Puff the Magic Pancake.
As much as I love pancakes, I’d never been able to find a recipe I really, REALLY liked. That all changed while we were working on King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, the book we published 2 years ago. At the start of the project, the three authors—myself, fellow blogger Susan Reid, and Susan Miller, director of King Arthur’s Baking Education Center—divvied up the book’s proposed chapters. And in we jumped.
I grabbed yeast bread, cookies, and pie; Susan Miller took the breakfast chapter, along with several others. HA! Whole-grain pancakes—I can’t even make a good pancake out of all-purpose flour, never mind trying to deal with the vagaries of whole grains… So it was with great delight that I tasted Susan’s signature recipe for whole-grain pancakes—my goodness, they were PERFECT. Light, tender, moist and a bit “eggy” (in a nice way). I simply couldn’t limit myself to one test bite (a single bite being my “save the waistline” policy for taste-testing over 400 recipes.)
These pancakes absorb the butter and syrup without becoming soggy; they even look lovely, golden brown shading to darker patches. Homemade Whole Grain Pancakes (p. 4, the second recipe in the book) has become my go-to, default, constant-companion pancake recipe. (And sorry, it’s not online—if you don’t have the book, check it out at your library. Or heck, you COULD even buy the book, which as I can witness after taste-testing those 400+ recipes, is filled with REALLY tasty treats.)
But getting back to my lingering pancake ineptitude, I still don’t have a traditional “white flour” pancake recipe I love. So, time and time again, I go back to a 40-year-old favorite breakfast treat, something my mom found in The New York Times and made for us on special occasions. A recipe that was that newspaper’s most-requested reprint ever.
Called “David Eyre’s Pancake” in the Times, it’s simply another version of Dutch babies, Swedish puffs, German pancakes… take your geographical pick. The flour-butter-egg-milk batter is basically a popover batter, gussied up with a bit of sugar and spices. Poured into sizzling butter in a shallow pan and baked, it puffs to amazing heights in the oven. Pull it out, drizzle with lemon juice, sprinkle with sugar, add a few berries, and serve—immediately. It deflates quickly (sigh), but its taste lingers on long after its impressive height has evaporated.
Ready? Let’s make Puff Pancakes.
First, find an oven-safe frying pan that’s the right size. It should be between 10” and 11” across the bottom. Either straight or sloping sides are fine, but make sure it’s wide enough at the bottom.
Put flour, sugar, spices, and some lemon peel in one bowl; eggs, milk, and vanilla in another (or in a measuring cup).
Put your chosen pan on a hot burner, and heat the butter.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients till smooth. This isn’t smooth.
THIS is smooth.
When the butter is melted and sizzling…
Pour the batter into the pan.
Immediately put the pan in the oven, which you’ve preheated to 425°F.
While the pancake is baking, get your lemon and confectioners’ sugar ready.
WHOA! Look at that pancake POP!
All ready to come out.
A squeeze of lemon…
A sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar…
Add berries…
Slice and serve!
View our recipe for Puff Pancakes.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:49 am
We love a variation of these — we call them Monsters! I love that my kids get eggs without realizing it. YUM!
May 9th, 2008 at 11:37 am
WOW! I hate making pancakes b/c they never turn out right. But I’m going to have to find an oven-safe frying pan now & try these!
Thanks! I love this blog.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
OK, now I know what I’m making for breakfast tomorrow morning…with those fresh strawberries I just bought, too.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
It’s “Kaiserschmarren”! (Or “Emperor’s pancake”) An Austrian dessert, usually made with raisins, on the stove (rather than in the oven), and then torn in pieces with knife and fork before serving.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
PJ, I think the Zephyr (think I spelled that right) pancakes in the “Baker’s Companion” are great “white flour” pancakes, as is the recipe for “Simple But Perfect Pancakes.” I’ll have to try this new recipe of yours.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I can’t wait to try these!!! This recipe and the pictures totally reminds me of an old French omelet recipe that my mother and grandmother used to make, of which I have been searching for the recipe for over 20 years. Perhaps you know it? It does not have the nutmeg, lemon, sugar, or vanilla as I recall. Now I know where to start (I hope) in order to perhaps recreate the recipe on my own. All other attempts at recreation have been a bust, I’m afraid.) I can’t wait to try both! I have a visitor here, with me now, and she wants me to make your pancake NOW as both our mouths are watering!
