Discovering The German Pancake

Have you ever tried making a German pancake?  I had never even heard of it until a few weeks ago.  We were walking through William Sonoma (where everything is so beautiful but way to expensive) when I saw a mix for it.  Since my family loves breakfast foods I looked it up a few days later and decided to give it a try. It's a cross between a regular pancake and a soufflé.  When you take it out of the oven, you sprinkle powdered sugar on it and then eat it hot with maple syrup and if you're adventurous a squeeze of lemon.  My family loved it the first time I made it so it's because a regular weekend treat in our house.

I made it today for friends that came over for a playdate.  Take a look:

Here's the recipe from foodnetwork.com in case you want to try it:

German Pancake

 Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup milk, warmed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vegetable shortening
• Confectioners' sugar
• Marinated Berries or Glazed Apples and Pears, recipes follow
• Serving suggestion: Maple syrup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, sugar, milk, vanilla, and butter. Whisk in the flour to make a smooth batter. Set aside.

Heat a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and brush the inside with the shortening. Pour in the batter and bake for 15 minutes.

Lower the oven to 350 degrees F. and continue baking until puffed and golden brown, about 13 to 15 minutes more. Run a knife around the edge of the skillet. Sift the confectioners' sugar over the pancake. Serve immediately in the skillet with maple syrup, marinated berries, or glazed apples and pears.

We also had a couple of other treats! :)

Not all of our playdates involve such treats but today we decided to spruce it up a bit.  It was a yummy morning!