DUTCH BABY, BABY!

Makes four 8-inch pancakes

I’ve always loved this easy and wildly delicious dish. We’d made them as a special for brunch off and on, and I returned to it recently when thinking again about yummy brunch dishes on my Dublin gig. A Dutch Baby can be sweet or savory. The simplest version is with lemon zest and juice, dusted flagrantly with powdered sugar at abandon. Fresh blueberries, or even better, blackberries, well sugared, are an absolute delight on top. But these days I’m enjoying savory ones with Gruyère, Parmesan, and fresh herbs. A Dutch Baby couldn’t be much simpler to make, taking only a few minutes to put together. And they look great! Be sure to rush them to the table still in the baking pan, as they’ll deflate very quickly. You’ll need an 8-inch cast iron pan to do it right, something that holds its heat well.

1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
A pinch of salt
1 TBL (18 g) granulated sugar
A pinch of cayenne pepper
6 ½ oz (190 ml) milk
6 whole eggs
Zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons (15 g) butter, kept cold in fridge
4 tablespoons grated (20 g) Gruyère or Comté cheese
½ lemon, for squeezing
2 tablespoons grated (10 g) Parmesan
2 TBL (12 g) chopped chives, thyme, parsley or chervil

Heat oven to 425º F. Mix flour, salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Combine milk and eggs and whisk until smooth. Whisk wet ingredients (or use a hand blender) into dry until well blended. Stir lemon zest into mixture. Place cast iron pan inside oven to heat for 10 minutes. When hot, add cold butter to pan and swirl carefully to coat bottom and sides of pan. When butter just begins to brown, add 6 oz egg mixture to pan and swirl to distribute eggs evenly in pan. Place pan on upper rack of oven and bake 9 mins. Eggs will be puffed up and edges browned. Sprinkle Dutch baby evenly Gruyère cheese, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on it, and sprinkle interior with flake salt. Lastly, sprinkle on Parmesan and chopped herbs. Serve Dutch baby in the cast iron pan on a trivet on the table (mind the hot pan!). Drink rosé!