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Hello my Insiders!
You know how sometimes you make a recipe over and over for years, and then somehow you forget about it, even though everyone in your household loves it? I’m not sure if it’s just me who does this, but today’s journal recipe is a perfect example.
I’ve made Dutch baby pancakes (also known as German pancakes, and, apparently, Bismarck pancakes) for my entire adult life, after going through a Yorkshire pudding obsession that led into these closely-related pancakey cousins of the Yorkie.
When I got a steam oven, I discovered that they could quite literally be baked to new heights using combi steam, which was a thrill. I even put a Dutch baby recipe in my Steam Oven Baking cookbook, because they’re such a great show of what a steam oven can achieve.
And then, somehow, I realized it’s been at least a couple of years since I made one of these puffy, light-but-custardy pancakes, so of course I went on a bender to make up for it. And what a bender. I hope you’ll enjoy the outcome of this today, with not just the base recipe, but several ways to take these pancakes in different directions both sweet and savory. Who says you can’t have pancakes for dinner AND dessert?
Happy steam oven cooking, see you in July (oof, past the middle of the year already!).
Emily x
New to Cook
Dutch Baby Pancakes (savory and sweet!)
Dutch babies aren’t a new thing, and the recipe is kind of the recipe. But they feel magical every time I bake one, and I bet you’ll think the same, especially if you’ve never tried it before.
The revelation of the batter puffing and puffing in the oven, so much that you think the whole thing is just going to empty itself out of the pan, is mesmerizing to watch.
And they’re equally fabulous to eat – rumpled and soft, and open to any topping you can think of.
The Season Flip
Rather than my usual Southern vs Northern hemisphere suggestions, today I’m giving you a list of summery vs wintery topping ideas for a Dutch baby pancake. Some are traditional, some decidedly not, but if you love these pancakes as much as I do, you’re bound to find a couple of ideas for every season.
Cold weather pancake toppings
Pan-fried chunks of sausage and wilted kale or Swiss chard, scattered over the top of the pancake just as it comes out of the oven.
Roasted pumpkin chunks and picked thyme or rosemary leaves. This works well as a baked-in addition: scatter the pumpkin and herbs over the base of the heated pan, then pour the pancake mixture straight over the top and get it into the oven. If you’re my husband, you’ll also want to crumble a little gorgonzola cheese over the pancake when it comes out of the oven.
Pear or apple slices, peeled and pan-fried with butter and a tablespoon or two of sugar until the fruit caramelizes and softens slightly. Ice cream optional, or thick yoghurt if you want things less rich.
Dulce de leche; buy a jar or see my Steam Oven Baking cookbook for a steam oven version.
Warm weather pancake toppings
Cream cheese and smoked salmon. Think like a bagel, but on a pancake! Dot bits of cream cheese and swirls of smoked salmon over a just-cooked pancake, then scatter with sliced red onion, fresh arugula/rocket leaves and baby capers.
Tomato, mozzarella and basil, Caprese salad style, especially if you’ve got outstanding summer tomatoes and creamy buffalo mozzarella. Slice or ‘chunk’ your tomatoes and mozzarella, and arrange over the cooked pancake. Scatter with basil leaves and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
All the berries. This is the quintessential Dutch baby topping in my house. Whichever berries are freshest and cheapest, and lots of them, piled onto a freshly cooked pancake. Maple syrup or powdered sugar for extra sweetness.
Ice cream and chocolate sauce. Enough said (and actually, this is good all year round).
Grilled peach or nectarine slices, honey and roughly chopped pistachio nuts.
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything you like related to combi steam cooking!
I really encourage you to submit questions, and will do my best to answer as many as possible. Though I may not be able to get to every single question, I will carefully curate ones which are relevant and represent a variety of topics. We all learn from each other, and I often learn new things based on questions from all of you!
If you have an AMA question, please email it to [email protected]. Make sure you include the phrase INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can collate and read all your submissions.
From Jane
Q: Are your tablespoons 20 ml or 15 ml? I know you live in Australia where 20 ml is the norm, but you also have an international following.
A: I use 20ml tablespoons to develop all my recipes, but most of the time it doesn’t matter if you’re using 15 or 20ml. If the 5ml difference in a specific ingredient is going to make a critical difference to the recipe, you’ll see that I’ll write 1 Tbsp for the US customary ingredient list (meaning 15ml), and will also specify 15ml on the metric ingredient list (if you haven’t seen it before, you can toggle between US and metric measures in almost all my recipes, using the little conversion toggle underneath the ingredient list).
From Susana
Q: I have a Thermador oven.
My question is, since my oven doesn’t have the option to select the % humidity how can I know if the steam in the oven is low, moderate or high? How can I know if the humidity is the one the recipe needs?
Is there any relation between the temperature we select and the steam in the Thermador oven?
A: The realistic answer is that you won’t know exactly what proportion of humidity is at the different steam convection temperatures. But it also doesn’t matter in most recipes!
For most dishes, the difference between your Thermador’s non-selectable steam percentage and an oven where you can select steam is the speed of cooking. This means you’ll want to set the temperature as written, using the steam convection setting, and check for doneness a little before the given time in a recipe – if your oven runs ‘wetter’ than the recipe intended, the food will often cook faster. When you’ve used your oven regularly for a while, you’ll get to know if things run a bit faster or slower than expected.
As for the relationship between the temperature you select and the steam in the Thermador: in general, the lower your steam convection temp, the more humidity is going to be in the oven during cooking. As the temperature ramps up, you’ll have relatively less humidity. Again, though, unless you are making a highly technical or extremely delicate dish, you don’t need to worry about the possible differences in humidity except for potentially a few minutes faster or slower cooking time.
This is a really tricky area for most people to get their heads around when they start combi steam cooking, but hopefully that explanation helps. I find it useful to think of not having humidity selection as a bonus instead of a drawback, because you never have to worry about steam percentages! You just set your temp and setting, and forget about everything else except making your recipe.