May 9th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Thank You for my dinner idea tonight. I have a recipe I got from an old Reader’s digest Cookbook that is called a Giant Pancake and the kids adore it. I generally thinly slice an apple (if I have one) and saute in the butter before I add the batter. I also add cinnamon to the batter if I add the apple then I sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon sugar on top when it’s done.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I have beeen making David Eyre pancakes for at least 25 years. We use a pyrex pie plate in the oven. But love your pictures and directions
May 9th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Annette, how does it puff way up without going into the oven? Or does it not puff way up?
Beth (yes, Zephyr - exactly right) and “Simple But Perfect” - what can I say, I know these are good but I’m STILL a pancake dunce! It’s like, some people have a green thumb when it comes to gardening? I don’t have a white (floury?) thumb when it comes to pancakes, I guess…
May 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Unlike the directions above, the recipe does not call for heating the pan before adding the batter. I hadn’t seen this page before I tried it this morning, so I made it according to the recipe. It was very tasty, but not as puffy as in the pics above. Next time I’ll preheat! The lemon juice made it kind of soggy. Next time I’ll skip the lemon and use sliced strawberries with chocolate sauce.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
PJ, I have been making this for nearly 40 years. Got the recipe from my MIL who lived in NYC so I imagine she got it from the Times. She called it Hawaiian Pancake. Over the years I have varied it many ways. I bake it in a cast iron skillet. I taught it (as a guest cook) to the Creative Cooking class at the HS I work at and had half of the kids make savory versions and half sweet. When you do the savory, using carmelized onions, sausage, peppers, what ever you have in the fridge, it’s a great light supper.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I tried this on Sunday (cooked my own Mother’s Day breakfast) and it stuck to the pan horribly. I made sure that the melted butter was completely covering the pan bottom before I poured in the batter…what should I have done differently? Does it make a difference whether I melt the butter in the pan vs. melting the butter separately and pouring it into the pan?
Other than this, it tasted great and got a thumbs-up from my family!
May 12th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Debra, if you used a butter substitute of some kind (e.g., “light” butter, or anything other than 100% butter), that’s one cause of sticking. I think not heating the butter hot enough is another reason. Personally, before making anything like this I spray the pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray first, then melt the butter - that helps, too. Hope you try it again!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I cannot wait to try this!
Reading other comments I know that high heat is important when pouring the batter into the sizzling butter. Having the butter sizzling hot when you pour the batter in will instantly puff the crust next to the pan and that crust will float on the thin layer of hot oil preventing it from sticking. Another reason for sticking is perhaps not using enough butter? The ingredients of this recipie is not designed for low fat eating. Size of portion is the key to preserving waistline. I wouldn’t skimp on the amount of butter used in the pan. The photo shows a good layer floating in the pan.
Another cause for sticking would be using a pan that is not thick enough to hold the heat when you add the batter. The author used a heavy gauge professional pan in the photos. Others talk of using cast iron skillets (my choice also).
Also warming the liquids to room temperature before mixing the batter can help avoid the batter being so cold as to prevent the heat flash reaction with the batter to give you the desired effect of bottom crust (in short; preventing sticking).
Timing will also be critical. Watching to keep the butter from beginning to brown is important. This suggests making sure the batter is all prepared and ready for pouring into the butter when it is perfect. PJ, your suggestion of spraying the pan with vegetable oil before melting the butter is another good trick. A couple of spoon-fulls (Tablespoon) of olive oil or other vegetable oil will help to delay the burning of the butter and permit it to get hotter before it does burn.
The secrete to pancakes is in the heat first, second the layer of fat heated in the pan.
Using low fat butter substitutes will require adjustments because you are not working with a traditional amount of fat. those butter substitutes tend to have a lot of water. Water can be a good release substance but you will need to think along the lines of steaming rather than sauteeing