Dutch babies - neither Dutch nor babies
- 20 minutes ago
- 4 min read
"dramatic, rumpled crepe-like pancakes will always be more exciting than undramatic, unrumpled crepes" Deb Perelman/Smitten Kitchen
This really began with an Ottolenghi newsletter but since I started with a quote from Deb Perelman, I thought I might as well start with her recipe Extra billowy dutch baby pancake - because it's just the basic recipe. And in a way that's all you need to know about this. It's a sort of a cross between a crêpe and a Yorkshire pudding, in that it's a batter, but baked in the oven - thinner than a Yorkshire pudding I think - although some that I found looked pretty thick, but thicker and crunchier and a quite different shape from a crêpe. So herewith a few words of advice from Deb Perelman - and then we'll look at what you can do with it:
"I found that an eggier batter led to a more billowy pancake. I found a little less flour and milk also increased rumples. I found that by adding the flour first, a lumpy batter was fully avoidable. I also realized that a lot of what makes a Dutch baby “work” — i.e. have a dramatic and Instagram-worthy finish — making sure you have the right amount of batter for your pan and, often, cooking it a minute or two further than merely cooked through." Deb Perelman/Smitten Kitchen
Yotam Ottolenghi also has one important bit of advice - the 'it' referring to the batter of course:
"rest it in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, ideally overnight. It’s what gives you that dramatic rise when the batter hits the hot pan - if you don’t rest it, it’ll still rise but won’t look quite as dramatic." Yotam Ottolenghi
As I said, this began with Ottolenghi's weekly newsletter which was all about Dutch babies - with two examples - one sweet this Chocolate Dutch baby with caramelised bananas - and one savoury whose recipe is not online, but which had:
"herbs and turmeric blended through the batter, and a dill pickle and za’atar crème fraîche alongside. Pile it with smoked trout or salmon, charcuterie, cornichons, sauerkraut - whatever you have."
And that's the thing really - it seems that once you have mastered the batter - either plain, sweetened with sugar or with other things included in the batter, then you can top it with whatever you like. It's a playground for the adventurous cook. Not quite as fashionable as I thought, but getting there.
Why Dutch and why baby? Well there are two versions of the Dutch - both of them meaning German not Dutch. The first - from Ottolenghi but cited in lots of other places - including Wikipedia:
"The name comes from early 1900s Seattle, where a family restaurant called Manca’s Cafe served German (‘Deutsch’) pancakes. A child couldn’t pronounce ‘Deutsch’ - and ‘Dutch’ stuck instead."
Elsewhere 'the child' is said to be the owner's daughters. The other is from Nigella, which sounds reasonable but which I haven't seen elsewhere:
"The "Dutch" of the title doesn't in fact refer to Holland, or anything to do with that country, but rather owes its name to the fact that this particular pancake comes from the German-American community known as the Pennsylvania Dutch" Nigella Lawson
And again - the Dutch bit is just Deutsch mispronounced.
As to babies - nobody seems to have a reason for this. Since America seems to be the place of origin, I'm guessing it's baby or babies used in the affectionate sense that seems to be an American thing.
Having now searched for and found recipes that might appeal I now have come to see that really, as I said in my introduction somewhere that once you've mastered the batter and the cooking of it - just go for it. Because as Ottolenghi says it's just:
"effectively a big Yorkshire pudding that you can fill with whatever you like."
So just to give you some ideas - here are some examples - first the savoury ones, because lots of people seem to think this is a breakfast dish: Savoury Dutch baby pancake - Tracy Rutherford/Taste; Dutch baby pancakes with fried eggs and mushrooms - Warren Mendes/delicious.; Dutch baby pancake with mortadella and rocket - Helen Goh/SBS - this one really looked a bit stodgy; Everything babel Dutch baby - Dorie Greenspan/The Guardian; Spinach trout and caper Dutch baby - Georgina Hayden/The Guardian; Dutch baby with oven roasted tomatoes - Yotam Ottolenghi/Gourmetpedia; Corn Dutch baby with salsa roja and curtido - Yotam Ottolenghi/MaryB
Then there's sweet: Dutch baby with lemon butter and clotted cream - Curtis Stone/Gourmet Traveller; Dutch baby with honey limoncello syrup - Jessica Brook/Gourmet Traveller; Dutch-style pancake with salted caramel pears - Coles; Apple dutch baby - Ina Garten/SBS; Dutch baby - Nigella Lawson
And please note that either sweet or savoury is suitable for an elaborate breakfast, though Deb Perelman swears it only takes just over quarter of an hour to have it on the table - or brunch - if you indulge in brunch that is. I gather also that part of the performance - in America at least - is the panache with which the hot and bubbling baby is brought to the table in the skillet in which it is cooked. So do you go for lots of small frying pans, or one big one? Ottolenghi suggests putting it on the table which has a selection of toppings and then allowing everyone to customize their own.
YEARS GONE BY
May 31 - the last day of autumn
2023 - Sesame seeds
2022 - Art in the kitchen
2021 - Missing
2020 - Missing
2019 - National scone day
2017 - Nothing
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