Dutch Baby

This Dutch Baby is a delicious oven pancake that you can top with all your favorite magical ingredients. Whether it's sweet or savoury or a bit of both, it's gonna be awesome.

When I was a teenager, my dance teacher would throw a Christmas party in her home every year for all the staff and assistant teachers. It felt very exclusive to my teenage to be going to the teacher's posh house and having her prepare brunch for us. I got to socialise with the teachers I idolized. It's a sweet memory.

Every year, Dutch Babies would be on the menu, and that was the only place I'd ever eaten them. So quite apart from how delicious this dish is, it does actually hold a special energy for me. It's amazing how food, like a song, can take you back to a very specific moment and bring back to life people and places that you've lost or forgotten. That memory making is its own kind of magick. It makes me want to be more intentional the memories I'm creating for people with my food.

What makes a Dutch Baby so awesome?

If you've never had one, a Dutch Baby is an eggy oven pancake, similar to a Yorkshire pudding but more neutral in flavor versus distinctly savoury. There are tender eggy bits and crispy brown bits all woven together is the batter puffs up in the oven. It's the perfect canvas for all your favorite toppings.

What's great about making a Dutch Baby for a party is that you can just mix up the batter, put it in the oven, walk away for a while, and come back to four to six servings. Unlike buttermilk pancakes which have you chained to the stove, you can actually get to that important memory making with your loved ones.

Make it magical

Wheat is a staple grain, so of course, it's deeply magical. There was once much reverence for millers who were able to transmute tough grass into soft flour. Wheat carries feminine energy and is tied to the element of earth and the planet Venus. One of my favorite sabbags, Lughnasadh or Lammas which means loaf mass, is dedicated to grains and bread. Use wheat in spells for abundance, fertility, rebirth, expansion, and stability.

For more on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this dish. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Flour - all-purpose or plain flour
• Sugar - You can reduce the amount if you want a more savoury application
• Salt
• Butter - It's going to be melted, so don't worry about setting out butter to soften. You'll want to use unsalted butter, particularly for sweet applications.
• Milk - Whole milk is ideal, but use whatever you have on hand
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract - Again, you could skip this if you want a more savoury flavor profile, or experiment with swapping it out for other extracts such as lemon or almond, depending on the toppings you're going to use.

How to make a Dutch Baby

You'll start by turning on your oven, adding some butter to an oven-safe skillet, and popping that into the oven to melt the butter. I prefer to use a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Move quickly for the next bit or keep an eye (or a nose) on the pan, though, because you don't want your butter to burn.

While that's heating up, we'll whisk together some dry ingredients and some wet ingredients separately, just like with any pancakes. Then bring them both together and stir quickly and gently to combine. When your batter is ready and your butter is melted and sizzling, carefully remove the cast iron skillet from the oven with good oven mits. Then pour your batter into your hot pan and pop the whole thing back into the oven to get puffy and golden.

I hope this Dutch Baby recipe helps you create delicious memories. And let me know your favorite toppings in the comments.

Looking for more awesome breakfast or brunch recipes? Try these Zuchinni & Potato Pancakes or Croissant French Toast with Maple Bacon Whipped Cream.

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Recipe slightly adapted from I'm Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown.