Friday, April 15, 2011

German Pancake for the Pope

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy.


Saturday, April 16th, is Pope Benedict XVI's birthday!  So in order to fully appreciate our German pontiff's special day we are going all German.  Other than Brats for dinner we are going to have a German pancake for breakfast!

I adapted this from a recipe I found at Food Network a gazillion years ago.  I, of course, double it too since there are so many of us.

German Pancake

  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 Tablespoons maple syrup ( you can also use sugar, but since we have someone who gave up refined sugar for Lent this works!)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons shortening
  • Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Place cast iron skillet in oven while preheating.

In a saucepan or in the microwave warm milk with butter over medium heat till butter melts (or almost, don't let the milk boil!).  Whisk together eggs, salt, syrup, warm milk, melted butter and vanilla.  Sift flour over wet mixture and whisk till smooth.

Remove cast iron from oven and place shortening in pan.  Using a brush cover all the sides and bottom with the shortening as it melts.  Pour in batter and bake for about 12 minutes.

Lower the heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake till nice and golden brown, about 10 to 15 more minutes.

There it is in the oven, poofing away

When you take out of the oven run a knife along the edge of skillet and serve immediately.

You can serve it with fresh fruit syrup, jam or jelly, or maple syrup.  If desired shift powered sugar over the top!

Pin It

9 comments:

  1. This looks delicious and perfect for a rainy morning breakfast this weekend. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't know any German pancake like this (although I am from Germany) - but it looks utterly delicious.
    I just have to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What is the amount of flour used? Not listed in ingredients. Thank you... Would love to make these.. Happy Birthday Pope Benedict!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry!! I added it. 1 cup of all purpose flour! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I make these ALL the time. It's even more wonderful when you saute some apples with cinnamon and sugar first, then dump the batter in the skillet. My batter is a little different, regardless these are an amazing quick breakfast. You can even put the batter in a cupcake pan for extra yumminess!

    Ashmodai I too am German and this is based on a typical German pancake, an Americanized version sometimes called a dutch pancake. I think the Pope would approve! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Can I use a stainless skillet. I don't have a bi enough cast iron skillet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have never done it in a stainless skillet, but I have done it in a glass pan and it worked great.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The pancakes look so good that I am going to make them right now for breakfast. They'll make this Saurday morning special for my family.
    Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think we will have this for supper tonight in honor of the pope's first day of retirement :-)

    ReplyDelete