Gingerbread spice dutch baby:
I f you don’t already have a Dutch-baby
pancake in your breakfast repertoire, I simply cannot let you get any farther into this book without one. Closer to a thick crepe than a typical American pancake, it is, frankly, more interesting than both. The batter is practically austere in its brief ingredient list and in that it contains only a modicum of sugar, and it can be whirled up in a blender in a single minute before it is poured into a buttered frying pan and slipped into the oven. Faster than you can brew the coffee, slice some fruit, and set the table, you’ll pull from the oven a rippling ocean of golden pancake-not puffed, but rumpled like a bedsheet. The edges are a little crisp. The center is something you’ll daydream about later in the day. And the flavor, well, that’s where I had fun. Traditionally, Dutch babies are a humble affair, dressed with lemon juice and dusted with powdered sugar. But this is one for a chilly morning, the kind that will fill your kitchen with a whiff of winter spice. Of course, this isn’t the kind of gingerbread that would please your German great-grandmother; the intensity of the spices will not bring tears to your eyes. EVerything here is a bit more gentle it’s breakfast, after all, and we all deserve to be gently eased into the morning after all that holiday nog and grog the night before.
Yield: one 9-inch rumpled pancake, serving one to two :
2 large eggs
I tablespoon dark brown sugar.
1 teaspoon unsulfured molasses.
1/3 cup (40 grams) all-purpose flour.
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger.
Pinch of ground cloves.
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg.
1/8 teaspoon table salt.
1/33 cup (80 ml) whole milk.
2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter Confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup, or heavy cream. to serve Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Run the eggs in a blender until they are pale in color. Add remaining ingredients except butter and confectioners' sugar, and process until smooth. Melt the butter over high heat in a 9-inch ovenproof skillet swirl it up the sides, making sure the pan is nicely coated. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Slide pancake onto a plate. Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup, and/or a drizzle of heavy cream.
