Apple Baby

I hosted a book club last night. The book was "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister," a retelling of the Cinderella story. It takes place in Holland, so I thought I'd whip up an apple dutch baby (even though it is really a German food, originally called a deutsch baby) a la the Original Pancake House.

I found this recipe, which is not well written and a bit confusing, but I made a few changes and it worked marvelously.


For two dutch babies:

8 eggs
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 dash salt
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter
6 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
Cinnamon Sugar (maybe 4 T sugar and 2 t cinnamon, I just eyeballed it)
Cooking Spray

(Divide in half for one dutch baby, which should serve 6 generously, or two with leftovers!)

Critical Equipment Needed:
2 regular-sized skillets (easiest with two, but you could get by with just one)
Large Bowl
Hand Mixer

Preheat oven to 425.

In a large bowl, combine eggs and milk. Add salt, flour, and powdered sugar. Mix well, eliminating all lumps. A hand mixer works well for this. Set aside batter.

In one skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over high heat. Add three cut up apples and stir around. Once apples have begun to soften, add a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, and stir to coat all the apples. You want the apples to be gooey, so don't be shy about the cinnamon sugar.

Spread the apples evenly in the skillet, leaving as little empty space as possible. Spray around the edges of the skillet with cooking spray. Pour in 1/2 the batter, and place in oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until top begins to brown.

Meanwhile, coat the second skillet with cooking spray. When dutch baby is browned on top, remove it from the oven. Loosen around the edges with a knife or spatula. Turn the dutch baby out of the first skillet into the second skillet, so now the apples that were on the bottom are on the top. If any apples are stuck to the first skillet, just scrape them out onto the dutch baby. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar, and return the dutch baby to the oven for another 5 minutes of baking. In that time, the bottom will finish browning, and the top will get even more delicious and beautiful.

(Now that the first skillet is free, repeat the process with the rest of the butter, apples, and batter, if you are making two.)

Finally, using two big spatulas, ease the dutch baby out of the skillet onto a serving dish, like a pretty cake stand. Cut into generous pieces, and encourage people to eat seconds. It is good just plain, or with maple syrup. Enjoy!