the dishes from a different angle.
I write most of my recipe posts late at night because this is the only time I have thanks to my energetic 2-year-old toddler that requires most of my time during the day. So now you know why there are sometimes typos and sentences that make little sense on here! It’s because I’m ‘zombie-like’ from being exhausted. Gosh, it’s midnight and I am staring at my Dutch baby pancake photos with my stomach rumbling. I need someone to make this for me when I get up tomorrow, but that would only be in my dreams.
But it shouldn’t be because this large pancake is so quick and simple to make as we mix the batter in a blender. Plus, there’s no flipping and waiting to cook piles and piles of pancakes for everyone! We just pour the batter into a skillet and, like magic, it comes out of the oven all puffy and golden. How impressive is that? You’ll have plenty of time to prepare the strawberries, whip the cream and melt the chocolate!
Family Dutch Baby pancake argument
When I first made a Dutch baby pancake, an argument broke out at our table. My husband, Tomasi and my toddler, Kai, were the first ones to take a bite of it and…… are you ready for it? Hubby goes, ‘It just tastes like pancakes.’ Meanwhile, Kai was munching away happily beside him. I probably should’ve feed him the much healthier Banana oat pancakes for babies and me
None of us had ever tried a Dutch baby pancake before this, but I refused to believe him. How is it possible that such a unique, beautiful looking pancake tastes like an ordinary pancake?
My sister, Nara and I quickly sliced ourselves some pancake to see if Tomasi’s description was accurate. We thanked the stars that it wasn’t, not that we don’t like pancakes because we do, as I’ve made this Giant Pancake With Lemon but I was expecting something a little different.
The inside of the Dutch baby pancake had a custard-like centre, and the exterior was crispy and tasted similar to choux pastry. Nara agreed with my description and we both jumped on Tomasi for misleading us. Hubby got defensive and blurted out, ‘Fine, it’s a very delicious pancake that looks like a trendy UFO!’ Yup, welcome to our forever crazy household!
One large pancake for the entire family
Sharing a Valentine’s Day meal with the entire family may not be very romantic, but it’s the reality of our lives at the moment. There’s hardly time for romance for hubby and I for the last 2 years since Kai was born. Yup, couples massages, fine dining and cinema movies will have to wait!
Our romance from now on is a party of 3 or maybe 4 if Nara’s around. Thanks to the pandemic, we see each other much more than we would like to! Caviar, our clingy Siberian kitty, loves this because we’re around to baby him 24/7. However, Teddie, our baby-face gangsta kitty, couldn’t care less, but if we feed him a minute later than usual, then he’ll kick up a stink.
A Valentine’s party of 4 calls for a generous portion of pancakes for us to share. I made this pancake using a 30cm (12in) skillet and this should be enough for 8 normal people, but all of us are food-loving people, so we eat much more than we probably should!
Also, I recently caved in and bought myself an ultra-expensive Le Creuset cast-iron skillet during last year’s Black Friday sale. Finally, I had time to take it out of the box and use it for the first time. I bought the largest skillet they offered because I always cook large portions, a trait inherited from my mum!
If you want to make a smaller pancake for 4 servings, just halve this recipe and use a 20cm to 25cm (8in to 10in) skillet instead and bake it for a few minutes less. Dutch baby pancakes will also bake well in a deep oven-safe casserole dish, baking tin or stainless steel skillet.
For maximum pancake puff and rise, leave the eggs and milk at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
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Ingredients for Dutch Baby Pancake
Plain flour (all-purpose flour) does not contain any leavening agents.
FOR THE TOPPING
Thickened cream (whipping cream) has gelatine added to it and contains 35% milk fat.
Cooking chocolate – I prefer using good quality cooking chocolate as they usually have a higher percentage of cocoa butter, which makes it easier to melt and work with. Regular eating chocolate would also work, but you may need to add a few teaspoons of vegetable or canola oil to thin it down to aid in the melting process.
Icing sugar (powdered sugar, confectionary sugar) – Icing sugar usually comes in two forms: icing sugar mixture and pure icing sugar. Icing sugar mixture is softer than pure icing sugar because there’s starch or flour added to it. For this recipe, I prefer using icing sugar mixture because the starch helps stabilise the whipped cream.
How to make Dutch Baby pancake
Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F) or 200°C (390°F) for fan-forced ovens. Once the oven comes to temperature, place in a 30cm (12in) cast iron or stainless steel skillet (not non-stick) into the oven. Let the pan heat for at least 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the eggs, flour, vanilla extract, milk, sugar, salt into a blender and blitz on high for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the blender with a spatula and blitz again for a 10 seconds.
Carefully remove the pan from the oven and pour in the butter. It should immediately sizzle, then slowly pour all the batter into the centre of the pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until puffed up and golden.
For the topping
Whilst the pancake is in the oven, prepare the strawberries, chocolate and cream. For the cream – Place cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar in a large bowl and whip on high speed using a hand or stand mixer until the cream is fluffy. For the chocolate – Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt it in the microwave. Do this in 40-second bursts, stirring well after each burst until the chocolate has completely melted.
Place the strawberries into the centre of the pancake and generously dust icing sugar all over the pancake. Dutch baby pancake is best served immediately out of the oven.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Dutch Baby Pancake
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 cup plain flour (all-purpose flour) (NOTE 1)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk (full cream or whole milk, at room temperature)
- 2 tbsp Caster sugar (or regular white sugar)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 80 gm unsalted butter (melted)
For the topping
- 1½ cup thickened cream (NOTE 2)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp icing sugar (more to dust) (NOTE 3)
- 250 gm strawberries (sliced)
- 200 gm milk cooking chocolate (or dark chocolate, roughly chopped or broken) (NOTE 4)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F) or 200°C (390°F) for fan-forced ovens. Once the oven comes to temperature, place in a 30cm (12in) cast iron or stainless steel skillet (not non-stick) into the oven. Let the pan heat for at least 10 minutes.Meanwhile, place the eggs, flour, vanilla extract, milk, sugar, salt into a blender and blitz on high for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the blender with a spatula and blitz again for a 10 seconds.
- Carefully remove the pan from the oven and pour in the butter. It should immediately sizzle, then slowly pour all the batter into the centre of the pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until puffed up and golden.
- Whilst the pancake is in the oven, prepare the strawberries, chocolate and cream. For the cream – Place cream, vanilla extract and icing sugar in a large bowl and whip on high speed using a hand or stand mixer until the cream is fluffy. For the chocolate – Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt it in the microwave. Do this in 40-second bursts, stirring well after each burst until the chocolate has completely melted.
- Place the strawberries into the centre of the pancake and generously dust icing sugar all over the pancake. Dutch baby pancake is best served immediately out of the oven.
