Hello! So today we have a tasty favorite MOSS breakfast to share with you. German Apple Pancake is a variety of Dutch Baby, also known a Bismarck—all of which are a simplified version of a German dessert called Kaiserschmarrn. What all of these have in common is an eggy batter that is baked in a very hot oven, creating one big puffy “pancake” that you can then slice and eat. This is a delicious breakfast, easy to make from simple ingredients, with lots of “ooh and ahh!” potential when you pull it out of the oven! We like to serve it with syrup, and bacon on the side.
Let’s get started. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients:
Eggs, Milk, Flour, Vanilla, Salt, Apples, Brown Sugar, Butter, Pan Spray (or a little more Butter)
Kitchen Supplies:
Bowl, Whisk (or mixer or blender), Measuring Cups and Spoons, Rubber Spatula or Mixing Spoon, 9x13” or 8x8” Baking Pan
1) First, you’ll heat up your oven. While that’s happening, cut up your apples. I cut them into about 8 wedges each. Put them into your greased baking pan, and then top them with the butter and brown sugar. They’ll look something like this:
2) Put them in the oven and roast them for ten minutes at a time, stirring them with your spatula or spoon every 10 minutes, until they’re nice and soft and caramel-y, about 30 minutes.
3) During the final 10 minutes, put the eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and flour into a bowl and whisk them all together. If you’re doing this by hand, try to whisk everything for at least two minutes, maybe more. Find a buddy to trade off with if your arms get tired! You can also use a hand or stand mixer, or a blender. If you have the mechanized advantage with one of those tools, you can cut the time down to 45 or 60 seconds.
4) When you take your hot apples out of the oven this time, crank up the heat, and pour the batter over the top of the apples, then carefully put the pan back in the oven.
5) Bake your Apple Pancake for 15-25 minutes, until it is puffy and cooked through. When it comes out of the oven, it might be very puffy and tall! If it isn’t, that’s okay too, it’ll still taste delicious. And either way, it will start to settle down when you cut it up, dust it with powdered sugar, and serve it with a little syrup! Bacon on the side is very yummy, too.
Questions to talk about while you bake and eat your German Apple Pancake:
- What makes it puff up so much? Without any baking powder or soda, or yeast, why does it still rise?
- How does it go from being a runny thin batter to a big thick “pancake”? What helps it to develop that structure?
- What other kinds of fruit might be delicious in this dish instead of apples? What about vegetables?!
Recipe: German Apple Pancake
Note: This recipe is for a big 9x13” inch pan, enough to serve 4-8 VERY hungry people, or as many as 12 people as part of a bigger breakfast. If you cut the recipe in half, it will make a nice amount for 4 people. Use an 8x8” pan instead (or you could try it in a 10” cast iron skillet.)
6-8 Apples (any kind is fine; use more if they’re small, fewer if they’re big)
½ cup Butter, sliced into pats
¼-½ cup Brown Sugar
1 ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- Turn oven on to 375F. Spray your baking pan with pan spray, or grease it well with butter.
- Cut up your apples into 8-10 wedges each, and put them into the baking pan, spreading them evenly. Top the apples with pats of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, sprinkling everything as evenly as you can.
- Put the pan into the oven when the oven is hot enough. Set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, pull the pan out of the oven and very carefully stir everything together. The butter and sugar will be very hot! Repeat this, baking the apples for ten minutes at a time, and then stirring them, until they are roasty and soft and caramel-y looking, about 30 minutes.
- While they are baking for the final 10 minutes, mix up the batter:
1 ½ cups Flour
2 cups Milk
8 whole Eggs
1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ teaspoon Salt
- Whisk all of the batter ingredients together. If whisking by hand, mix for at least two minutes. If using a hand or stand mixer, or a blender, mix for 45-60 seconds.
- Take the apples out of the oven, and turn the oven up to 425F.
- Gently pour the batter over the apples, doing your best to cover all of them.
- Carefully put the pan back in the oven and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until the pancake is puffed up and cooked through.
- Cut into pieces and serve with powdered sugar and syrup!
